The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Trousers Review

The Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers are a great looking, comfortable pair of walking trousers that are durable, wonderfully stretchy, dry fast, and look great — all while being easily convertible for wearing on practically any adventure, from summer hikes to Scottish winter mountaineering trips.

The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers

Ideal for: winter camping, winter hiking, very cold weather

Comfortable, stretchy and surprisingly hard-wearing, The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers are an impeccably designed pair of hiking trousers that are suitable for any four-season hikes and mountaineering escapades in the UK — if you’re prepared to pay the high price tag.

The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Slim Tapered Trousers Review

If you’ve ever headed out on a lumpy late-springs walk in a pair of Levi’s, only to feel the crippling grip of sweaty denim tightening itself over your thighs as you trudge up another hill, you’ll know the importance of a purpose-built pair of hiking trousers. And being comfortable, breathable, and resistant to wind and rain (all while looking pretty good to boot) — that’s exactly how we’d describe The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers: purpose-built.

Cleverly designed and built for purpose, The North Face clearly put some thought into these trousers. And while that shouldn’t necessarily be a surprise — The North Face are one of the biggest brands in the business for good reason — we feel like TNF’s sharp turn into the fashion world over the last several years has really knocked their reputation in the outdoor space (for us, at least). Truthfully, even though the brand is one of the most notable out there, it’s not a name we would instantly think of if we were on the market for a new pair of hiking trousers. But, following a series of product tests that we did this year on other The North Face lines, such such as the Summit Superior FutureLight trail running jacket and The North Face Trail Lite 2 tent, that’s beginning to change for us. The North Face are proving themselves to still be a true heavyweight in the space, delivering gear that’s not only well-considered and expertly designed but beautiful to look at as well. And the Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Slim Tapered Trousers are no exception.

Created from 90% polyester and 20% elastane, the Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers are soft ans stretchy. They come with two regular zipped trouser pockets for your hands, and feature an additional zipped pocket panel on the left leg. Though small, this is just about big enough to carry a small iPhone or some keys. The trousers also come with knee darts (which allow the trousers to move more naturally around your knee when bending, sitting or walking) and feature thicker polyester panels around the ankle and rear to reduce wear and tear in these areas.

Being convertible, the bottom half of the trousers can be unzipped and removed on warmer days and can be easily attached when the temperature starts to drop. What’s more, the ankles feature a drawcord adjustor so you can cinch them down tight over boots, and they also come with a zipper along the backside to dump heat if you need rapid ventilation.

One thing to bear in mind with The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers, however, is that they don’t come fitted with any belt loops. Instead, the trousers feature a tacky ‘Never Stop Exploring’ lining on the inside of the waistband which keeps the trousers sitting snuggly above your waist. Unfortunately, however, if you don’t get these in the perfect size, you may struggle to keep them in place — and you won’t have many other options for doing so, aside from potentially wearing them with a pair of removable braces.

Another potential downside is the price: When ordered directly from The North Face, the Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Slim Tapered Trousers will set you back £160. This makes them much more expensive than comparable models from other big-name brands, such as Mountain Equipment’s Ibex trousers or Patagonia’s Point Peak Trail Pants, and pits them up against more winter-ready and durable models such as Fjallraven’s Vidda Pro series or Mountain Equipment’s technical Mission trousers for winter mountaineering. So why the high price tag? And is the performance of these trousers worth the investment?

Our experience using The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Trousers

To test The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Trousers, we took these things on numerous hikes and walks around the UK through both the summer and autumn of 2023. We walked with them through driving wind and smatterings of rain on a multi-day walk across Dartmoor, we wore them on a sweaty summer’s hike across the Brecon Beacons, we wore them on numerous low-level meanders throughout the Chiltern Hills, and even had them on on a few rambles in the Swiss Alps. And all in, we really enjoyed wearing them.

The Good

The stretchy fabric affords excellent mobility, allowing you to move completely freely when trekking over uneven ground or scrambling up the side of a mountain. The pockets are strong, stretchy and easy to open or close, and the drawcords around the ankles allow you to cinch everything tight to stop the trousers riding up when scrambling.

Additionally, the tight fit means these trousers don’t flap about in the wind at all. They follow the contours of your legs and feel less affected by the wind than other trousers we’ve tried in this class. When walking across a blustery ridgeline, such as the Beacons Way or Crib Goch, this is something we were thankful for, as we never felt like we were going to lose our footing due to the Stolemberg trousers getting swept up in driving wind.

What’s more, the breathability of The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Trousers was also very impressive, especially when considering how well they keep whipping wind off your skin. When it got hot, we never felt clammy in these things, and the numerous means of creating extra ventilation (such as opening the zip around the knee or ankle) meant that we never felt the need to convert them fully into shorts.

Another feature that proved its worth was also the way The North Face designed the waistline on the Stolemberg Alpine Trousers. Initially, we were sceptical, as removing all belt loops/waist fasteners completely means that if they don’t fit perfectly, you’d be left with trousers that you just can’t wear. But, having worn these on long days out on the trail (especially when under a pack) the comfort is unbeatable: You get no pressure points anywhere along your hips, nor does anything press uncomfortably against your waistline when wearing a hip belt. With that in mind, however, it does mean that it’s important you get the right fit, so we’d highly recommend hunting these trousers down and trying them on in an actual The North Face shop instead of simply buying your usual size online.

The Bad

When it comes to criticisms of The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Trousers, the main thing we didn’t like was the look of the shorts. While the trousers look great in their complete form (albeit hyper technical), the shorts aren’t the best look, in our opinion. They extend below the knee which, whilst continuing to provide some extra protection, is a little too long in our eyes and we simply didn’t enjoy wearing them like this. Naturally, this shouldn’t matter all that much when you’re out on a hike in the middle of nowhere. But at this price point, we do believe that the Stolemberg Alpine Trousers should make you feel comfortable however you wear them. And we simply didn’t feel comfortable wearing these as shorts.

What’s more, the bold luminous yellow zips were also something we had to get used to. If we’re being honest, we really disliked these at the beginning, although they grew on us the more we wore the trousers. And though we’d still change these to blend in with the rest of the Stolemberg’s colour palette were we to redesign these ourselves, there is something to be said for easily finding a zipper when you’re descending a mountain in the dark with nothing but a headtorch for illumination…

The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers FAQs

Manufactured from 90% polyester and 10% elastane, the material of The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers is a thin and stretchy yet durable fabric that’s super comfortable to wear. That being said, it’s not very warm (nor is manufactures to be). Therefore, we’d recommend you wear some baselayers underneath these trousers if using them in sub-zero temperatures.
The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers are not waterproof trousers. They are water resistant and hold up well in very light rain, however. Made using The North Face’s FLASHDRY technology, they are quick drying, however, and highly breathable.
Costing £160, The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers are certainly on the top end of the spectrum when looking for dedicated hiking trousers for 3-4 season UK adventuring. When compared with other equivalent models from other brands, it’s hard to justify this high number, but if bought on sale or at a reduced price, we think they are a great buy that will inevitably put up with years of abuse outdoors.
The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers feel very durable. Ours still look like new, despite using them on numerous scrambles and pushing our way through miles of brush. Though thin and stretchy, the polyester and elastane blend makes for a durable softshell-like material that’s both pleasing to wear and very difficult to snag/damage.

Conclusion

The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Slim Tapered Trousers are a well-designed and super comfortable pair of walking trousers coming from one of the biggest brands in the business. Featuring a ton of smart design choices to increase comfort on a hike, they allow for maximum mobility and good protection from wind and light rain. What’s more, being fully convertible, you can easily turn these into shorts on days where the temperature rises, or you could wear them over baselayers for use on Scottish winter mountaineering trips. When compared to other trousers offering a similar feature set, however, the Stolembergs are clearly the priciest out there. And while the design considerations, comfort and big-brand feel of these trousers is arguably category leading, we think £160 is a high price tag for what you get.

The North Face Stolemberg Alpine Convertible Trousers Review