Your skiing base layer wicks perspiration away from your body to keep you dry, warm, and comfortable during a full day of skiing. Skiing base layer clothing should be lightweight and tight fitting to keep your body heat in and sweat out.

There are two purposes for thermals:

• To trap heat
• To wick away moisture

On top of thermals you usually put another warmth layer before your jacket, but we’ll get to that later.

What to look for when buying thermals

Thermals are made out of many types of fabric.

• Polypropylene: Usually the cheapest of the fabrics. Polypropylene is light weight and doesn’t itch which makes it quite comfortable.  It isn’t the warmest of the fabrics, it can be bought in loose weaves which let more cold in but cost less or a tighter weave that will be warmer and cost a bit more.  It can get a bit saggy if not washed often, not to mention smelly.  But they dry quickly so wash them regularily.
• Wool: Warmer than poly propylene, wool (if you can stand the itch) is the next best.  It costs a bit more for a good quality wool like Merino but it is worth it because wool is a highly breathable nautural fibre letting moisture out while trapping body heat with pure filaments.  The only downside to wool is that it can be quite itchy.  Merino is usually softer but it all depends on your skin. Wool also doesn’t smell very much so you can wear it all weekend before washing.
• Nylon: Thermals made of Nylon are top notch. They fit really close, they are soft, they breathe and they wick moisture really well.
• Silk: The most expensive of all the thermals but it is the warmest. Like wool it’s natural qualities are highly breathable and the pure fabric holds heat closely.

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