Excellent points JAK. I don't know why, but I am more comfortable in wider temperature range in wool versus other fabrics. My guess is wool does a better job than synthetics of moving body pirspiration away from skin to outside layers. But that's just a guess.

Looser knit wool pants - LL Bean and Woolrich may have what you're looking for. Bean has a good wool selection in their hunting section as opposed to the generic outdoor section. That said, you'll have a hard time finding this stuff in stores.

I think you're right about the marketing mode of "make everybody look like a mountaineer." That becomes a sexy backdrop to sell against with beautiful landscapes and rugged, outdoorsy types. The marketing also conveys the "if it works on everest it has to work in Fargo" message. Years ago the North Face really pioneered this style of marketing by sponsoring high profile expeditions and then featuring the expeditions in their catalogs.