Oily c""p - irritating or a sign of 'hardcore'?

A snowHead

For years I used black ski trousers - peak, Patagonia, Arcteryx etc - lasted forever. Thought I would go a bit more colourful and bought some excellent lime green Patagonia keks. Felt young again as I joined the hard-charging bright plumage in the queues. After two weeks they looked rubbish - marked with lift-droppings and cack from turnstiles - all oily stuff which, if I use the right stain remover, rips off the dwr from the fabric. Now I know why I wore black. Now the vanity question - Do I try to get this vile blackness off (which makes me look as if I am pigpen) or wear it as a badge of 'I spend all my time in the hill?' - or should I put my vanity back in its box and not give a damn about appearances?

A snowHead

Have you noticed how some people manage to wear impractical colours without getting all messed up? Not me. Doesn't matter if it is ski gear or normal clothes if I wear light coloured trousers I end up with marks pretty quickly. So I've given that up - black ski pants and bright coloured jacked works much better for me than he alternative.

But back to your problem, I'd leave them. The original DWR works so much better than recoats. I'd try to keep it as long as possible.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I don't know where you've been skiing or what you've been doing @valais2. Both my kids have colourful kegs. And being kids they don't exactly take care. But I haven't noticed any "droppings and cack".

I wouldn't try and remove the stains personally so yes vanity in its box and wear it has a badge of honour I would say.

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I always wore black bottoms and bright tops but there is a school of thought that says bright bottoms (as you will only wear these to ski and only other skiers will see them) and less garish tops as then you can wear the tops normally and not look a right poseur.

Definitely dont try to get the stains out at the cost of the dwr, the dwr is never the same if you do despite re-coats or washes. Wear your stains with pride.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Just leave them. Or ducktape over them for ultimate gnar wink

I've only used one lift that leaks oil (and even then only in specific conditions), but if you wipe it off with snow as soon as you get off the lift it comes straight off.

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Give in to the grime I say! Very Happy

Mr P sports similarly grubby looking lime green trews, and he manages (just!) to look like a proper ski dude.

I am equally amazed by fellow female skiers who sport pale colours, especially white. Me..never...- a 99% chance of chucking a vin chaud in my lap on day one. I am still very wedded to my red and black tartan bottom half, despite the holes. They certainly attract attention...

After all it is free

On a recent winter sports holiday I came across a gentleman who had forgotten to put his tie on for skiing and a lady wearing trousers instead of a good tweed skirt. Standards in skiing are definately slipping

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on one of my earlier skiing holidays I saw a gentleman in the check in queue at LHR wearing a Nevica one piece unzipped to the waist with a shirt, tie and tweed jacket underneath. And I don't think he was being remotely ironic!

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Nope. Definitely get them cleaned. You have a choice of spending every single day looking like an impoverished pikey without a girlfriend or looking normal (how many other people have you noticed with grubby ski trousers?) and perhaps losing some slight water resistance? This was the first and only year that I have even needed waterproof ski gear and TBH I just regarded it as God's way of telling me that I was daft to ski in the driving rain anyway.

Of course, if you are a boarder not a skier then you can ignore all the above. They are meant to look like poo-poo.

bright yellow strides, screw them up by lean against car start of every season, wash at end of season, repeat. Don't sweat it.

You know it makes sense.

Chairlift droppings are fairly common where we are - perhaps the Swiss are zealous in their application of grease to bearing surfaces - and indeed my 'mud slacks' (camo pattern peak keks - worn March-may) are revolting at the bottom of the legs at the moment. I looked down a couple of weekends ago and wondered if I'd been skiing or wading through the overflow from a septic tank....

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@valais2, there was another thread on here a few months ago with someone having the same prob. But the replies suggested it was a bit of one off. Not sure if the "victim" was in Switzerland. I always thought the Swiss were very neat and tidy. Oh well, at least you have a new nickname... "grubby" Laughing

A snowHead

I've got yellow board pants. They look really grubby now up close despite reasonably frequent washing. Doesn't matter - still look awesome from a small distance. Anyone thinking 'my, look at the small oil stains on those lovely yellow pants' isn't worth worrying about wink

A snowHead

@kat.ryb, …hmm…distance…there's a thought…'who IS that dark, mysterious skier on the far horizon?…' - '…no idea, always skis by himself…some say his tag is '..oil-slick man…weird….'.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I get the impression that there have been a fair few wet days in the Alps this year. I wonder if that is the cause ? Pomas in particular tend to drip oil in high humidy above freezing conditions.

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It's the moisture that does it. Mrs Jonny wears a rather natty pair of white ski trousers (I refuse to call them pants) and they stay clean all week in cold weather. After a drop of rain or a faint beam of sunshine, they soon look like a mechanic's rag.

I'd ignore any damage to the DWR. The kind of day that needs water resistant clothing is best spent in a cafe IMV.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

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Oh, the error is the earlier post which suggests GoreTex is for use in the rain. Sure it'll work there, but that's not what it's for.

Coastal snow is inherently wet: you're dealing with humidity one way or another all the time. Even with the finest light and dry powder sometimes people fall over and anything you travel in (cat, heli, lift) is inherently wet (because the snow melts..). Any chair which the liftie fails to clear the snow off is going to give you a wet bottom if you're not suitably clad.

Personally I don't fall over much and I don't ride in the rain unless it's absolutely essential, but I use GoreTex (Burton AK, thanks Jake) as it's just very comfortable in a wider range of conditions than most other stuff. And it's built to take a lot of abuse.

After all it is free

I've been wearing the same pair of bright blue turquisey ski pants for 4 full years now - not a mark on them (not even from drag lift buttons)... apart from where the Sun has faded them, I'll be buying a packet of blue dye for next year and wearing them til they fall apart... at which point I will dutifully sew them back together.. not bad for £20!! I bung 'em in the washing machine at the end of each season with a handful of regular washing powder... then spray 'em with waterproofer before the first day of the season.

I've finally caved and bought myself a new ski jacket (in the End o' season sales for £49, lightweight and fully breathable - even has side vents and about 5/6 different pockets etc) for next year (and hiking as well it's that light) and I only bought it because the sleeves and pockets on my super lightweight hiking/skiing North Face summit series jacket got ripped by the super sharp edges of my skis this year... as I say again, i'll stick some electrical tape on the inside and wear it til it falls apart. It is also 4 years old and done 4 full ski seasons AND 4 full summer seasons hiking... again, not a mark of dirt on it, only where the sun has seriously faded the colour away.

I know people that buy new kit every single year... me? I can't be bothered to waste my money on things like that.

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@Mountain Addiction, doubt you'l be able to dye synthetics...

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@philwig,

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You know it makes sense.

@clarky999, Note that I did say it was a waste for the 'vast majority' of recreational skiers. If you are skiing full seasons then that clearly doesn't apply.

The 'stringent tests' are slightly irrelevant to this discussion. It's not about the overall quality, it's about the importance of waterproof clothing ( or the lack of importance). Goretex may be nice to have, but most skiers will feel the benefit of it very rarely.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

My point was simply that I like GoreTex, with an explanation of why. I've no opinion on what anyone else should wear.

I once shared a heli with the owners of some fashionable snowboard brands, who were wearing their own gear. At the end of the day they were wet in BC 5% powder - light and dry, at probably minus 10. I was not in the least inclined to use their stuff even though they gave me some. Nobody flies helis in the rain in skiable conditions as it freezes on the blades. Yet you won't find a heli guide in something which isn't GoreTex or equivalent, for reasons already given.

Sure, you don't ski in those conditions. But I ride a fair bit in the Alps too, and I've done my time at Ski Rossendale, and I don't see a huge difference.

Pants is a fine English word. I've never owned a pair of "trousers" and hope I never will wink

A snowHead

I only get to go one or two weeks per season. I went to Serre Chevalier one year, maybe '95 or '96, and it poured with rain for three days at resort level with snow higher up. I was soaked to the skin and skied every day, because that's all the skiing I get in a year. My brother had GoreTex on and was dry, warm and smug. I admit I really enjoyed myself even though I was soaked and chilled to the bone. I'd do it again too if needed.

For me something really waterproof (Goretex or not) is worth the investment. I only get 6 or 13 days on the snow each year, every one counts. My Goretex jacket cost around £200, very roughly equal to a day on the snow so if it gets me out on just one rainy day when otherwise I wouldn't, I see it as great value.

A snowHead

I've never had trouble with a wet bum on chairlifts, even when I had 10 year old cheap H+M salopettes.

I'm sure there are conditions when decent breathable fabric makes a big difference. But I have to say that the cheap gear that I wore in less prosperous times was no less warm or comfortable than my current mid range stuff. The only time I've seen a performance difference is when there's rain low down and bitter cold wind and snow higher up - just the conditions that have most people heading for a café.

My somewhat unscientific and anecdotal conclusion is that expensive gear is of little practical value to the average recreational skier. It probably looks better and fits better, though. And the shop assistants will definitely be more obsequious.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Love this thread. I gave in an bought a lime green jacket a few years ago. It lives in a suitcase in the loft and only comes out for snow. It was way too expensive to be used every day. And it's relatively stain free.

My salopettes of the last 8 years are a sort grey. They may well be quite dirty. More embarrassingly, I regularly stab them with my poles so the bottoms are a bit raggy. And they are definitely not waterproof. If you ski in deep snow and especially if you fall over in it and you are hot from the effort the snow melts and soaks into the lovely woolly padding. It's fine until you cool down!

I am rather attached to my salopettes (which I wear over my pants philwig) but I now have another pair which I wear to ski off-piste. They are black valais2.

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@henzerani, ...I do like '...they might be quite dirty...' - At the end of last season I was pootling around in a pair of winter camo pattern ski trousers which I considered rather cool until friend came out for the weekend and on the first lift of the day said '...those are disgusting...' - I thought they looked rather good said I - no said he, they are a great design, it's just that they are both filthy and stinky. A close look beyond the pattern confirmed they were vile. That night they had a shower down with cold water to preserve the dwr - and the stuff which ran out both made me gag and nearly blocked the drain. I wonder what else lurks in everyone's kit - bubonic plague? Marmot poo?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@valais2, ha ha. I have an allotment and I'm an archaeologist by trade so my definition of dirty is quite different to other people. Sadly, now that my daughter is a bit older I can't blame her for some of it.

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@clarky999,

After all it is free

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Oily c""p - irritating or a sign of 'hardcore'?

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