Marmot Spire Pant - Men's - 2009 BCS

Replacing my worn out Arc'teryx Alpha LT 1/2 Bib Pant.
Nice fabric, soft to the touch, and does the job. I'm short and stocky 5'7 190lbs and got the XL. Good fit but a little long as usual for me. Slightly baggy but not too much. This would be the perfect skiing pant for me if they came in a short. Not suited for ice climbing. Yellow is sweeeet

The pants are well made and absolutely waterproof. the cuffs fit ski boots perfectly.but this means they are huge around a mountain boot. even spantics. I feel they are also too short.five star for skiing three for mountaineering

I bought these pants for snowboarding, which I do mostly in the backcountry. The XL fits me as well as I could expect- I'm about 220 and 5'10" with a waist of ~39", so quite stocky and while the pants are a little long, my size always forces a compromise in that area. If you're more normal in proportion, I would expect little issue with length. So that's the only vaguely negative thing I have to write, otherwise, the fabric is great in waterproofness and breathability as you would expect. A pleasant surprise was how much more packable they are than I anticipated, considering the fabric is goretex performance shell. I was originally considering the Marmot Randonee pants, but ultimately was put off by the proshell fabric only being 2 layer, which lead me to expect some durability issues. Plus the Randonee pants actually weigh more than the Spire. The pockets are well placed and functional, as are the suspenders, which easily zip off if you don't like them. The pants do fit fine over soft snowboard boots, but as the first reviewer states, these would be too big for mountaineering boots. By the same token, the fit at the cuff isn't as big as you'd see on snowboard specific pants from, say, Burton. Overall, the fit as mentioned above, together the with full side zips allow for excellent modulation of coverage during a day in the backcountry: It's easy to open a vent as large as you desire, and also take the pants off altogether without taking skis or board halves off while skinning up. I definitely recommend these.

Really nice pants. Well suited for resort skiing and the full zip lets you vent as much as you want for backcountry skinning. My only complaint is that the fabric is not particularly hard-wearing, I have visible scuffs and a few small tears in the outer fabric on the seat and other areas from minor falls and such. Definitely not something I'd wear mountaineering but comfortable and stylish for skiing.

Sizing: 6'1", 32/34, 180#, size medium fits perfectly.