In reply to John Ww:
> Have you actually ever been skiing? Guess what, it isn't always a picture postcard!
True, but I skied 3-4 times per week for two full seasons on Canada's west coast and wore a hardshell about a dozen times. Even on days when it was actually raining I was fine in good quality softshell type stuff, and it was extremely comfortable on the days when you would want to be, you know, skiing.
That said, this was only because I was skiing in decent climbing/mountain gear. If I'd had spare cash I would probably have been happier in heavy duty ski gear.
To the OP: when I did wear a hardshell it was a very lightweight and frail/elderly Montane jacket. It coped fine with several fairly icy tumbles.