Ski jackets usually get all the attention, but it’s more important-and tougher-to find a great pair of ski pants.
Your legs do a lot more moving while skiing than your upper body, so if your ski pants or bibs are too tight, too baggy, or just don’t fit right, you are going to notice. Plus, pants spend more time in contact with other surfaces: sitting on the chairlift, kneeling in the snow, bashing into branches or ski edges.
Durability and weather resistance matter more than with jackets. When shopping for snow pants, particularly for skiing and snowboarding, consider these important features.
Key Features to Consider
When shopping for snow pants, particularly for skiing and snowboarding, consider these important features.
- Waterproof and Breathable: Opt for snow pants with high waterproof ratings to keep you dry in snowy conditions. Look for breathable materials or ventilation options to prevent overheating during active winter sports.
- Insulation: Insulated pants provide warmth. Choose the level of insulation based on the temperature and your comfort preferences.
- Sealed Seams: Taped seams prevent water from seeping in through stitching. This is especially crucial for skiing and snowboarding, where you're likely to be in contact with snow frequently.
- Adjustability: Look for pants with adjustable waistbands or suspenders to achieve a comfortable fit.
- Gaiters: Integrated gaiters with elastic cuffs fit over your boots, preventing snow from entering and keeping your lower legs dry and warm.
- Reinforced Knees: Extra reinforcement in the knee area adds durability and protection against abrasion, which is especially beneficial for snowboarding.
- Pockets: Some snow pants come with zippered pockets to store essentials like lift passes, small snacks, or hand warmers.
How To Choose Your Snow Jackets and Pants
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Snow bibs, also known as snow overalls or ski bibs, are an alternative to traditional snow pants. Snow bibs extend higher up the torso, often featuring suspenders that keep them securely in place. They tend to offer extra protection from the elements for your chest and back and a more secure fit.
Factors Influencing the Choice of Ski Pants
Several factors influence the choice of ski pants, ensuring comfort and performance on the slopes:
- Waterproofing: Because pants spend more time in contact with the snow and potentially wet surfaces like chairlifts, waterproofing is more important than in jackets.
- Breathability: While it’s crucial to keep water out, you also want your ski pants to be breathable, so sweat vapor doesn’t leave you wet from the inside. Look for pants with breathable membranes and venting zippers. For the resort, mesh backed vents are best, so you can ski with them open.
- Insulation: Consider the level of insulation you need based on the conditions you typically ski in and your personal preference. Uninsulated shell pants, paired with base layers, offer versatility. Insulated pants will always be warmer and are good for colder regions.
- Fit and Mobility: Adjusting what you are wearing is part of the strategy for staying comfortable while skiing, which means being able to fine tune the fit of your outerwear is important. Look for pants with adjustable waistbands and shoulder straps. Articulated knees, gussets and stretchy materials help with mobility, which plays into fit.
- Durability: Metal edges, kneeling in the snow, sitting on chair lifts, all take their toll on ski pants.
Examples of High-Performing Ski Pants
Here are some examples of high-performing ski pants that stand out due to their unique features and capabilities:
Stellar Insulated Shell Pant
Stellar’s choice of a utilitarian name actually says a lot about the Insulated Shell Pant. First up: insulated. Stuffed with PrimaLoft Silver P.U.R.E, the synthetic fibre is produced with significantly fewer carbon emissions. These men’s ski pants boast a feel-good, versatile amount of warmth.
Second: shell. The outer fabric is a 100 percent post-consumer recycled Japanese two-layer with a waterproof and highly breathable membrane, also made in Japan. “I skied in the rain at work and was one of the few who came in at lunch still dry,” said one tester, a realtor who volunteers for an adaptive ski program on Vancouver Island.
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Finally: pant. They’re comfortable, while remaining protective. A fleecy strip runs around the waist, Velcro tabs adjust the width, a bungy section provides stretch, and a high back never leaves skin exposed.
Iofoten Gore-Tex Pro Pants
When storms blew into Lake Tahoe last winter, our local tester reached for the Iofoten ski pants for their dependable burliness. “They feel extremely high quality and have excellent waterproofing,” reports the software salesperson and ski bum. Nørrona used Gore-Tex’s highest quality Pro membrane with a mix of heavier denier face fabrics.
It created a nearly impenetrable barrier against the wind and moist snow, he said. However, they did have just enough versatility to use them in the nearby backcountry. Two large cargo pockets on the thighs easily held a beacon, with a phone pocket on the right side. A venting zipper, running from the boot cuffs to the upper thigh, kept our tester cool on the skin track and allowed him to take off the pants with ski boots on.
Peak Performance Alpine Pants
It’s the accumulation of little things that make these great men’s ski pants. The fabric-a mix of recycled polyamide face and a knit Gore-Tex membrane-is soft, supple, and lightweight. It repelled precipitation like we’d expect from Gore-Tex, the 70 Denier face is just heavy enough to deflect strong winds and cold air, and it breathed well enough that we never felt clammy, even ski touring in above freezing temperatures. (Shout out to the side leg vents.)
Peak Performance wrapped burlier fabric all the way around the ankle area, adding durability to a high wear area. The four pocket layout-hand pockets, thigh pocket, and a back pocket-meant we could access our beacon, phone, snacks, neck gaiter, and sunglasses without breaking stride on the skin track.
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But our favorite little feature is the waist band: Stretchy Velcro tabs made it easy to adjust the waist to our layering and had enough give so we didn’t feel constricted or exposed when we bent over or overindulged at lunch time. Overall the cut is on the narrower side, which along with being lightweight and breathable, makes the Alpine most at home far from the lifts.
Helly Hansen Legendary Insulated Pants
These iconic resort ski pants are best-sellers for a reason. Their performance is legendary, with HELLY TECH technology that makes them waterproof but equally as breathable, while 2-way stretch fabric gives you total freedom of movement. They’re the perfect pair for easy riders and heavy shredders, no matter your style on the slopes.
Flylow Gear Figment Bib
Usually the first time wearing a bib pant involves a few stops to make adjustments. Not with the Figment. Adjusting the fit required just a quick set of the Velcro tabs on the suspenders and a pull on the waist belt. Done! Whether sitting, carving, or hopping down the steeps off Whistler’s Peak Chair, we appreciated the set-it-and-forget-it comfort, which felt like a custom fit thanks to articulation in the knees, gusseting in the crotch, and stretchy shoulder straps.
The pocket layout was equally dialed for resort riding. The two hand pockets were accessible while sitting or standing, the oversized thigh pockets easily carried extra gloves, and the chest pocket on the high-riding upper could hold a beacon or other valuables. Thinner testers should shop carefully: A few found the Figment too baggy and others ran out of adjustment room to cinch the waist. Otherwise, these are dialed resort pants with reinforcements at the knee and seat for durability in high wear areas, and aren’t too warm or heavy for the occasional backcountry foray. After two seasons of use, they show just a couple scuffs around the cuff guard.
Head Kore Nordic Pant
It’s attention to detail that elevates the Nordic Pant. Take the cut guard on the inside cuff. The brand also took pains at the waist: “It is incredibly comfortable,” says a tester who skied in the Kore Nordic during a harsh Eastern Canadian winter.
Fleece-lined and wide, the waistband boasts plenty of stretch, plus easy adjustability via Velcro tabs, optional belt loops, and suspender hooks. The stretchy exterior Cordura material is waterproof and breathable, but might not stand up to the very soggiest of conditions-one tester had a damp butt after sitting on mist-covered chairlifts all day.
Inside is 40 grams of recycled polyester insulation, which provides a decent amount of warmth without being overly bulky. The Nordes became our go-to ski pants for any touring adventures because of the highly breathable construction.
Montane Windstopper Pants
Montane combined Gore’s Windstopper fabric on the front and butt of the pants with its own 75-denier soft shell material everywhere else. Touring in a melt-on-impact snow storm, lead tester Ryan Stuart stayed dry and didn’t overheat, like he would have if he was wearing Gore-Tex or the equivalent. On warmer days he opened the thigh-length side vents on both legs.
Plus, the soft shell combo is super stretchy and never left skin exposed or restricted movement, even during an ice climbing escapade. The fit was easy to adjust with Velcro tabs or the addition of suspenders. What sealed it as a keeper for this category is the cut. While most soft shell touring kits fit snug, the Nordes sit a little looser, providing room to layer in really cold conditions. And blend in.
Black Diamond Mythogen Bib
The Mythogen is a rare backcountry bib: lightweight and feature-rich. “It’s the fully loaded bib,” said one tester, a broadcast journalist and 75-day-a-year skier based in Calgary. The Mythogen’s rich selection of features and heavy-duty fabrics meant it felt optimized wherever he was turning.
While backcountry skiing in Kananaskis Country, our tester barely needed a backpack. “So many pockets! I have places to store everything,” he said. There are six in total, including two, especially helpful, chest pockets on the vest-like bib portion. On a moist day at Panorama Mountain Resort the Gore-Tex Pro membrane proved its worth.
“Every time I got on the chair, I was sitting in a slushy puddle,” a tester said. “At the end of the day, my long underwear was still dry. That was impressive!” Easy to adjust suspenders and an integrated belt helped dial in the fit, but did nothing to skinny the baggy legs, which he found cumbersome on the skin track. Otherwise we had no complaints and one big pro: the U-shaped relief zip in the back. “It should be a must for all bib pants,” he says. “Taking off bibs to poop is a pain.
Testing Methodology
Testing ski pants is all about vertical. The more time our testers spend sitting on chairs, turning on snow and hiking to the goods, the better judge they will be of whether a pant is good or great. To make our test team, testers have to log at least 30 days per season.
We recruit from across the continent and try to find a variety of skier types and interests to give us as diverse feedback as possible. We send them each a couple pairs of men’s ski pants to test and ask them to at least put in a couple days with each item. We also ask them to hand each pair off to friends and ski buddies to try too.
We take feedback on the new pants for this winter and compare it to the pants we’ve tested over the last few years. We check in with testers who are conducting long term reviews, see what other people are saying about the individual models and read customer reviews. With all the information in front of us we pick the top pants available right now.