Tested and approved by the 686 team, it’s easy to see why the Gore-Tex Stretch Dispatch Bib is a 2022 Platinum Pick; it offers comfort, easy mobility, detailed features, and 2-Layer Gore-Tex. Oh, it looks wicked sharp, too.

What comes across as handy is no accident in the 686 Gore-Tex Dispatch Bib. Designed by Japanese Guides and tested in Mammoth by the Unbound Terrain Park crew, by default these bibs earned a stamp of functionality and durability par excellence.

If you have never had the pleasure of wearing a pair of bibs in the snow, you might want to reconsider a few life choices. Yeah, while interior ice belts and wet underwear after an avalanche of snow invades your pants can be thrilling, there is a better way. With super comfy, adjustable overalls and a wedgie-eliminating stretchy back panel, there is a noted difference, not only in comfort level but in mobility, as well. And rest assured, no snow is getting in these puppies.

Technically speaking, these bibs are constructed with 2-Layer bluesign Approved Gore-Tex Stretch Fabric, which is a lot of words and even more science, but to you and me it means: one, you’re not getting wet; two, any moisture inside—that is to say, sweat—is able to evaporate through the one-way permeable fabric; and three, they are stretchy enough not to bind up on the bootpack. In combination with chest pockets for radio and transceiver, these bibs are not only going to cut it on the lifts, but are ultimately geared toward the guy who puts serious time in the backcountry, as well. And with the heavyweight, reinforced knees and wraparound kick panels on the cuffs, they will take the skin track as seriously as you do. – Nate Deschenes