Arc'teryx Stingray Pant Gore-Tex Soft Shell

Firstly what Arc'teryx say:

'A loose snowsports styled pant designed for on-area riding and skiing. GORE-TEX Soft Shell Low Loft wears comfortably, while dual waist adjustment straps ensure a great fit. Featuring a drop seat design, WaterTight zippered side vents and wide lower leg patterning. '

Now what I think:

Well these had to be the best implulse buy ever they appeared on ebay brand new with tags on buy now for £120, yeah really!!! They had a price tag of £299 in november when snow and rock were selling them (but then stopped). It took a while in getting them but i was really chuffed when i got them! Firstly if you ever buy any arc'teryx snow wear buy it a size down, A large tall aka 36"waist 33"leg happens to have a 40"waist and a 33" leg.. eek. They do have waist adjusters but this takes them down to about a 37" waist. The best solution i found was attaching a square d-ring between the two waist adjusters and tieing the fly cord to this (stops the crotch from sagging) they now fitted and have to funky pleats down the front ~_^ hehe. The only other final gripe about these pants is that the soft shell fabric has way to much friction against baselayers and is even worse when worn alone! I suggest wearing a powershield baselayer to reduce the friction and not a plain fleece one. Other than that these pants are amazing! They come with some fantastic features, pockets, thigh vents, schoeller keprotec instep patches and a wide lower leg for skiboots. Even better they have a full inseam gusseted crotch which isnt stated on the arc'teryx website which is an added bonus! The Gore-tex softshell is bascally the original gore tex membrane, think a three layer gore tex fabric but has a thin fleece instead of the shiny mesh on the inside. with 20,000 g/sm/24hrs breathability i have no worries about these performing on snow! I'm off to Canada soon so will comment and let you know how well they really perform! I would as arcteryx say use these purely for on the pistes as they don't have a recco and aren't cut for swinging through trees, they would however work well for ski mountaineers as they are suprisingly light and warm and they work well with a harness! Reconmemnded to anyone who wants the best for everything including simplicity! Damn that heavy price tag though!