Initially my husband thought he was going to have to buy a pair of those puffy waterproof snow pants  for a winter trip to Colorado,  but these worked great.  Although we didn't do any actual skiing, we did go hiking through the snow and encountered high winds blowing snow off the frozen lakes.  He said the pants showed moderate resistance to the wind,  and he stayed warm and dry.  The pants were slightly high-waisted (or long in the crotch)  which may have contributed to their overall length being about 2 inches too long for his normal inseam of 30 inches.  We would have given these a five star rating, but we paid to have them hemmed.  In the end, they still seem worth the price.