I’ve always found that while one generally gets that for which one pays, the variation in price of ski clothing FAR exceeds the variation in its quality. If you don’t care that nobody else in Ketchum is wearing the brand you’re sporting, the trick is to find the quality gear sans the nosebleed price tags and that’s Columbia’s game. Unfortunately they usually fall well short of the true value mark though and simply deliver reasonable quality at reasonable prices, which made me reluctant to give these pants a try.After some extensive shopping and a fair amount of disgust at the concept of ski pants that cost a goodly fraction of a season ticket in Little Cottonwood, I let go my resistance to Columbia primarily because with a 35” waist and 29” inseam I had a hard time getting a good fit elsewhere. Enter the Ridge 2 Run II in medium short and unpopular colors for less than $60 and I have a rare value winnah in my hands (a brace of them actually).What the what! They’re not perfect in that the zippers (particularly the vent zippers) could be more leak resistant for the ridiculous pow that we’re all chasing and maybe they’re a little more bell-bottomed that I’d prefer in an ideal world, but there’s an awful lot of quality here for less than $150 and unbeatable value at less than $75. The Omniheat gimmick actually works well, there’s loads of easily accessible storage space, they’re reasonably stylish, the fit will be great for anyone given the variety of sizes, and the water-resistance/breathability works as well as any of my higher-priced GoreTex gear.These pants are right up there with the better than Arcteryx, fully steamed sealed, excellently lined, and perfectly powder outfitted GoreTex shell I bought from EMS for $200 10 years ago that’s still in primo condition.Winnah indeed.