Helly Hansen Waterproof Emiko Snow Pants Deliver Value for Less Than $300

It was a ski day that started before the sun was up due to an oncoming storm. I chose Helly Hansen’s Emiko Shell Pants, knowing they’d be able to protect me from whatever dropped from above, be it snow or, more likely this early in the season, rain. Sure enough, when the downpour started with frigid wind, my legs were protected as I carved through the fog.

The Emiko Ski Pants are the brand’s mid-tier shell for resort skiers who need waterproof three-layer protection at an honest price. I put them through the paces of alpine skiing, telemarking, and nighttime touring. The weather conditions combined good weather and downright nasty alike. I came out on the other side appreciative of the build quality and reliable protection from the elements.

Still, Emiko had a few fit quirks I wasn’t thrilled with. Yet it would be silly not to toss them into the ring with the best budget ski pants on the market. While they’re not the absolute cheapest, they make a strong case for spending a few extra dollars.

In short: Helly Hansen offers ski pants for every skier type and budget. The HH Emiko Shell Pants ($260) land right in the middle at a reasonable price. After several days of ski resort testing and a few uphill laps, I was impressed by the stalwart protection. This fabric blocked Colorado’s wind and precipitation in all forms. A functional waistband, streamlined features, and impressive construction made the Emiko a natural choice for resort skiers on a budget. The only thing I didn’t like? Fit and mobility — the pants just didn’t fit or move as well as pricier options with better gusseting.

Helly Hansen Emiko Men’s Ski Pants Review

The Emiko Ski Pants are, as the name suggests, shell pants. They’re uninsulated three-layer hardshells whose material is right in the middle of the thickness spectrum. They’re not super-thin like packable ski touring-oriented hardshells, but they’re also not super-burly like Flylow’s Chemical Pants. It’s a happy medium that will make sense for many resort skiers throughout the full ski season.

Waterproofing: Top End of the Spectrum

Helly Hansen uses its own HELLY TECH breathable waterproof fabrics, available in three levels of waterproofing. The Emiko Shell Pants feature the highest tier, HELLY TECH Professional, with a waterproof rating of over 20,000 mm. That’s just shy of GORE-TEX Pro’s top-end membranes’ 25,000mm+ waterproofing, but it’s still plenty waterproof for skiing and snowboarding.

On the snow, the three-layer waterproof fabric proved protective from wind, dry snow, and wet snow alike. At no point did I feel like they weren’t up to the task of keeping the elements at bay. And my legs stayed dry while I was kneeling in the snow, admiring the early-season facets. They’re reliably waterproof. Sealed seams only add to the solid protection.

The three-layer fabric is decently breathable. The HELLY Tech Professional fabrics claim a breathability rating of 20,000 g/24hr/m2, shy of top-end GORE-TEX. After many ski days in variable weather, my legs stayed dry even while I was getting worked by early-season conditions. My lower half remained swamp-free even when I was pushing myself on non-stop T-to-B runs.

These are shell pants — meaning there’s no insulation — so I found that base layers were mandatory to manage my temperature. I run warm, and I can typically get away with a minimalist baselayer like Le Bent’s Featherweight ¾ Bottoms.

But I swapped in a heavier base layer for a few days that were significantly colder. That warm-enough combo pushed the Emiko pants’ breathability toward the upper limit during one extended bootpack. I didn’t approach the breathability limit while downhill skiing, though.

While the fabric is breathable, these pants do not offer any vents. That’s not usually a big issue for me at the ski resort during most of the winter. But they might hit a (sweaty) wall during the warm spring days if I’m not careful about my layering strategy.

Fit

While the material and build quality impressed me right away, I wasn’t equally thrilled about the Emiko Pants’ fit, especially in the hips. My 33-inch waist fit well in the size medium, but the seat, crotch, and thighs felt restrictive right away, even while sitting on the gondola. Did I go too small? Not according to the size chart, but the takeaway is that I wouldn’t size down in these pants at all. Size up if anything.

The hips and seat felt restrictive for anything except upright alpine skiing, and I was surprised by that because the Emiko pants technically have articulated knees and a gusseted crotch. They felt tight while I was dropping knees on my tele gear.

In every drop and every big compression on alpine skis, I could feel the pants restricting my waist, knees, and upper thighs. To be fair, my legs are pretty meaty, and I’m on the bigger end of medium. Still, there are ski pants that pattern the fabric to articulate in ways that facilitate natural skiing compressions and articulations. It’s worth double-checking that these ski pants fit your body type and skiing style.

I’m a stickler for waist fastening in ski pants, and I actually think Helly Hansen nailed it with the Emiko pants. Instead of a cheap belt or lackluster Velcro fasteners, the pants feature an elastic section on the back of the waistband, solid fly security, and good old-fashioned belt loops.

It’s simple, it’s economical, and it just plain works, assuming you have a good belt like my Patagonia Tech Web Belt. Good hip security was critical for keeping the knees and seat in place rather than migrating up and down. Without it, I may have busted through the seat or knees altogether.

Between the lack of vents and the lackluster articulation, the Emiko pants should stay away from the skin track. They’ll work in a pinch since they’re uninsulated, but they’re dedicated resort shells rather than pants that should venture too far from the resort boundary.

Pockets, Including an Insulated Phone Pocket

The Emiko Pants sport three zippered pockets — two hand pockets and a phone-sized thigh pocket. They were big enough for the odds and ends, even if they weren’t overly generous in terms of volume. The hand pockets were just big enough for a wallet, AirPods, and a Clif bar.

Because of the tight fit in the crotch and waist, they weren’t the easiest to access while sitting on the chairlift. When they were full, it only added to the pants’ restrictive hip fit. I ended up keeping as few things in there as possible.

The hip pocket added some storage options. It’s also low profile, but that worked well for my phone. Being snug in the thighs, the pocket’s opening wasn’t the easiest to manipulate with ski gloves on. Slipping my phone in and out required careful, forceful maneuvering while sitting on the lift. It was much easier to use the pocket while I was standing.

Inside the thigh pocket hides a few interesting tricks designed around a phone. The first is an elastic cord that connects to a rubber net attached to your phone. It was extremely tight on my iPhone, given my fairly robust case, but it did its job. I never dropped my phone on the lift (nor has that ever been a major concern of mine). The pocket also sports some insulation to keep the phone’s battery warm, which I deeply appreciated.

Conclusion

Ski pants are a critical piece of the layering puzzle to get right because you won’t be swapping layers once your ski boots are on your feet. Helly Hansen aimed for a thoughtful balance of material quality, protection, and price with the Emiko Shell Pants. Did they succeed?

I found the Emiko Shell Pants priced right, after several days of resort shredding across a wide variety of weather conditions and temperatures. First, the pros: They offer much better materials and build quality than cheaper pants like The North Face Freedoms ($170). They’re water- and windproof, and the gaiters kept the snow out of my ski boots as promised. The feature set is just what you need for resort skiing and nothing more.

The cons? They don’t offer the same articulation or fit of pricier options like the Flylow Chemical Pants. And with moderate breathability and no vents, they should stay inside or at least near the resort boundary.

That balance will be just what a big group of skiers needs for day-to-day skiing, who are looking to save some dough on men’s ski pants. Just remember to double-check the size chart and consider sizing up.