La Sportiva Arrow Pant Review

We were recently sent the Arrow Pant from La Sportiva for our unbiased opinion of its use as an option for a good splitboard pant. In the past snowboard clothing has had a larger fit which doesn’t always function as well when touring in the backcountry. There are many alpine touring hardshell and soft shell pants that cater to alpine touring skiers. There is very little that caters to the small niche of splitboarders. I have found that having a good touring pant makes skinning more efficient, manages temperature better and protect better. That being said after trying the Arrow Pants over the last month with both a hard boot set up and soft boot set up, this is my opinion of the La Sportiva Arrow Pant.

My initial impressions of the La Sportiva Arrow Pant is that it reminded me of other touring pants with vents, thigh pocket, waist adjustment and hand pockets. There are also adjustable cuffs around the ankle, and gaiters to keep the snow out.  All standards in my opinion.  There are some differences you will notice. The material is GORE Wind-Stopper as opposed to a more waterproof GORE-TEX. The Wind-stoppers allows the pant to feel in between a hard shell and soft shell pant. It’s less noisy that a softshell but still provides waterproof, breathability, and wind blocking.

I am 5’10” and about 165 lbs. I am testing the medium, although I have also used the La Sportiva Roy Pants (which I purchased) I’m a size small and they fit very snug, but felt great and more efficient when ascending. That said, size medium was a perfect size that allowed me room for an additional layer underneath. I felt the waist was rather high cut and they were most comfortable when worn high on the hips. I also had a hard time keeping them high enough on my hips to where they felt most comfortable in long skinning strides.

The pockets were very small, so with much in them, seemed to restrict movement slightly in the hips. However, I did like the key attachment inside the left pocket. Something I think all snow clothing should have. The thigh pocket is also slightly restrictive. For someone looking to carry an avalanche beacon in the thigh pocket it may feel a little bulky. There is a single rear pocket with ample room for storing a wallet or snacks.

The knees are slightly articulated which makes climbing and descending very comfortable in the Arrow Pant. The internal gaiter keeps snow out and is adjustable with elastic draw cords. There are additional exterior buttons to aid in getting the Arrow pant over boots. For additional room, the side zipper can be unzipped to extend the cuff a little over an inch.

There are small mesh lined vents on each leg to dump heat. I would have liked these to be a bit larger for those really warm days.

The inside of the Arrow Pants is not lined or insulated. But as I mentioned before there is room for an addition layer

Overall, I felt like the Arrow Pant performed really well, and is a great option for splitboarding as a light weight featured pant.  They are designed to be more breathable than a similar snowboard pant.  These pants kept me dryer during high output activities.

Check out the links below to the Arrow Pants on La Sportiva website, we do get a small commission if you use the link below to purchase the pants.