Mountain Hardwear Tierra Pant - Women's - 2008 BCS

Pretty low quality - ripped the pocket zipper when trying to remove a lift pass and after under 5 days on the hill are already ripping at the ankle part where rub against your ski boot. also annoying on the waist - seems to always be either too loose or the velcro comes undone while i'm skiing. However I guess you get what you pay for, but too bad that $100 buys you a pretty crappy ski pant. does fit well otherwise though.

I bought these pants at the beginning of the season and used them all winter for skiing on piste (telemarking) and for several backcountry tours. I'm 120 lbs, 5 foot 3 inches, not very hippy. I bought the small size and they fit nicely and look great (I've had many complements), but they have some serious functional problems. The waist is too low and does not cinch properly, so I get snow down my backside frequently (even with a tucked in shirt). You can use the velcro on each hip to tighten them, but as soon as you bend over the velcro pops open. A backcountry pant must sit higher on your waist to avoid this problem (or the cinching system must not be velcro). The end result is that these pants don't allow you full freedom of movement. I can't get them to sit at the right place on my hips so they fall a bit and then, when I am touring, hinder a free, full step. I find that extremely annoying.

I do like the material. It's as waterproof as I need it (sitting on a lift on a wet snow day, I was just a little damp at the very end of the day), and the side zips allow you to fully ventilate which is great. The gators at the bottom are perfectly done.

If I had to do it again, I would fork out more money for a full bib.

So, I guess I should have paid more attention to the description of these pants when it said "Conduit laminate" because that is exactly how they feel, as if the material has been laminated. Which is weird because the pants have a pattern which makes them look as though they should be brushed nylon. (The pattern also makes the black considerably closer to grey, so if you want true black don't get these.) But I guess that's the price you pay for totally waterproof pants, and they do fit well, which is such a relief for a petite woman who has a ton of trouble finding pants that don't make me look like a puffball (5'2", 120lbs). I haven't tried them out in the snow yet but I moved around the house quite a bit and didn't have any trouble with the waist (and you can always sew a snap to the velcro part if you find it popping open.)