Review: Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant

Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant

When it comes to hiking in the winter, gear makes a huge difference. The wrong pair of pants can take your trip from a wonderful walk in the snowy woods, to a freezing march of misery. That is why I was so excited to try out the new Royal Robbin Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant. This was my first experience with Royal Robbins pants but have liked their shirts in the past. Here is a look at my review of the Royal Robbin Alpine MTN Pro Winter pant.

As a disclaimer I would like to mention that I was given the Royal Robbin Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant so that I could write this review. All opinions on this page are our own and based on our own experiences with this product. I am not compensated for the opinions on this review. Your experience with the product may be different. This site uses affiliate marketing links. If you click a button or link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

From Royal Robbins

Before I get into my review of the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pants, I wanted to let you know what Royal Robbins has to say about their pants. From their website, they say, “Pick your trail, put on these pants, and get outside this winter. Our Alpine Pro performance—equipped with stretch, durability, great fit, weather resistance, and versatile style—gets cold-weather ready with a warm fleece back on the inside”

Here is a bit more on the specs before the review.

Specs

Price*

$120.00

Sizes*

Mens: 30. 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42

Colors*

Jet Black, Caramel, Turkish Coffee (shown), Slate

Features

• Durable, quick-dry four-way stretch fabric made with a recycled polyester blend, upcycling plastic bottles from landfills
• Multi-flex waistband utilizes low-profile elastic for improved fit without bulk
• Front “Locking Snap” closure provides added security and flexibility
• Lower-impact C0 DWR treatment for water resistance without the use of PFCs
• Gusseted crotch and articulated knees for mobility and comfort
• Adjustable cuff cinch system

Technical Details

Inseam length: 32 in

Weight: 19,5 oz

Fit: Standard fit

Leg type: Full leg pants

Pockets: Hand pocket(s)

Fabrics

92% polyester, 8% elastane

All information from RoyalRobbins.com and subject to change. Check the website for full details and options.

What I liked about the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant

There is a lot to like about the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant. I really enjoyed the warmth, flexibility. Plus, their ability to handle wind and water and how the pants are made with recycled materials. Here are more details about what I like about the Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant.

Warmth

Staying warm is probably the most important part of a winter pant. That was my first test and one that the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant passed with flying colors. First off, this is the first pair of pants that I have worn that had an internal lining as thick as the Alpine had. Usually I rely on base layers but I didn’t need them for some of the moderate hikes with these. The lining is also really soft and comfortable.

I was also really impressed with how well these pants cut the wind and with their water resistance. I will talk more about that later but thought it was worth focusing on. The windbreak held up to strong mountain winds and the water resistance worked really well against snow and slush. I did not try these pants in the rain.

I’m a guy who runs pretty warm so I was a little concerned with the extra lining making me overheat but I didn’t find that. Even when I tested on a day that was closer to 50 degrees, I got sweaty but didn’t feel overheated or overwhelmed. Side note, I get sweaty on all of my hikes! Overall, I was really happy with how warm these pants were and how comfortable they were to hike in.

Flexibility

As a bigger guy, I often find pants that are tight or restrictive in the wrong spots. Might be tight in the hips or thighs. What I really loved about the Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant was that they had great flexibility throughout. There is 8% elastane that helps provide the flexibility along with a loose fitting style. They also feature a gusseted crotch and articulated knees that help with mobility.

It all starts at the waistline where there is about an inch of elastic to stretch the locking snap mechanism to close. While this helps me as a hefty hiker, it also helps for those winter trips where you have plenty of base layers and want to tuck a lot of top layers into your pants. The locking snap makes sure that it will all stay firmly sealed as well.

Moving down the pants, The Alpine MTN Pro incorporates a 4-stretch in the material that allows movement in every direction. The gusseted crotch allowed me for full movement, including crouching down to put on snow shoes and spikes, without having to worry about my seams stretching. The flexibility was really good through the legs as well. It allowed for a full range of motion. In fact, I think the pants are much more flexible than I am. When I was post-holing I had to take some big steps to find some solid snow. These steps put me in positions that would make a Pilates teacher proud but I never had any restriction to my movement through my lower body. I would say these were some of the more flexible pants that I have worn.

Wind and Water Resistance

If you are like me, you don’t mind the cold air as much as you mind the wind blowing that cold air into all of your nooks and crannies. There is nothing more miserable than get hit with a wall of freezing wind that drives snow and ice crystals through your clothes and seemingly into your bones. No Thank you!

The Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant does a really nice job of cutting a lot of the wind so it can’t ruin your day. The pants are 92% polyester and the outer shell is pretty thick. I hiked mostly in the mountains of Colorado where the winds can whip around at 20-40 mph pretty consistently. Even in those conditions, I never had an issue with the wind penetrating through both the outer layer and the lining. I felt really comfortable with this as my only layer for the moderate mountain hiking that I do in the winters.

Another great feature is the water resistance of the Alpine Pro. They are coated with a CO-DWR material to provide the water resistance. They also are quick drying so even if you do get them a little damp, they will dry quickly and help keep you warm. The last test I did with these pants was on a warmer spring day where I was post-holing with almost every step. Despite sinking knee to hip deep in slushy snow, my legs never got wet or damp. The slushy snow seemed to just slide off the pants which was a saver in those spring conditions.

Recycled Materials

It is always good to be able to feel good about the products you are wearing. I talked about Royal Robins commitment to sustainability in this earlier post. The Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant is a prime example of this commitment in practice. According to Royal Robbins, they make these winter pants with 80% recycled post consumer water bottles. I love the fact that Royal is taking the important step of incorporating recycled products.

What I didn’t Like

While there is a lot to like about the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant, they will take away my blogger card if I don’t find something that I don’t like about them. For me, it was the sizing.

This is the first pair of pants that I have ever tried from Royal Robbins and I just found them a little bit bigger than what I am used to. The cut of the legs seemed a little bigger, meaning my legs had more room to move around. I think this could be to accommodate thicker base layers but not sure. They also seem a little longer than most pants that I order in my size. This could be to accommodate bigger boots and to keep the pant from dragging in the snow. Again, not sure if these were design elements or if Royal just runs a little bigger with their pants but wanted to let you know. Might be good to try these on to see how they fit. There is a system to tighten the cuff that helps a little bit.

Video Review of the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant

Before my final thoughts here is a quick video review of the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant. If you enjoy the review make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to see my new content.

Wrap Up of the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant

Overall, the Royal Robbins Alpine MTN Pro Winter Pant is a nice pant for winter adventures. The fleece lining did a good job of keeping me warm, while the outer layer did a really good job of protecting me from wind and moisture. I really loved how flexible the pants. They didn’t restrict my movement in any direction and made moves like squatting or taking big steps easy. I also really like that Royal made these pants out of a high percentage of recycled materials.

The only thing that I didn’t like was the sizing. The pants felt a little bit bigger than I was used to for my size. I am not sure if that was by design, to fit extra layers underneath, or if they just make their pants a bit on the bigger size.

These are a pair of pants I will feel comfortable taking out on cold hikes in the Colorado mountains and winter hikes around the country.

More from the Fatman

For a list of other products that I have reviewed you can check my Product Review page here. If you have any products you would like me to review or any comments you can email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!