A good jacket gets all the glory, but ski testers will tell you your bottoms matter just as much. Ski Magazine's gear team just wrapped a multi-season test of 32 men's ski pants and bibs, logging 430 days on snow to pick the ten standouts for 2027 — from budget resort staples to $900 shells built for storm days.
The big winner: the Rab Bigline Bib, which took the Editors' Choice honour at $380. Testers praised its barely-there stretchy bib fabric, a supple three-layer Pertex Shield shell that shrugged off soggy Pacific Northwest weather, and three separate adjustment points — Velcro cinch straps, adjustable suspenders and hem buttons — that made it fit like it was tailored. Roomy thigh pockets even swallowed a skin apiece on quick slackcountry missions.
If $380 sounds steep, the value pick is the REI Powderbound Cargo Pants at $189. Forty grams of synthetic insulation kept testers warm in sub-zero temps, a fleece-lined waist and hand pockets added comfort, and the price is genuinely hard to beat. The trade-offs: they wetted out after a morning of damp chairlifts and the legs run long.
Elsewhere on the list, the Rossignol Outerlimits Bib ($280) won best resort bib thanks to fleece-lined pockets and a relief zipper — a rarity at that price — while the Strafe Summit 2L ($419) impressed as a resort pant with a comfort range stretching from below freezing into the low 40s. For serious cold, the Patagonia Snowfarer Bibs ($339) converted a dedicated shell-wearer with extra insulation at the seat and thighs tested at Mont-Sainte-Anne. The Columbia Citadell Shell Bib ($440) was called the most waterproof bib one veteran tester had ever used, and the premium end includes the lightest pick, Peak Performance's Alpine Gore-Tex pants ($650), the most durable Norrøna lofoten Gore-Tex Pro ($899), the insulated Stellar Shell Pants ($649), and Mountain Hardwear's Mythogen Gore-Tex Pro Bib ($800) for backcountry tours.
Why does a gear list belong on a travel site? Because bad pants can ruin a ski holiday faster than bad weather. If you're booking a week in Whistler, the Alps or the Rockies, knowing whether you need an insulated bib for frigid chairlifts or a breathable shell for skinning uphill is the difference between bell-to-bell laps and retreating to the lodge by noon. The list neatly splits picks by use case — resort, storm, cold snaps, backcountry — so you can match the purchase to the trip you've actually booked rather than the one in your head.
