• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

Ski pants vs. snowboard pants and petite sized clothes?

newskiaddict

Certified Ski Diva
Is there a difference between snowboard clothing and ski clothing, specifically in pants and jackets? The only difference I've noticed is that snowboard stuff tends to have wackier patterns and is often cheaper. I'm trying to buy a jacket and pants online....is there a difference in fit?

Also, I'm 5'1'' on a tall day and 113 pounds. I can never find ski pants that fit- they are always too big in the waist and way too long. Any suggestions?

Thanks! Now that I have new skis, I might as well get a new jacket, right? ;)
Now all I need is snow!
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I buy Burton Lucky snowboarding pants and they work great for skiing. They're the only pants I've found that fit me well. I'm 5'1" and 95ish lbs.
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
There might be slight feature differences, like ski pants have extra durable panels on the inside of the ankles, and snowboard pants have a loop so that you can keep fabric away from your heel. Not enough difference to worry about IMO.
 

badger

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Differences are usually the cut and style. I wear both snowboarding and ski clothing. Sizing is similar also. Whether ski or board, the pants can be purchased quite small; particularly the snowboard pants! I do not get the pants in the "short" length either, the medium length is perfect with boots. Now with jackets, if it is offered in a petite length I will opt for that, but certainly not a necesssity. I've found that the snowboard stuff has some really fun fabrics and styles.
Cappell (made by RIDE) and Burton seem to have well-made garments in very small sizes. Snowboard pants are not always baggy either!
The waist of a pant may seem large when first trying on, but consider the layers worn underneath on a cold day.
Have fun shopping:becky:
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Also, many pants, like my Burton pants, have velcro adjusters inside the waist to help with fit. I can take the velcro in or out depending on how many layers I have that day.

Also, you may want to look at some kids stuff to save on $$$. I scored a good deal on a Patagonia down sweater all because it was a girl's large. :smile: I also own some Patagonia XS women's base layers, so it's really hit and miss even within a brand how sizes fit. I own an XS North Face Shell that fits pretty good, and then other XS North Face items I've tried on I'm swimming in. :noidea: I have found that Smartwool consistently runs pretty small, Spyder and Burton too.
 

canski

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Obermeyer has Petite sizing - I have a pair of their Gore-tex shell pants from quite a while ago.
And North Face had a Freedom LRBC short length pant a few years ago with large adjustable velcro tabs on the waist.
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
I found that Marker petite insulated pants are the right length. For shell pants, I ended up getting geargrrl to shorten them once I knew I liked everything except the fact that they were several inches too long. Too long is not an issue with ski boots on. I look for pants that have belt loops.

If snowboard pants fit and you like the pattern, buy them.

For jackets, the brands that work best for me are Marmot and Patagonia. The sleeves are manageable in terms of only being a little long. Columbia and Northface haven't fit.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Snowboarding jackets often have less insulation than ski jackets...I'm not sure if this carries over to insulated snowboarding pants vs. insulated ski pants, too, but something to keep in mind.
 

Q4queen

Certified Ski Diva
Definitely look at children's wear. I just bought a pair of girl's Orage ski pants and I'm 5'5" and 118lbs. They are actually a bit long for me but the waist fits well. The price difference can be significant compared to adult sizing.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
Snowboard stuff often has less insulation....They work harder than skiers...??

I love snowboarding pants....extra room in the butt and hips for me....I have Salomon pants that are "free ride" and skier pants by Avalanche....
 

bounceswoosh

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Almost all my ski stuff has no insulation, so this confuses me.
 

Jilly

Moderator
Staff member
You don't live in NE!! Today was great +2C...most day -C...including later tomorrow....
 
B

B.E.G.

Guest
I wear children's pants and they fit, but the vain part of me hates how shapeless they are. Makes sense as they're for kids, but I see women in cute, much more fitted ski pants and I'm jealous! So I'm steering away from kids pants in favor of finding petite women's pants that work. So far the North Face STH soft shell is the most flattering, but even that is rather big.
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
Snowboarding jackets often have less insulation than ski jackets...I'm not sure if this carries over to insulated snowboarding pants vs. insulated ski pants, too, but something to keep in mind.

I"m not sure if that is correct. There are very few insulated snowboard jackets to begin with. As someone who works with ski wear on a daily basis, my observation is that is comes down to style, cut and features. I know plenty of skiers who wear boarder clothes, and vice versa. Many lines do not market to one half of the sport or the other; they market to an age/style demographic.
 

badger

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've been pretty fortunate to find insulated snowboard clothing. My preference is insulation , but I'll wear shell products too; yet not as often. The 2 most insulated pairs of my pant collection are snowboard pants. Also have 2 well-insulated snowboard jackets.
It is true though that most snowboarders go for shell products, so maybe a little harder to get insulated. On a super cold day I like the longer length of the snowboard jacket! These snowboard garments.are not cut in a loose style either. Very happy with them.
 

Pequenita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I"m not sure if that is correct. There are very few insulated snowboard jackets to begin with. As someone who works with ski wear on a daily basis, my observation is that is comes down to style, cut and features. I know plenty of skiers who wear boarder clothes, and vice versa. Many lines do not market to one half of the sport or the other; they market to an age/style demographic.

Aren't we saying the same thing? I'm thinking mostly that I bought a snowboarding jacket online because of the style without paying attention to or realizing that it was barely insulated, and I nearly froze to death the first time I wore it. OP asked what the differences between ski and snowboarding jackets is, and I think -- badger's experience notwithstanding :smile: -- barely or non-insulated being the norm for snowboarding jackets vs. usually insulated being the norm for ski jackets is one of the biggest differences.
 

tinymoose

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Aren't there lots of shell only ski jackets, though?
 

geargrrl

Angel Diva
I think the shelll concept is more dominant in the technical world (climbing, mountaineering) and people just use them for skiing.
 

lynseyf

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I don't like any of my skiing stuff too tight so I would prefer trousers that are too loose wear a belt with them, I like to be able to stick as many layers on as I need. My boyfriend has had a few pairs of snowboarding trousers but he cuts the cuffs up pretty bad if they don't have the protective guard on the inside cuffs you get on ski trousers. He does do loads of spins and jumps and generally chucks himself about so is probably harder on his clothes than many but just something to think about, particularly if you fall a lot.
 

Latest posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,237
Messages
497,688
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top