Very-very strong, stretchy and warm fabric + functional (=beautiful) cut.
Opted for size MEDIUM (65kg/172cm, 29 waist) and very pleased with the fit. Cinch velcros on the waist (half way) and no need for extra belt, no weird wrinkles under the pack's waist-belt etc., smooth like my favorite relaxed chinos: not too baggy but definitely stylish. A bit long with a casual footwear (so fold a little and use draw cord on cuffs), but exactly what I needed for ski/trekking boots.

Cuffs fully loaded with features like hidden laces hooks, scuff protection patches, draw cords, riveted grommets to use it as gaiters and zippers to fit over the wider ski-boot cuffs - using all of them permanently!
Four mesh lined zippered pockets. My personal favorite - thigh pocket, big&deep and do not restrict freedom of movements when loaded.

Not the lightest&packable softshells so be prepared if concerned.

One minor thing I'd like to be changed - the front/thigh pockets zippers direction. As the pants are very flexible and stretchy these zippers become partially undone permanently when you are moving, and you have to constantly check-fix it. IMHO, if turned upside down this will not be an issue any more.

Anyway, very beautiful and functional pants.

The Cirque is a great and highly functional layer. I just mix climbed in it for 3 weeks in the Ruth Gorge and it performed well on all fronts. It's breathable material had just enough weight to keep me warm at belays and breathed well when I was on the move again. A great balance and the cut was great. Crampon patched in the cuff kept them tear free on the post holing descent.
Great pants.
I tied a stirrup through the eyelet in the cuff to keep the snow out while breaking trail.

Peter Doucette IFMGA/AMGA Guide and Outdoor Research Team Member

Its been a long time but the perfect pant is here. I was stoked from the moment I put them on and have been every on ice climb and ski tour. Try them out and see.

These are the best softshell out there that I have found. Used them for a 3 day alpine mountaineering trip in the tetons, and never took them off once, they handled snow, ice, rock, rain, and sun, and did it perfectly. All of the bells and whistles you want, and nothing you don't - they might make the hardshell extinct (but I love my Mentor pants too!)!

I went up Rainier last week. The weather was warm one minute than cold the next. With winds and some light rain at times. The Cirque pants paired with long underwear matched every condition I came across on Rainier. I was warm and dry with these soft shell pants.

I just used these pants on an 8 day Denali Prep course held on Mt Rainier in April. I was pleasantly surprised with how well these pants performed. I found myself wearing these pants all the time either by them self or layering them with long-under.

The pants did an great job of cutting the wind and not absorbing water during intense snowfall storms. I really like the location of the pockets and how the pants feel very trim with no extra random parts. The boot hooks are great for alpine climbing/mountaineering, helping to keep my pants down over my boots.

I would recommend black as my pair are the off-white color and got dirty quickly on a multi day trip.

I plan on using this pair of pants on Denali and all summer long while in the mountains!

I have used these pants primary for climbing. And they have been nothing other than a phenomenal product. Recently in Red Rocks NV on a climbing trip the temp's ranged from as low as 35 at night and 75 during the day and in high or low activity I was really comfortable in them. Which surprised me a lot. We also experienced some 60mph+ winds when up-top one of the faces and the pants preformed great with very little wind penetrating to me. The cut of the pants are very nice as well, all in the right places! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I cannot find anything bad to say about them...

Perhaps it's true that none are so holy as the newly converted; if so, than color me guilty for proselytizing the virtues of soft shell pants, and the well-designed Cirques. I just bought a pair and took them on a backcountry hut trip to northeastern B.C. for a week. My worries that I would freeze in the wind were unfounded -- the pants held the breezes at bay, even in single-digit temps (I wore exped. wt. bottoms beneath). I am a skinny, perennially cold person; staying warm is often hard for me.

The fit is good, if a bit tight with exped. wt. base layer (I'm 155#, 5'11"), zippers were easy to work (I had to continually zip/unzip the legs in order to open/close boot buckles for ski down/skin up), and the built-in velcro'd waist cinches were nice to have (though not a substitute for suspenders).

The value is good as well. I returned a pair of soft shell pants from a competitor that had cost the same, but which had none of the features of the Circue pant, e.g., zippered pockets, thigh pocket, scuff guards, wide belt loops, etc.

My $300 Gore-Tex pants stayed in the hut the entire week.