Backpacking snow shell pants

I snow camp in the sierra nevada three or four times each winter. I switched to a soft shell pants for greater breath ability and comfort. I put a puffy pant over them for cooking dinner and in the morning. Sometimes I will even sleep in them.

When I need to sit on the snow, I sit on my pack or closed cell foam pad.

I refresh the water repellent treatment at the beginning of each season.

This mirrors my experience in tne Northeast. I've had very good luck with both softshell pants and parka. For pants, I've been using the Montbell softshells, and recommend them.

I'm a big fan of Rab Bergen pants. I use them every winter.

I wear softshell Marmot Scree pants for winter hiking and snow shoeing. They are DWR water resistant, but not water proof. Slightly stretchy unlined softshell. Breath really well and warm enough for hiking down into the 20s. If it's colder, I can add base layers underneath. If it's raining, wet, I can add rain pants on top.

The problem with heavy duty stuff like GoreTex Pro is that it's just too hot for active hiking/snow shoeing.

If I had the money, I would spring for a shell pant made from Polartec Neoshell (Rab makes nice ones). The material is a great compromise between softshell and hardshell. Waterproof, but great breathability and a little stretch. Great 4-season shell fabric. Like others, I just get by with softshells with a good DWR. The OR Cirque is a nice option.

"The problem with heavy duty stuff like GoreTex Pro is that it's just too hot for active hiking/snow shoeing."

That's what's nice about the Rab Bergen pants – eVent pants with 3/4 side zips for ventilation when necessary (the zips come up well above the knee)

find a brand that fits and uses dryskin and you will bee good-to-go. the pair i have has schoeller WB-400 in the seat and knees for added protection when sitting or kneeling. i've used a bunch of soft shell pants with diffrent materials, and for full-on winter the dryskin works best. for spring/summer/fall when a lighter fabric is the way to go, i really like schoeller dynamic. i really do think schoeller's nano technology is magic. garments made with schoeller are expensive so it's good to look for them on sale or second-hand.

Marmot Precip full sidezip. I too am NorCal and am always in softshells. (Due to heat of longer, trans-sierra skis in spring, I switched from Schollers to light & cooler Pat. Super Guides. Cold winter days, I just beef up the long johns). But day one of recent 8-day trans Sierra was all-day in wet falling snow. A day of parka runoff will wetout anything short of waterproof (even then, a little with seam migration). I always want light shells in the pack. Precips are light and not $$. May not last forever, but keeping up with me so far. Without insulated pants, they make a pleasant addition to sitting in evening.

Worry less about the weight and more about having full zips

Very useful for putting on/off without taking off your boots/snowshoes/skies.

Also important for venting. Fabric choice is less important with full zips.

For normal use a good pair of softshells work fine. However tons of snow belays, digging fun snow grottos and throwing snow balls at polar bears in wet PNW, its good to have a hardshell.

;)

We get a lot of wet heavy snow where I live in Washington. My experience is limited but I've found that snowshoeing in an eVent hard-shell to be counterproductive. Even with the jacket unzipped and vents open, I quickly become saturated by all of the trapped moisture. Probably going to switch to a soft-shell top this year.

I had great success from a moisture management perspective just snowshoeing with just a light base layer, nylon hiking pants, and OR gaiters even during a snow storm.

I see some of the old school cats on my SAR team snowshoe with the army surplus wool pants and gaiters. They throw on nylon athletic pants which have been cut down to Bermuda shorts length over their wool pants to help when it's windy or they're kicking up lots of snow.

For California in the spring I have been using homemade EPIC shell pants with great success. Long johns underneath. Puffy pants for camp. I don't carry waterproof pants at all. Now if it's midwinter, and especially lower elevations (under 9k) then I think eVent would be the way to go for the really wet all-day snowstorms – but I'd stick with as light as you can get, 3-layer, not separate linings, and plenty of zip for ventilation. I make my pants with zips that run from mid-thigh to waist, and that works well since it's thighs and glutes that generate the heat. Pants are easy to make as long as you keep them simple.

Softshells may be okay in mid-winter if they are water-resistant enough, but I don't like them in the spring – too hot for me. I wear my shells over shorts (for pockets) and long johns, and when it warms up I take off the shells and if really warm the shorts as well.

We get a lot of wet heavy snow where I live in Washington. My experience is limited but I've found that snowshoeing in an eVent hard-shell to be counterproductive. Even with the jacket unzipped and vents open, I quickly become saturated by all of the trapped moisture. Probably going to switch to a soft-shell top this year.

If i snowshoe up hills here in the PNW ..

I wear light softshell pants, a very thin nike drifit shirt and a wind or light softshell jacket … Thats it

If it gets down to 20F or lower ill add a cap4/T3 zip

Very few thing IMO are as exerting as going up PNW hill in wet PNW snow continuously for hours ….

Bring a puffy for stops and learn to use the zips for venting and ur good

Remember that to sweat heavily in winter means yr either screwing up or doing something superhard and badazz .. you decide which

;)

Once you lean on the waterproof side, you might as well wear rain pants with a choice of long johns under to suit the conditions. That leaves choices from simple silkweight base layers to Power Dry military surplus/R1 or Power Stretch bottoms, with all kinds of options between.

If not waterproof, then soft shells, or the heavier nylon Cordura-like pants with good DWR. You can still layer up to suit the temperature and activity level.

Gaiters, yes indeed. And get tougher ones for use with skis/crampons/snowshoes that can slice up pant cuffs.

"Remember that to sweat heavily in winter means yr either screwing up or doing something superhard and badazz .. you decide which"

Busting through snow and wearing a hard-shell in the process is probably a combination of the two hence why I said that I'm dumping the hard shell this year.

As always Eric, thanks for your insight.

I recently got a pair of REI Kimtah eVent pants for backcountry skiing and camping.
They were on sale at about 25% off and "you can have it in any color you want as long as it is black" – as Henry Ford once said about his Model T. So now I have the complete Kimtah rain/snow/wind suit.

Several years ago I purchased a Cabela's Rainy River PacLite suit and used the parka a lot. The pants were a bit too clammy for me but I used them in downpours when my movement was either very moderate or zero while waiting out a mountain lightning storm amid trees.

Both suits are heavier than some of the diaphinous rain suits available now, but, at about one pound for each piece, they are MucH more durable and don't need to be pampered when slogging through icy crust or thick brush. I'll count that durability (and extra weight) as a necessity rather than a luxury. And unlike one rain parka in particular that has been popuar among ULers, both of my suits use a non-shiny fabric. I like that because blending into the scenery is important to me.

I do recommend eVent over GTX PacLite or Pro Shell but you will not get as much wind protection with eVent so you should know that up front.

"Rain gear is safety gear". (I love to quote myself.;o)

REI Doesn't sell the kimtah pants anymore, but have replaced them with the Telus.

They also sell the Acme pant which is a great Schoeller Dryskin pant with nanosphere DWR. I see it on sale regularly.

To the need for a hardshell backup, I almost always carry my Goretex parka but hardly ever carry hard-shell pants, especially on shorter trips. The parka spends most of its time stuffed in my pack since my upper layer is a soft-shell, sometimes augmented by my Patagonia Houdini.

In reference to pants, i highly recommend suspenders, and if snow shoes, crampons, or skis are involved, an instep patch for protection.

After wearing out a pair of Marmot hardshell pants, I went myself with the Arcyteryx Gamma AKs mostly because they were under $200 and had suspenders. Sometimes I miss the lack of a built in gaiter but most of the time if there is that much powder, I strap on real gaiters.

Would knee high gators and a cuben rain skirt make any sense at all? I think you would get great ventilation and flexibility from the combo or am I way off base, I have no real experience with rain skirts.

Get some Paramo(or Cioch made) pants.
All the breathability of membrane less softshells, but waterproof in full rain too. Also very comfortable to wear, flexible and silent.
I would suggest 3/4 zips, leaving the hip area free of zips for comfort under a hip belt and while sleeping.

For wet, cold weather it’s impossible to beat the Nikwax Analogy fabric. Nothing else that is as breathable is even remotely waterproof, and nothing else that is waterproof is even remotely as breathable.

Chris Townsends review of Paramo

Paramo Vista review