Workhorse Softshell Ski Pants: Outdoor Research Cirque III Review

I came underprepared for an annual hut trip to Southern Colorado. Five years in a row, our group had enjoyed alpine starts, clear skies, and the massive sun-baked faces and couloirs of some of the state’s most impressive peaks. Spring skiing paradise.

But this year was different. It had been dumping snow and the winds whipped prior to the trip. When we got there, it was bitterly cold, icy, and windy. But the optimist in me had been on packing duty. I found myself skiing in my spring kit in deep winter conditions.

Fortunately, lots of my gear can pull that kind of double duty. One highlight? The Outdoor Research Cirque III Pants, a popular pant from the brand that was heavily updated for fall 2024.

In short: There’s a reason so many backcountry skiers, climbers, and mountaineers have trusted the Cirque Pants for so long. For those diehards, I’ve got great news — the new Outdoor Research Cirque III Pants ($179) are the best ones yet. I lived in these pants last spring while skiing and mountaineering deep in Colorado’s mountains. With an improved fit, fine-tuned pockets, durable fabric, and movement-oriented cut, the Cirque III is a versatile softshell pant for fall, winter, spring, and select summer adventures, too.

Read The Best Ski Pants Buyer’s Guide to see how they stack up.

Outdoor Research Cirque III Review

I had been testing the newest iteration of the Cirque ski pants for a few weeks, so I wasn’t worried about their ability to handle adverse, erratic conditions when I threw them in my bag.

They’re pants built for a wide variety of human-powered adventures in the backcountry. I wore them constantly for several months of ice climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering during the late winter, spring, and summer last season. I can see why the Cirque series is an OR bestseller.

One of the major changes between the Cirque II and the Cirque III pants is the fit. The Cirque III sports a much trimmer silhouette in the hips and thighs, which resembles more of an “alpine cut” than the previous iteration.

At 6’1”, 190 pounds, and a 33-inch waist, I went with a regular-length size medium and found the fit to be spot on. I appreciated the closer fit for ski touring where baggier touring-oriented pants, like the Black Diamond Recon LT, can get snagged easily.

While they’re on the sporty side in terms of fit, the versatility of the Cirque III extends far beyond the vertical endeavors of the mountains. The durable fabric makes them an excellent all-around outdoors pant. They’re a great companion for cool-weather camping, backpacking, and general outdoor use.

One arena where Outdoor Research is running laps around its competition? Inclusive sizing. The Cirque comes in Small, Medium, Large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. And each of those sizes are offered in short, regular, and tall lengths. While this doesn’t include plus sizes, it means that a lot more folks can get the same dialed fit that I enjoyed.

Materials and Durability

Stretch is a critical feature for pants designed for so many outdoor pursuits. Ice climbing, mountaineering, and ski touring all demand plentiful freedom of movement, and the Cirque has delivered.

These pants are made from an impressively durable 50% nylon, 43% polyester, 7% spandex 90D stretch double-weave fabric. That’s a technical way of saying that the fabric is super-stretchy but also burly.

While ice climbing, I was able to high-step easily, squat into a kicking position, and maneuver without any restriction. I was able to take long strides while ski touring. They moved with me and never against me.

The tenacity of the fabric stood out to me as soon as the Cirque III showed up. They felt as burly as my Carhartt Double-Fronts, and they’ve stood up to heavy use better than most softshells in my drawer.

Most impressively, I haven’t penetrated the cuffs with my crampons yet, despite a few close calls. Ice screws hanging from my harness haven’t been able to puncture the fabric on my thigh.

Even while bushwhacking through the notoriously challenging approaches in Colorado’s Gore Range, the trees, bushes, and rocks haven’t stood a chance — these mountaineering pants are tough. Even when they did catch on branches, they refused to puncture or tear.

Breathability, Warmth, No Vents

Despite being so rugged, I found the Cirque ski pants to offer adequate breathability. I run warm in all outdoor activities. But even while hiking in late spring with a heavy pack that’s loaded with ski mountaineering gear, this Cirque upgrade kept me cool enough.

I’ll admit I was a little bit skeptical. Most of my favorite softshell pants have big thigh vents that I’m accustomed to opening during highly aerobic activity. Without them, the Cirque pants are on the warmer side for warm-weather pursuits.

Being on the warmer side, I’d consider them solid four-season softshell pants with a caveat. The temperature range they can accommodate is quite large. I felt warm enough in blowing storms in the dead of winter, even without base layers underneath.

They were plenty warm for ice climbing in freezing conditions. Yet, as I said before, I stayed cool enough hiking on warm spring days. They’re too warm for summer hiking in most of the U.S., at least for me, but they’re a great weight for summer mountaineering in the alpine or climbing on glacier-capped volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. For warmer pursuits, Outdoor Research makes a breezier Cirque Lite version.

Versatile Cuffs

I’m a big fan of softshell pants that default to the narrow leg configuration like that of the Cirque III. It makes them far more versatile for non-ski-boot activities like climbing and mountaineering.

With the Cirque pants, when you unzip the vertical cuff zippers, they open up wide to accommodate even the beefiest ski boots like my SCARPA Maestrale RS’s. A gusset underneath the zipper holds all the fabric together in a clean, durable package.

As the springtime advanced, Colorado’s trails emerged through the snow and the approaches to ski lines got longer, requiring miles covered in hiking boots. My skis and touring boots were on my backpack.

The cuffs of the Cirque III were narrow enough to work with my approach footwear — my SCARPA Ribelle Kalibra G — which allowed me to post-hole through the occasional windrift without worrying too much about getting soaked.

I loved not having to roll the cuffs up to keep from tripping like I have to do with other ski-specific wide-cuffed softshell pants. When I got to consistent snow, I could throw my ski boots on, quickly zip open the pant cuffs, and continue moving.

Unlike many softshell pants, the Cirque III does not have an internal elastic gaiter to keep the snow at bay inside the cuff. But like its other features, that lends itself to more versatility across seasons: An internal gaiter is not something that I love hiking with in the summer.

No gaiter has made it easier to get the cuffs over ski boots and mountaineering boots alike. I did feel some powder spraying up my calf in deep conditions, but it was minor and infrequent. Some powder also encroached into my touring boots while booting up a couloir in fluffy snow.

Fortunately, the pants have gaiter hooks on each cuff. The cuffs also have eyelets to attach a stirrup cord to go under the boot for additional protection from snow, but I didn’t end up needing it. The gaiter hook did a good job of keeping the snow out when I wore mid-height hiking boots like my pair of La Sportiva Trangos.

Integrated Belt

The Achille’s heel of many touring-oriented pants are integrated belts. When they don’t get tight enough, you end up spending a lot of time and energy trying to keep your pants from falling down. It gets even worse when you load up the pockets with a phone, avalanche beacon, snacks, etc.

Fortunately, Outdoor Research nailed it with the integrated belt of the Cirque III ski pants. It’s one of the best examples I’ve encountered. For one, the belt’s material is similar to that of a car’s seat belt. The buckle is sturdy yet simple enough to operate with ski gloves on.

And most importantly, the belt has plenty of range. I could get it extremely tight to the point that my ski pants didn’t budge for the full length of a tour, even with a heavy pack and hip belt pushing down on them.

The Cirque III does not have belt loops like the previous versions. Bold, but justified in this case. (I don’t say that lightly.)

Pockets

The Cirque III pocket layout was everything I needed and nothing more. It’s a basic recipe: two zippered hand pockets, one zippered back pocket, and one zippered thigh pocket with an interior hammock for a beacon.

A lack of the back pocket on the previous version was a dealbreaker for many out there. I’m psyched that the brand brought it back. Where else could I possibly carry my wallet in the backcountry?

Like my favorite feature in a lot of Black Diamond Pants, the Cirque III sports a simple avalanche beacon pocket, which is my go-to for carrying a beacon versus using a chest strap. It’s nothing fancy — just a strong pocket that hides a leash to attach the beacon’s lanyard cord and a stretchy mesh inner pocket to keep the beacon from flopping around. It’s effective, low profile, and unlike other similar systems, you’d forget it’s there when not in use.

Room for Improvement

I’ve been trying to come up with a legitimate con with these pants for 8 months, and I’m still struggling. Are they a little bit warm for spring and summer? Sure. But I have a few cold friends who would disagree. Will the styling work for everyone? Probably not. These are both highly subjective.

If there’s one thing that could be improved for all users, it’s the water resistance. During wet spring storms, the tops of my thighs tended to get soaked fairly quickly. Some additional water resistance in key areas wouldn’t hurt.

Conclusion

I can’t imagine it’s terribly easy to continue improving a garment as simple as softshell pants. But Outdoor Research did its, um, research, before bringing the Cirque III to the market.

What the brand came out with is a refined, high-quality, versatile product. I practically lived in the Cirque III during the tail end of last winter and all of spring. It’s one of the few softshells in my arsenal that can confidently pivot seamlessly between ski touring boots, hiking boots, and shoes.

A solid upgrade to a long-standing classic, the Outdoor Research Cirque III Pants deliver the mobility and protection that ski touring demands while remaining light, simple, and low profile enough to hike, camp, and climb in.