Dont know how i missed this thread. Id say im a pretty experienced North Face wearer. Well, not wearer, i like to research my products before i get something though.
I bought a North Face Mcmurdo parka, as seen here
http://www.trailspace.com/gear/the-north-face/mcmurdo-parka/ off ebay a year or so ago. After thinking how crud it looked compaired to real ones id seen in stores i joined the TNF forums and read loads of info on how to spot fakes. There were loads of fakes on ebay at the time but i just got a really good one. It turnded out to be fake and i filed a complaint though paypal. After all the info i collected i ended up getting a full refund, after a fair bit of hassle though mind.
I went to a retail store and bought north face boundary triclimate (i think it was called) i wear the fleece seperate from outer shell and it reasonably warm. The actual shell is hyvent, not goretex and i wouldnt say its amazing at keeping the rain out. I think its lost the coating of stuff that put on to be honest as rain hits, droplets 'roll' off but other will stay on the coat and eventually soak in.
If i wanted a warm winter coat id for for the Mcmurdo though as seen in ray mears extreme survival when hes in some nasty ass conditions. I tried one on and they are truly toasty warm. About £220 mind.
If doing winter sports im not sure what id get, i got mine for skiing in whistler canada and it did the job. I just had to put it on the radiator because snow would get inside through the cuffs somehow then melt. Id probably go for a strong outser shell (not like the climing shells because they rip easily) but something strong.
Damn you, i want a TNF Mcmurdo now!
edit - oh after going to china about 5 year ago i bough a totally crud fake. After this when we had to do a technology writeup and contact a company at college i did mine on the technology of goretex and contacted north face for info, which they sent me loads of stuff about how it all worked.