Customer Reviews Columbia Ascender™ Softshell Jacket

I have had a similar jacket to this for several years before I purchased this one. Fit is great, love the jacket. However, it seems to be missing the draw strings around the waist area. Not sure if design was changed, but I liked the drawstrings to cinch the coat at the bottom.

The hem of the jacket is not true to size . Its too large for an L size jacket. The way it fits the body is not great.

Please be aware that the 2019 design of this coat has changed and it is not noted in the description. In 2018 the drawcord hem was adjustable from both sides; one toggle on the right and one toggle on the left. The 2019 design only includes one toggle on the right side. We have trusted Columbia for years because of their quality and price, this makes it seem they are looking for ways to cut corners. Our disappointment with this is that the coat cinches up on the right side but the left side stays flat, making the coat look like something is wrong; unbalanced. If we fuss with it we can smooth it out a little on the right side, but with wear, it cinches back up. Otherwise, the jacket is what we expected. When speaking with the Columbia representative she was polite but it was clear that my only options were to return it or deal with it. Have not decided which we will do yet.

I bought a "Petrol Blue" jacket as the website says, but it isnt. The jacke color is like dark aqua blue, is not the same color showed by the website. Another thing is that it runs a little small, too fit.

This is a good jacket. I bought the peatmoss thinking the color was more brown than green as shown on the preview photo. The jacket is more of an olive green to me.

This product is perfect, but the size runs to small

the collar is way taller and makes the jacket looks a bit awkward.

I had a comparable jacket of Columbia for years and it was my favorite. Somehow I lost it last year so I replaced it this year with what looked to be the same. 90% of the jacket is the same but now the arms are fleece lined and I HATE that feature. It grabs on any long sleeve shirt you are wearing when you put the coat on and the static when you take it off could power a small village. Bums me out every day as it is still the coat I'm going to wear 80% of the time but the sleeves drive me nuts. Don't really like the adjustable closures at the sleeve ends either but I'll just have to toughen up I guess.

This is a very well made, wind and rain resistant jacket. Fit is excellent and sizing is spot on. LOVE the Omni-Shield outer fabric. My only problem is the fact that the fleece lining all the way through the jacket is even in the sleeves; no taffeta or anything to help your long sleeved shirts slide in and out easily. I find myself wrestling around when I put the jacket on to un-bunch my shirts sleeves from under the jacket. Otherwise, this is an excellent jacket.

This is a weirdly sized product, too big and just fits poorly overall. It's at least a couple inches wider than other "large" coats I own.

I've had this jacket for less than a year. About 2 months ago, the zipper started to come undone at the bottom. Now it happens everytime a wear the jacket. Very unfortunate since I liked this jacket.

I have worn previous iterations of this jacket in size medium, including my current jacket, and consider it my favorite, go-to light, softshell, windproof jacket. Unfortunately this time the jacket was cut like a potato sack, too big in the chest, shoulders, and upper arms. On top of that the zipper malfunctioned the first time I used it, coming undone from the bottom when I zipped it up. I returned it immediately.

Zipper pulls apart at the bottom when driving a car. One should not have to unzip the jacket getting in the car. I'm still using a Gortex type Columbia jacket with felt interior and a normal metal zipper that's 20 years old. Jacket worn lightly and 8 months old!

I'm giving this jacket 2 star because I like the brand and was happy with other garments I purchased before. This particular jacket was disappointing because I expected much better to perform better in the california winter. The jacket fit good as expected with my other Columbia garments. I would not recommend this jacket for anything that has to do with isolating you from the cold.

Measurements are too big. Small is like a petit medium , medium like a petite large etc etc

The zippers on this thing suck. The left coat pocket gets stuck all the time, and the main zipper isn't the best quality either. Otherwise, a fine jacket

Medium was way too small and large was way too large. Good job, Columbia.

Colors are not at all as pictured online. Also, sizing chart is off by a size.

Very light weight jacket for the money. Not what I expected. About the weight of a long sleeved heavy shirt. Not impressed.

Color came out dark green and not the tan as shown in the photos

I bought this jacket within the last 6-months. At first it was fine but after the first washing the zipper does not work. You can zip it up but then the bottom part comes out of the latch at the bottom that holds the zipper together and it unzips upwards. Very, very disappointed.

I live in Wisconsin. I was looking for a new fall jacket. One that would be warm, keep the wind out and be water resistant, on those typical fall chilly days here. This jacket came highly recommended for all those reasons. I will agree it is very water resistant, the rain rolled right off. However, it really didn't offer any protection from the wind or keep me warm. I could really feel a chill on my arms and front and back. As well as feel the wind come through the product. I also am having problems with the right front collar, it will not stay down. It either points straight out or straight up. I do not wear my collar like this, and keep having to push it down. I went back to the place that recommended it, and looked at the same coat in store, and none of them has this issue with the collar, all the collars laid down nice around the neck.

It wasn't as warm as I had hoped. I have an Omni-shield Columbia that I thought would be similar to the Ascender but the sleeve were too baggy for me and lined with a fleece material that made it hard to take on and off without messing up your shirt sleeves. No pockets on the inside either.

Cheap material, almost feels like wearing a shirt. Poor fit as well, way loose. I have similar product from them bought couple years ago, this one is no way near to that one.

I've had three of these because they're great jackets, but the zippers are absolute garbage. For the price Columbia could put in much better zippers. I refuse to buy another one since it may only last a few weeks or months at best.