When putting on clothes in preparation for downhill skiing, there is one central goal: to prevent getting cold. Naturally, when one puts oneself in a situation that requires remaining in the snow for hours at a time, maintaining an acceptable body temperature becomes paramount. The accepted approach when selecting skiing clothes is to combine garments that will retain body heat with those that will prevent moisture intrusion. One of the most essential clothing items, as one might expect, are the ski pants. No matter what a skier does, at some point her pants are going to come into contact wit snow. Therefore, it is very important that her pants be able to repel water. At the same time, the legs must be kept warm enough that the muscles continue to function, yet scantily clad enough to allow for adequate movement. Clearly, there are a number of prerequisites that must be met when choosing the correct pair of ski pants.
Downhill ski pants, at least those designed for women, fall into two basic categories: those that go outside the boots and those that go inside. Ski clothing, like all other apparel, undergoes fashion trends. If one takes a look at the pants being worn by the female skiers of today, it becomes plain that most of them favor the outside-the-boots style. However, a similar poll taken fifteen years ago would have revealed just the opposite trend. It is probably safe to assume that these two styles will continue to trade off the top spot.
It should be noted that the evolution of snowboarding clothes has effected what people are wearing on their legs to ski. Some skiers have adopted the cargo-style pants traditionally used in snowboarding. Such pants are essentially completely waterproof versions of typical cargo pants: quite baggy and possessing multiple pockets. Snowboarding pants also fall under the outside-the-boot category.