Winter Pants

Hey Joe,
you could wear any good pair of softshell pants (with or without tights) if you don't expect a lot of snow/rain. Alternatively you could wear a pair of pants made with eVent if you do expect worse conditions. For me, the 66 North Blafell pants work really well. I wear them in temps <60F and have not had problems with sweating.

This winter I spent 3 days on the N. Rim of the Grand Canyon and in the Canyon. Temps. were from 50F to 13F with wind gusts up to 30 mph on the 13F day. It snowed 18 inches on that same cold day. I used REI Mistral softshell pants for the three day trip with wool boxers for the majority of the time. I added some wind pants during the windy and colder (13F) periods over them. The pants were comfortable to around 20F without the windshell pants while I was moving. They shed snow and breathe really well.

These are a couple of choices that i use in Scotland.
The Rab Vapour Rise Pants are a good choice for winter hiking. A windproof shell with a DWR and a light fleecy inner. The fleecy inner lifts moisture from the skin to evaporate from the surface of the outer. Very light and comfortable.
I usually wear Paramo Aspira pants all winter. They use a different approach to keeping dry than other manufacturers. They are fully lined and waterproof. Soft and quiet fabric. The fabric is non-membrane, so is very breathable. Full length side zips with poppers enable venting if required. Quite heavy, but no other pants need to be carried.

I generally recommend pants made from Schoeller Dryskin for high aerobic, winter activities. REI Minstral, Beyondfleece, and several others.

I have used the Patagonia Guide Pants and the Patagonia Simple Guide Pants. Both are fairly wind resistant and breathe well. The Simple Guide pants are a few ounces lighter but do not fit as well, they are sized S,M,L. The Guide pants are sized by inches for waist size. The Simple Guide pants have a tendency to slip off my bum.

I too have a pair of Patagonia Guide Pants – I got them on sale during one of Patagonia's sales and absolutely love them for winter use. I've hiked and skied in them and found them to be great.

Thanks all for the input. I found some overstock GoLite Trunk pants that I'll try this winter. They were cheap, so it wasn't much of an investment if I get it wrong.