Alas, yesno more Ice Nine bibs. I have a pair, and they fit like an Italian suit. Beautifully made and detailed.
There are some good choices, though, if you’re willing to up the ante. For instance, Arc’Teryx makes a pair of pants called the SV Bib, which uses Gore XCR fabric. It’s designed as a climbing bib, but these would work fine as ski pants and have instep protection to guard against ski edges. But, they’ll hurt your wallet: $400 (www.arcteryx.com). Check with REI for any sale items, but don’t bet your house on it.
More wallet-friendly are the Sierra Designs Genesis 3.0 bibs, which use a proprietary waterproof-breathable fabric. All the features you want in a bibside zippers, elastic straps, big pocketsfor $260 (www.sierradesigns.com). Mountain Hardwear makes something similar using its proprietary Conduit fabric: the Recon Bib ($230; www.mountainhardwear.com), which is specifically designed as a snow-sports bib.
That said, I wouldn’t discount TNF’s Mountain Light Pants ($279; www.thenorthface.com) yet. They’re more of a pant with suspenders than a true bib, but use XCR fabric and are nicely made. TNF also makes a true bib called the Mountain Bib, $360, which you can find on closeout as it’s not now in their product line. I found some prices of $250 or so, which ain’t bad if you can find your size.