Skiing Magazine

In general, I’ve never been a huge fan of three-quarter-length pants—capris, clamdiggers, flood pants, whatever you want to call them. I’d rather wear shorts or pants, not some weird limbo length. But I’ve recently changed my mind on this when it comes to long underwear for skiing. Here, the three-quarter length actually has a purpose: Pull your ski socks up high and you don’t have that extra seam from full-length long johns creating folds and bunches in the shin of your boot. Mammut’s Alpine Underwear, which come in full-length versions as well for both men and women, has a slim fit (not Lycra-tight, but not baggy). It comes with body-mapping with three different fabrics—a lightweight and midweight blend of merino wool and polyester, and a super-wicking polyester microfiber—which is meant to cool or heat you depending on your body temperature during activity. I wore the skivvies under my pants on a skin up Colorado’s Jones Pass last weekend under clear, blue October skis. On the three-hour approach, I heated up, but the long johns seemed to cool me quickly once I opened the leg vents on my outerlayer. At the summit as soon as I stopped moving, my temperature immediately dropped, so I zipped up my leg vents and the insulating layer seemed to do their job. The best part? These long underwear bottoms also have a built-in antimicrobial element to fight off odors. Which means you can wash them less and nobody will notice. [$60; mammut.ch]  —Megan Michelson