Arc’teryx Sabre 3L ePE GORE-TEX Bib Pant

The first rays of sunlight illuminated the Elk Mountains on the periphery of Crested Butte Mountain Resort on a below-freezing December morning. My truck actually says it’s -15 degrees Fahrenheit, as I drive to the backcountry trailhead, trailer in tow. There’s 6 inches of fresh snow in town — meaning the backcountry likely (and hopefully) picked up triple those numbers. As I gain elevation, the temperature rises.

By the time I step out of the truck at the trailhead, it’s -10 degrees. I decide against layering a pair of puffy pants beneath my ski bibs. Once I start climbing above the inversion, the ambient temps will be considerably warmer. I’ve just gotta survive the 10-mile snowmobile drive to the start of the skintrack.

As I drive 40 mph through the frigid air, the Arc’teryx Sabre Bib Pant is pleasantly stouter than I expected, given how lightweight the fabric feels. Despite straddling the snowmobile seat, cold air wasn’t cutting straight through to my legs.  

Starting up the skintrack, I’ve ditched my shell jacket down to a midweight puffy jacket that fits snugly underneath my bibs. Kickturns are the name of the game today to reach the top, and the mobility of my bibs let me reach all forms of the splits on some of the more dynamic kickturns. This same freeride fit lets me charge on the downhill without the worry of snow getting in, even if my run ends in a tomahawk in the powder.

In short: The Arc’teryx Sabre Bib Pant ($700) is a perfect blend of lightweight, durable textile and comfort. The backbone of these bibs is the newly updated three-layer ePE GORE-TEX fabric, which is lighter, leaner, and warmer than the bib’s previous textile. The kicker is that the fabric is PFAS-free. There’s a light, 80-denier flannel backer along the interior, plus an integrated RECCO reflector. The construction is carbon-reduced thanks to recycled and Bluesign-certified materials.

All this comes together in a men’s winter bib that’s built with the mobility for freeride skiing and snowboarding, whether that’s a day carving up the resort or slashing through the backcountry. There might be better bibs for solely resort or backcountry riding. But with proper layering, I found that these bibs can handle everything.

Peruse our full picnic of men’s ski bibs in the Best Men’s Ski Bibs buyer’s guide.

Arc’teryx Sabre Bib Pant Review

Before I dove into testing this pair, I was skeptical. A common downfall of featherweight snow pants, especially living in a cold climate, is that they feel like nothing is there. When I’m actively moving and generating heat, minimal weight feels great.

But stopping in the alpine wind, or sitting on a long lift ride, in the freezing cold? Ouch. Arc’teryx added an 80-denier ePE flannel backer, which acts as a light insulation layer, so you can sit in the snow or on a chairlift and not feel the elements as close as they are. 

New in the 2024-2025 season, the brand rolled out the ePE GORE-TEX fabric in this winter bib, which is lightweight and thinner but packed with other qualities, too. While eliminating toxic chemicals, the innovative fabric has a reduced carbon footprint.

The fabric is also more durable. We all know that Arc’teryx is known for making the highest-quality gear for demanding mountain environments. And the Sabre Bib Pant is the next evolution of a top-of-the-line design.

I thoroughly thrashed these bibs across a range of conditions and activities — resort snowboarding, splitboarding, backcountry snowmobiling, and skate skiing — throughout 2024 and 2025.

At the tail end of last season, I pulled them on for late-April ski hut trips and big mountain spring ski lines. This season, I’ve coached an afterschool youth backcountry program, wore them on very cold December days in the backcountry, and used them for midwinter resort laps.

They’ve been a pal on a few rope drops at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. I’ve also used them on double-digit negative days at the resort — with puffy pants and a midweight puffy jacket underneath. I’ve also worn them on 50-degree spring missions with open thigh vents and no base layer. Ultimately, the fit, quality, and protection these pants offer kept me wearing them from one season to the next.

Fitment, Light Fabric

After spending a portion of two seasons in these bibs, they are, across the board, one of the comfiest-fitting and best-looking pairs of bibs in my arsenal. 

Freeride skiing and snowboarding demand a full range of movement to achieve peak performance. I found that Arc’teryx stepped up to make a truly freeride-focused bib here. The mobility felt great, and this pant is downright comfortable.

For reference, I am 5’8, 145 pounds, and wear a size small. It’s very form-fitting yet roomy enough to fit puffy pants beneath. On top, I can wear a midweight puffy jacket over my baselayers yet underneath the bibs. 

Above my waist, the upper bib’s fabric felt very lightweight. I noticed that the majority of the weight was at the reinforced ankle cuffs. The downside to a lighter-weight fabric around the torso is that you really feel the weight of whatever items are in the chest pocket. The bibs fit snugly at my hips without needing a belt, though the bibs do have belt loops if that’s needed. 

Comfortable Shoulder Straps

The low-rise chest and lean yet wide-enough shoulder straps feel streamlined. In my experience, this gives the bibs more mobility than other bibs that have higher- and wider-reaching chest fabric and denser shoulder straps.

Those adjustable, stretchy shoulder straps support the bib’s mobility. The straps have easy-to-use and quick detachable ends for getting in and out without a struggle. 

Pockets

The Sabre Bibs have a total of three pockets, which is relatively minimal but adequate for a lot of folks. But, I also think that a huge benefit of bibs is to utilize the fabric for storage.

There’s one zippered chest with a built-in beacon tether. And there are two zippered thigh pockets. The right quad pocket has a stretchy interior security pocket to keep a phone or beacon from sliding around within. The chest pocket zipper is 2 inches below the top of the pocket. I’ve found this helps prevent snow from falling into the pocket while it’s open. 

Overall, I don’t believe these bib pants were designed with storage as the top priority. The chest pocket is on the smaller side, especially for the upper portion of the bib only having a single pocket. It barely fits my iPhone 15 Pro Max. The lightweight chest fabric also means I really felt everything I stashed on my chest, and items like to shift around on the descent.

While the chest pocket has a clip for a beacon (also known as an avalanche transceiver), it doesn’t have an interior pocket to keep a beacon from sliding around inside the zipper pocket.

Alternatively, the right thigh pocket has a complementary security pocket for a beacon, but it doesn’t have a tether point like inside the chest pocket. This arrangement limits the options available for securely carrying both a beacon and a phone while maintaining the safe separation of electronics to avoid electronic interference. 

Bib Vents & Dropseat

These bibs excel on the skintrack, thanks to well-designed thigh vents. The left leg has a 13-inch-long opening with dual-way waterproof zippers. The right leg has a 22-inch-long opening that goes all the way to the top of the bib where it’s secured with a snap button.

That longer zip has three zipper pulls: two at the bottom allow the side opening to function as a vent. The third pull opens the dropseat and allows you to pull on or off the bibs.

You might be thinking, that’s a lot of zippers! But that customization allows for better heat management. On a warm spring day, I appreciated dropping open these huge leg vents while climbing a 3,000-foot south-facing bowl near Crested Butte, Colo.

Most often, I found myself partially opening the thigh vents as I climbed skintracks through deep snow and snow-caked forest branches. In that case, fully opening the leg vents would likely invite an undesired cooldown. Each zipper has a 1.5-inch-long pull for easy use with gloves or mittens. 

On long days in the backcountry, it’s not uncommon to need to use the bathroom — even in non-ideal spots or weather conditions. The front fly zipper has a 6-inch opening that zips up from the bottom. It also has a 1.5-inch-long zipper garage, or fabric flap, that covers the zipper pull and teeth. That flap helps keep snow or rain from entering the bibs when the zipper is open and hides the zipper when it’s closed. 

Durable: Cuffs & Gaitors

The meatiest part of these ski bibs is the kick guard on the cuffs, which have a Keprotec instep. This extra-stiff, extra-durable fabric helps keep the cuffs rigid and facing toward the ground, around the boot. When you’re in the backcountry ski touring or snowmobiling, the interior bottom edge of the pant leg gets worn fast. After a season of hard use, these don’t even have a scratch. That’s durability we can stand by.

Keeping snow off my boots was never a problem with these bibs. That’s thanks to the ultra-durable 100-denier Cordura PowderCuffs that fit perfectly over ski, snowboard, and splitboard boots. I’ve tested a lot of bibs, and these legs actually smoothly fit over a variety of boots, including thicker backcountry splitboarding boots.

From bootpacking spring lines to postholing and kicking snow out from around a stuck snowmobile, these cuffs helped keep snow out without a problem. Even if the gaiters were pushed up, the cuffs were protective. While wearing these bibs with narrower nordic boots, snow was able to slide up the interior leg. But nordic boots and deep powder don’t mix, so that isn’t a game-changer in my book. 

Critiques

Arc’teryx has done a great job updating the Sabre bib pants, but there’s always room for improvement. 

First, as a bib designed to handle the backcountry, it should ideally have a beacon clip and security pocket inside both the chest and the thigh pocket. That way, there are two viable options for tourers to carry their essential safety gear.

Additionally, there isn’t a lot of storage, with only three pockets total. This essentially allows for two free pockets if you’re using one for a beacon.  

The bib is only available in three colors: black, stratus, and forage. While black pairs well with any other color, all of these tones are relatively dark colors that don’t pop. Meaning, it’s easier for these bibs to be camouflaged against a forested backdrop, losing sight of them.

On the coldest days, whether I was on a blustery lift or snowmobiling on a groomed track, these bibs — which have a very light flannel backer — couldn’t keep the cold out. But strategic layering — which for me was puffy pants and baselayers — solved the issue. 

Additionally, this bib is pricey at $700. Browsing more economic and moderate price tags, you could get a full kit with bibs and a jacket for that price. Though, that sticker comes with enhanced durability, stormproofness, and a lighter, higher-performing fabric. But I would have liked to see a few more details, including additional pockets and beacon clips.

Arc’teryx Sabre Men’s Bib Pant: Conclusion

The Arc’teryx Sabre Men’s Bib Pant is a top-of-the-line bib for guys. This design is decked out with the latest environmentally friendly and recycled textile — the GORE-TEX ePE membrane — which eliminates the need for long-lasting perfluorinated chemicals included in the fabric. This bib also has RECCO and an anti-odor treatment. It’s decked out.

While there are lighter-weight tour-specific bibs, as well as beefier or insulated resort-oriented bibs, the Sabre pants are a true multi-sport option. Strategic layering allows skiers to handle most temperatures. And the three-layer fabric keeps out rain, snow, and wind so that you can focus on nailing your line. 

Ultimately, these men’s snow bibs are for someone who wants to spend top dollar on top performance. If you care more about unrestricted freeride movement than pockets or color schemes, don’t overlook this pair.