Fabric for winter shell pants?

What are the expected conditions?

If weather will stay below freezing you may not need waterproof. Sleet and freezing rain are another story. My winter go-to pants are a tough nylon with DWR- probably a 3-4 ounce fabric. Double seat and knees.

Also consider friction. An accidental glissade with slick materials can turn into a bad, bad thing. Most modern fabrics are fairly slick, but there's still a big range.

The first decision is whether you want soft shell or hard shell pants. Assuming winter conditions, where it's below freezing, I find a soft shell is the best compromise. It breathes well, still blocks most of the wind, and is comfortable. I usually carry a very light wind shell in case I hit sustained rain, but other than that a soft shell is usually my shell of choice.

I've had good luck with MontBell's soft shell pants and First Ascent's soft shell parkas. My current favorite parka shell is First Ascent's hybrid shell, the Front Point, which has a soft shell body with hard shell shoulders, hood, and arms. Overall, a good compromise.

"Lightweight is nice, but my main criteria are durability for glissading and breathability for trudging up steep slopes."

Both are best served by a mid-weight (say, 6ish oz/yard) woven nylon pant. Something like a Patagonia Simple Guide. If things get real cold, you can add fleece tights, wind briefs, and so forth. They'll also be good for fall and spring hiking.

This is my preference, anyway..

Interesting, and not quite what I was expecting. What would be a good soft shell material for wet snow?

I should say that I am in the Cascades, so 35 with heavy wet snow is pretty common.

"Interesting, and not quite what I was expecting. What would be a good soft shell material for wet snow?

I should say that I am in the Cascades, so 35 with heavy wet snow is pretty common."

Hmmm. I'm not sure here…

My experience has been in New England winters, and soft shell works there. If you're saying that you'll be continuously exposed to snow just above freezing, then it might be better to use hard shell, at least in the legs. Soft shell fabric is highly wind and water resistant, but not *proof, so at some point you would expect some water penetration. Of course, as long as you're moving it shouldn't be an issue, but I've never tried to do any actual test to see how early and how much it would fail. Perhaps someone with experience with these conditions can comment. If it's just occasional exposure, then I'd still stick to a soft shell.

My hiking buddy uses and swears by Buffalo Systems clothing. It's made for damp UK conditions, and while some moisture may penetrate, it's never enough to cause problems as long as he's moving, because the garment has enough insulation to keep him warm, and the moisture generally moves to the outside of the garment and evaporates.

As to specifically which fabric, there are enough options to make my eyes glaze over…

From my point of view, there are least two categories of soft shell, lined and unlined. The lined soft shells have some kind of insulating liner on the inside to provide warmth and to absorb any moisture that might penetrate the garment. Essentially, one garment does the work of several ones. Personally, I tend to use the unlined ones, and use it with a base layer appropriate to the conditions.

My winter soft shell pants are the heavier MontBell ones. They've been comfortable though anything I've thrown at it. For typical cooler three season wear I shift to their lighter pants, with equally good result.

I found myself looking for very similar pants – my requirements in order of importance are: waterproof, durable, light, stretch, warm, breathable, full-zip.

I haven't found the perfect pants, but I'm going to get the MH Synchro. I have the jacket and the material is perfect – light, waterproof, tough, warm, and stretchy. They just need full zips to be perfect.

They weigh 13oz in medium, but I can use one less mid-layer with my jacket vs. a thin shell, so I expect the pants will be the same.

PacLite does not breath enough for heavy exertion. eVent is much better in my experience.

And softshell is too heavy for pants IMHO. Plus, softshell collects snow and will not be good in wet snow, hour after hour. It WILL wet through.

BTW, be sure to get TWO layer (heavier) eVent for durability of the laminate.

I go out in the Cascades and have been loving my OR Exos and Tremor pants. The Exos are thin like the MH syncro. They are some Cordura fabric but stretchy and soft. Ive worn them hiking in snow (35ish) with SW mid pants under them and was never cold OR hot. I've worn them a bunch around town in the rain and never gotten wet. My wife is getting tired of hearing about them! My favorite pants

The Tremor pants are backed with that thin tricot and have windstopper. They are definitely warmer but not hot. I just got them and only worn them skiing with SW mids and Marmot reactor fleece under them. I never got wet even after laying down in the snow waiting for my wife for 10 min/ three times per run. (long day) Haven't tried them in rain but they must be at least as good as the Exos. They have a approx 12" zippered vent on each thigh. They have removable gators and the patch of thick Cordura in the instep.

Hope this helps. These are my new loves. I never thought I'd think of pants as new 'toys' to play with