Why These Pants Make Climbing Even More Fun
Most climbers give hardshell pants little thought before they purchase a pair. Are they waterproof? Windproof? Does the waist and hem fit? Then a card is swiped and a shopping bag carried away. Those poor souls have no idea how good hardshell pants can be.
Neither did I. Until I wore the M10 Storm Pant.
Climbers who need the weather-proof security of hardshell pants have historically had to sacrifice both comfort and mobility, since run-of-the-mill hardshells stem and lunge about as well as a pair of suit trousers. But such a sacrifice is no longer necessary thanks to the M10, which fuses the mobility-first design of jujitsu pants with the nerdy, alpine insights from Colin Haley, who has tested prototypes since 2019.
The M10 pant has a generously gusseted crotch—theoretically, you could easily do the splits in them—an elastic waistband and cuffs, a thigh pocket, a diagonal zipped fly, and little else. Coming it at just 240 grams in medium, the M10 is surely the lightest fully-waterproof pant I’ve ever worn, and has served me well while battling up soaking wet ice pillars in the Canadian Rockies and racing the “Wall of Hate” while climbing in Patagonia for six weeks.
The M10 pant is a lot like the baggy, waterproof version of a pair of sweatpants—except it has an even greater range of motion, thanks to a four-point gussetted crotch for stemming, articulated knees for high-stepping, and extra fabric in the butt for greater comfort while hanging in a harness. It truly is a brilliant piece of clothing that must be experienced to be believed.
As a result of this novel cut, climbers will no doubt notice that the M10 has a strange silhouette while worn without a harness. It looks steezy. And a bit dumpy. No one will notice how great your butt looks from all the front-pointing you do. But that really shouldn’t matter if you value climbing performance over how you look standing around at the bottom of a mountain. In December, I was 60 meters shy from the summit of Torre Egger, slightly off route, realizing I could bust out of the six-inch offwidth I was climbing onto a series of face holds. Let me tell you: when I spotted a flat edge off to my left, I was relieved to have the pant-mobility to catch it with my left heel and mantle off of it, rather than continue thrutching up that wide crack for even a moment longer.
I had a chance to climb with Colin Haley several times while in Patagonia, including on a day trip up the Amy-Vidailhet couloir (AI 3+ M4; 300m) on Aguja Guillaumet. Both of us wore the M10 pant (Haley said he won’t wear another hardshell pant in the mountains) and we swapped notes between simul-climbing blocks. He pointed out that the interior fabric of the M10 is actually crucial in designing a pant that feels this hyper-mobile: the fabric feels incredibly slick and glides easily over whichever baselayers I am wearing beneath. I told him that after 10 months of testing I was surprised to still be using the same pair, since its superlight fabric feels quite fragile in hand. Haley then took off on his second simul-block and I dutifully followed behind on 5.8 cracks. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t place much protection on the pitch, and I couldn’t tell which of the three cracks in front of me he’d climbed. Only once I’d committed to the furthest right splitter did I see it quickly widened to five inches—oops! Because we were simul climbing I was obliged to finish the pitch, and I realized the irony of our previous conversation: I was about to arrive at his belay with my pant’s knees in tatters. But I was surprised once again: after an uncomfortable few meters of squirming with the rope pulling tightly above, I popped onto a ledge with the pants entirely unscathed.
A half hour later, I belayed Haley on Guillaumet’s iconic summit boulder problem, where he easily threw a high right heel up to nearly shoulder height.
Watch a video of Colin Haley mantling onto the summit of Aguja Guillaumet.
Haley and I also tested the M10’s breathability later that week, while charging up the glaciated East Face of Cerro Eléctrico for the mountain’s FKT. I was impressed that a pant which had proven to be entirely waterproof ice climbing in Canada could also perform decently well while charging uphill. The M10’s grippy, elasticated ankle cuffs easily rolled up to further dump heat from my legs, and the un-zipped fly also provided a bit of ventilation. Once on the summit, after taking a photo for posterity, we downclimbed the rocky summit block and then I rolled the pant legs down to prevent loose snow from invading my boot. Thanks to the sticky elastic, the pant cuff stayed firmly in place while charging downhill.
Though the M10 Storm Pant is excellent on its own, I’d be remiss to not point out its siblings, the M10 Jacket and Anorak. I’d never used an anorak (three-quarter-length zipper) before, and I immediately noticed the added comfort that a zipper-free waist area provides. The Anorak let me see my feet more easily while slab climbing in crampons (no more bowing of the zipper), and also made for a jacket that is marginally lighter and more packable too. The Anorak has a single breast pocket, a helmet-compatible hood with a wide field of vision, and low-profile elasticated cuffs, which I thought was genius. (For those about to protest: the cuffs of your “waterproof gloves” need to be on the outside of your shell in order to not let water drip into your sleeves while ice climbing.) Like the M10 Pant, the Anorak and Jacket are designed with mobility in mind and have little “hem lift” while reaching high overhead.
After over a year of testing on some of the harshest alpine terrain around, including climbing and jumaring several thousand meters of rock and ice, hiking hundreds of kilometers, and shuffling up more wide cracks than I’d care to admit, I am sold on the M10 Storm Pant for its range of motion, weather-proofness, and reasonable price. And though I am still climbing in my original pair, I’ve already bought two more—I’m sure these pants will soon be in high demand.
Pros
- Best-in-class mobility
- Waterproof and windproof
- Surprisingly durable
- Reasonable price
- Free from “forever chemicals” (PFAs)
Cons
- No women’s-specific fit (seriously: we know who “unisex” is designed for)
- Repair tape like Betrafol/Tuct Tape doesn’t stick well to the exterior fabric. The pant’s interior sticks to tape a little better.
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