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Best pants for ice climbing?
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Hey I’ve been using the outdoor research cirque pants for the past few years and I like the adjustable cuff since they are kind of baggy but I don’t like that they aren’t waterproof. Anyone have a recommendation on pants that are waterproof and either aren’t bell bottoms or have an adjustable cuff? I do wear gators most of the time but don’t want to HAVE to wear them. Thanks! |
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Mammut Nordwand Flex pants if you can still find them somewhere as they got discontinued 2 years ago. |
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Arc’teryx Gamma MX are excellent. |
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Of the dead bird variety the Gamma MX are excellent in my opinion too, but I think the Arcteryx Alpha Comp are/were the best ice climbing pants period. Lightweight, stretchy, good fit; they tick all of your boxes, adjustable cuff etc, and are much more "waterproof" than the MX being a hybrid softshell hardshell Goretex. It's too bad they are discontinued. The Alpha Hybrid are the new modern replacement for the Alpha Comp. I don't have any first hand experience with them but they seem to be missing the built in waist belt the Comp had which is no bueno to me. |
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I have the alpha hybrid and they do have the waist belt. Also has removable knee pads. I love the hardshell front soft shell back |
Jakob Melchior wrote: The mammut eisfeld guide SO or what ever it’s called is the new version and Is better imo |
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Worthy of consideration is the kuiu guide pant. Has zip ventilation along the thighs and a nice microfleece liner. I find myself climbing in them more than I expected and personally would buy them over the gamma mx cause they have more features at 2/5 the price of the gamma mx (I’ve owned all the gamma mx/ar/lt options) |
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My two cents worth would be that the Rab Ascendor pants are perfect for ice, as is the (lined) Mountain Equipment Kinesis. I use them both in the Northeast in winter and have had no problems at all with them. |
Eliot Hack wrote: The eisfeld Guide So sounds like a softshell skitouring pants with some areas which are somewhat waterproof. The Nordwand flex was a fully hardshell pant with some flex areas which made them super comfortable for ice and mixedclimbing in wet conditions. I like them so much that I even brought a second one on sale last year (also because I got them for 220€) for when my first pair wears out. I never wear softshell pants for iceclimbing anymore since I got them. |
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I’ll go to my grave thinking that the Patagonia Northwall/Alpine Guide pants were the best ever designed for ice climbing. A durable softshell lined with grid fleece just cannot be beat. It’ll always baffle me why they moved away from them. For reference, I have a pair of the Galvanized pants as well, and they’re very light but VERY flimsy. Like, almost disposable. I’m not sure any companies are making pants with Schoeller fabric any longer, but long ago I had a pair of Mammuts that were also excellent. I’ve never found the need for climbing in any iteration of hard shells. If it’s seriously that wet, it may be worth questioning why you’re there. |
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They aren’t super durable but Rab kinetic pants are really light and waterproof. Really comfortable too, a lot like wearing soft shells. |
Ted Raven wrote: I have a pair of those Northwall pants and 100% agree with you. The only con was the $600 price tag. I bought mine at clearance on Patagonia’s website for $111.00! My pants are still in good shape because I gained weight for more than a few years. I think the best feature of the Northwall is you could be standing in the shade one minute and moving in the sun the next and your legs are never too hot or too cold. This and the fact the pants are cut slim you can’t poke a hole in them with your crampon. Now that I’m dieted enough to fit in them I hope they last forever.
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Thank you all! Really appreciate the advice. |
Jakob Melchior wrote: The eisfeld guide so has proper soft shell and a sort of soft hard shell. It has proper water proof areas. I’ve climbed super wet ice in them and any of the very few areas that got a little wet were dry within 15 minutes. I do agree though that the eisfeld guide so is a little more like a soft shell than a hard shell. But definitely keeps alot of the elements from the Nordwand flex. |
Eliot Hack wrote: I really like softshells with water proofed lower legs (up to the knee at the front) for skitouring but for wet iceclimbing I think it is most important to have waterproof thighs. Whenever I climbed wet ice with parts like the Eisfeld Guide I ended up way less comfortable than in the Nordwand Flex. The Norwand Flex really is a much much better pant for iceclimbing! Really unfortunate that they got discontinued. |
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Outdoor Research Cirque II Pants
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Zach Eiten wrote: I'm not a fan of the Trailbreakers as an ice pant. The cuff is way too baggy. It would be easy to catch a crampon. Plus its really heavy. I'll ski in them. I recently picked up some Mountain Equipment Tupilak Atmo pants and after a few days out on them I've been very happy. |
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If you're willing to invest a little time cruising Goodwill or whatever thrift stores , you'll probably find something for less than 20$ I've found REI and Mammut pants, and a pair of uniform dress pants made from softshell material. I would never spend full price on pants, why, crampons love pants |
Jake907 wrote: The Trailbreakers have a zippered cuff to tighten them down from “bell bottom” to “straight leg” shape unless they changed them idk haha. I was curious if you were thinking of the skyward pants (the ones with the fixed “bell bottom” and no zipper) |
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I’ve tried a bunch, having hard shells for some days can be huge but honestly 90% of the time what works best is the Eddie Bauer guide pants. They’re perpetually on sale for like $40 and they’re as good of an ice pant as my fancy as shit LaSportiva softshells, plus it doesn’t suck when you put a hole in them nearly as much. Probably wanna pair those w long John’s and you’ve got yourself a primo setup. |
