Arcteryx Gamma SK softshell pants - review
After getting these pants strongly recommended by a friend, I decided to pay full retail 220$ + tax to try them out, even though I was perfectly happy with my patagonia goretex hardshell pants.
That was a good move because a few hundred days of skitouring later, these pants never missed a day. No signs of wear yet. I would say I'm 100% happy with them and I have recommended them to a lot of friends.
The fit is excellent. They come in many sizes so you can get your choice of waist size combined with leg length. For example, I'm a small/regular and my dad is a medium/short.
The suspenders are minimal design and they work good. The pants fit just okay over ski boots, although there isn't any extra play there. The draw string around the boots is an actual string and people do change it sometimes to a shockcord. I haven't yet and will probably keep it that way since it has worked fine for that long for me.
The pockets are good. Two regular pockets work well for skinning up with hands warming up in the pockets (poles on the pack). The two cargo pockets are key for me. That's where my skinning gloves live when not in my hands. If it gets too hot on the hands they go in there without stopping. The gloves get sweaty sometimes and the warm from my legs combined with the airflow from the ski down usually mean warm dry gloves ready for the next lap. Enough room in there to shed my tuque as well or for some granola bar. It's very important to minimize the stopping and these pockets are great for that.
There are no vent side zips. This could be good, but I like the simpler designs. I have found that with the proper choice of under wear, it works great the way it is. (Note: I would probably consider this for my next shell jacket. I never use the underarms zip on my goretex. If it's too hot, I take it off and ski in my softshell. Also, I'd like having no pockets or any extra material. The reduced bulk would be nice. My shell gets about as much use as my goggles.) For typical interior skiing, I'll use either combination of long thin underwear with boxers, long thin underwear only, or boxers only for hot spring days. The breathability is quite good and I never get sweaty except for where the backpack sits. This has worked well down to about -15C Asulkan parking lot sunny day start.
There are other softshell options in the 250-350$ range but those are thicker material (too hot) with more features (boot double gaitors) meant for resort skiing and not suitable for skitouring.
JF, Revelstoke.
