Weekly Monday Gear Review: Marmot Spire Pants

At first glance I thought the Marmot Spire Pants were bibs, and bibs are often just too hot for me on the up portion of the day. But they are really pants with suspenders, which are easily removable.  However with the back yoke for the suspenders being mesh, the sweat factor is a non-issue. As it turns out, I have yet to remove them and kind of like wearing the waist loose with the suspenders holding up the pants.

With two way full side zips, it is easy to ventilate the upper legs while the lower legs stay protected from the powder. Lightweight and fully waterproof Goretex construction with 3 zippered pockets and built in gaiters completes the package. Speaking of the gaiters, I hate struggling with gaiters too tight to fit over my ski boots, the fit is perfect on these.

I have been wearing these primarily for skiing, both lift served and backcountry, as well as for teaching avalanche courses which involve a lot of wallowing in the snow. They have performed very well for all my uses and have kept me warm in the 70mph winds we have been having.

I plan to try them out ice climbing soon and have a hunch that they will do just fine, though a harness may restrict access to the pockets and they do have a looser fit than I am used to in an ice climbing pant, so we’ll see. 

Designed as a ski pant, I give them 2 thumbs up for design, construction and comfort when used as such.

The colors available (I have the yellow) are just a bonus and a nice change from the black, black or more black choices in technical pants I have become accustomed to for the last decade.  All in all a pant I am quite happy with. They are not so lightweight that I will rip them up easily, but the they will let me rip up the slopes!

Mark Hammond
Head Mountain Guide
Colorado Mountain School