5 Best Ski and Snowboarding Pants and Bibs of 2025

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of the slopes or are looking for your first pair of ski or snowboarding pants, finding the right pair is all about knowing what you need.

Our ski and snowboard pants guide covers everything from the basics for beginners to super-specialized pants for expert riders. Stick with us while we dive in and compare the best that the industry has to offer.

Guide to Ski and Snowboarding Pants

You might’ve noticed in our list of favorites above there are many different philosophies regarding the best ways to stay warm and dry during your ski day. But this is a good thing!

Finding the best pair of ski and snowboarding pants for you depends on factors like how often you are out on the mountain, where you ski or snowboard geographically, and the type of skiing you prefer to do. Our buyer’s guide below breaks down the basics to clear up some of the questions you may have regarding your decision.

Pants vs Bibs

Deciding on ski or snowboard pants versus bibs is more than just a stylistic choice, each comes with their own distinct set of advantages and disadvantages.

Without digging into the technicalities of it all, one of the biggest things that sets pants apart is the price. Less material means less cost being passed down to you, the consumer. Pants also offer a little more freedom of movement, and you’re less likely to have trouble with sizing issues, given you’re just working with a waistband rather than accounting for shoulders, stomach, and torso.

If pressed for a straight answer, our team of testers tends to prefer bibs. Bibs are warmer, better pocketed, and significantly reduce the chances of you getting snow down your pants in the event of a fall. Breathability might be an issue for some, but with good ventilation, you can stay just as cool in a good pair of bibs as you would in performance ski pants.

With our preferences noted, it’s definitely worth mentioning that bibs are more involved to get off. This factors heavily into bathroom break logistics; and might be cause for concern for anyone spending all day on the snow.

Hardshell vs Softshell Ski and Snowboard Pant Material

Traditionally, ski pants come in two varieties: waterproof yet restrictive hardshells, or the more comfortable and stretchy but less bombproof softshells. Nowadays, things aren’t as cut-and-dry as they once were, softshells are getting better at keeping out water, while hardshells are starting to successfully incorporate stretchy materials. Take Gore-Tex as an example.

Despite these developments, you can largely count on these two categories to guide you through your decision making process. Below we’ll break down the major differences and give you some idea of which option might be right for you.

Hardshell Ski and Snowboard Pants

Hardshells make up the majority of the pants you’ll see on the resort. They’re a tried and true method for keeping snow on the right side of your outfit and tend to have the resilience needed for many seasons worth of skiing.

Hardshell options are going to be the most resistant to weather of all stripes. Additionally, an insulated hardshell pair of pants will be the warmest option there is, great for long days on the resort in the dead of winter. Uninsulated hardshells make great technical layers and are more versatile because you can choose how aggressively you want to layer.

The major drawbacks of hardshell models are flexibility and breathability. To compensate, hardshell pants tend to fit more loosely and depend heavily on vents to keep air moving on warm or high-exertion days.

As mentioned above, manufacturers have been making strides in improving the range of motion in many performance and backcountry oriented hardshell models. They achieve this by way of incorporating softer, more flexible panels of softshell materials. This cuts down on their waterproofing capabilities to a certain extent but adds a little comfort to their commonly crinkly counterparts.

Softshell Ski and Snowboard Pants

Softshell pants are close to the old stretchy models that you’ll see in 80s ski movies but with much headway made in regard to style and function. Because they’re neither as warm nor as waterproof as most hardshell models, this style of pants is usually reserved for backcountry use, where breathability is prioritized above all else.

These models are super breathable, soft against the skin, and have the flexibility necessary for bootpacks and kickturns. But all of these performance benefits come at a steep cost- the materials commonly used in softshell pants are nowhere near as wind and waterproof as your average hardshell. If used in a resort, the seat of your pants will readily absorb moisture on a chairlift ride, offer little protection against wind, and leave you woefully uninsulated if you’re not putting in the effort to justify the material.

In short, softshells are more geared towards the crowd that can make their own heat. They offer an elegant solution to deal with the sweat and temperature increase inherent in uphill skiing.

Insulated Vs Shell Ski and Snowboarding Pants

When we layer for skiing, we try to walk the razor’s edge between warm and “too warm.” It’s a difficult balancing act, no one wants to end up too cold to ski or drenched with sweat. Deciding between shell pants and an insulated model, similar to the abovementioned factors, hinges largely on the type of skiing you do.

Insulated Pants

Insulated pants are a great option for resort skiing, particularly if you find yourself sticking to groomed runs. The boost in warmth that a little synthetic fill adds makes a lot of sense for fast runs punctuated by long chairlift lines. If you find yourself getting too warm, you can always open up a vent and let some heat out.

Of course, there’s also the question of how much insulation you should look for in your pants. Models like Spyder’s Dare favor warmth at the cost of breathability, whereas The North Face’s Freedom takes a more conservative and versatile approach to keeping you warm. The Arc’teryx Sabre Insulated Pants are designed with innovative materials that kept them lightweight and insulated.

There’s no cut-and-dry prescriptive method for telling you how much insulation you need in your next pair of ski pants. Our best advice is you can always wear more under your pants, but insulation is awfully hard to get out of them.

Shell Pants

Shells are the way to go if you’re frequently skiing off-piste or in the backcountry. Lumpy, unpredictable snow makes for much higher-exertion riding.

If you’re skiing bell-to-bell with no breaks between runs, or if you’re spending a decent amount of time going uphill, this is probably the right choice for you. If you’re worried about staying warm, pairing uninsulated shells with long johns will keep you covered for the most part.

Ventilation in Ski and Snowboard Pants

As terrible as it is to be cold when you’re skiing, overheating is somehow worse. No one wants to feel suffocated by their gear, and removing layers is a tedious and prolonged affair, you’ll more likely than not have to put them back on as soon as you get on the chairlift or a cloud passes overhead.

Most snow pants come with zippered vents. Many at least come with a zippered and meshed inner thigh, but bibs and technical shells, in particular, will typically have more aggressive options. With some models, you can basically have your entire leg exposed in a few seconds and zipped back up again just as quickly.

RECCO Reflector

You wouldn’t typically think of your pants as something that could save your life. Nonetheless, RECCO technology is quickly becoming a standard feature within high-end sporting equipment for its ability to help rescuers find a lost or buried person. RECCO transceivers are passive strips that reflect signals directionally and allow people to zero in on your specific location.

RECCO transceivers aren’t a substitute for your traditional avalanche beacon, but they are a nice additional resource and layer of protection for resort and backcountry skiers alike. For resort skiers, particularly if your resort has gate-accessed extreme terrain, these RECCO reflectors are easy passive insurance.