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In a nutshell
When it comes to options for keeping your hands nice and cozy, Hestra has you covered.
Intro
There are few things worse than calling a ski day early because you have cold hands, but keeping your hands warm for long days on the slopes or in the backcountry can be challenging. When you’re at the ski area, you need a mitten or glove that can protect your hands in all kinds of conditions and that will keep your hands warm even when you’re waiting in a lift line or shivering on the chairlift. And when you’re in the backcountry, you want your hands to be comfortable on the uphill and on the downhill, a balance that can be hard to find.
I feel like I’m someone who’s pretty bad at temperature regulation. My hands are constantly either too hot or too cold when I’m skiing and I am always on the hunt for better options to make my hands happy during the winter. This season, I’ve been swapping between three Hestra products. This review breaks down the pros and cons of each of these options as well as discussing what gloves and mittens I like to wear for different types of skiing.
Ergo Grip Active Wool Terry Gloves
These gloves are on the lighter size of the spectrum making them an awesome option for uphill travel and warmer days. I use them a lot on ski tours and find them to vent really well on the uphill when my hands are getting hot.
These gloves fit my hands well so I have maximum dexterity which makes it easy to transition bindings, rip skins, and work backpack zippers without taking the gloves off. So these are a good option for days where you need to use your hands a lot and don’t want to be constantly pulling off bulky mittens.
These gloves don’t offer tons of protection from wind and do not have as much insulation as bigger gloves, they’re not going to be the best option on freezing days or if your hands tend to run cold. But if you’re looking for a work glove that vents well and allows you to maintain dexterity, then this is a great option for you.
“Mitten or glove?” is a common question in the world of outdoor winter sports. But why choose? A 3-finger glove straddles the mitten-glove divide by having more finger dividers than a mitten but not as many as a glove. And I really dig that gray area.
Hestra’s Fall Line 3-finger gloves are quite warm thanks to a hardy leather shell and a cozy, warm interior. The liner is actually a five-finger glove that then fits into a three-finger shell. This helps maintain finger dexterity while increasing warmth thanks to grouping fingers together inside the shell (like a mitten). The outer shell is also great at buffering against wind and moisture from wet snow. Similar to the Ergo Grip, when I wear these in the backcountry I can fully transition from uphill to downhill without taking these off. On colder days this is awesome and my hands have been staying nice and toasty thanks to these.
The biggest downside of these gloves is probably that they can be too warm for the skintrack. Unless it’s absolutely frigid, I usually reserve these for downhill or resort use only as they’re so warm that my hands will get really sweaty on the uphill.
Hestra’s Army Leather Extreme Mitten is a heavy duty option designed for really cold days.
These mittens feature a high cuff that you can cinch down around your forearm to protect against cold and snow getting in any gaps in your layers. This is great for days where you don’t need to shuffle layers a lot and plan to spend a long time out. I really liked how protective these mittens felt when I cinched them down over my sleeves.
These mittens are harder to maneuver in and I was not able to do a backcountry transition wearing them and I have to remove them to fiddle with jacket and pocket zippers and adjust my goggles strap. So the added materials definitely compromises the mobility and dexterity of your hands in these mittens.
I was stoked to try these mittens on a really cold day of skiing at Alta recently but was surprised to find that they weren’t as warm as I expected. While I loved the added protection from the high cuff, I found myself wanting a little more insulation and wind protection while I was on the chair lift. I think part of this might come from these gloves running bigger than the same size in other Hestra models and so maybe they’d be warmer if I sized down. But I was surprised that they weren’t as warm as they look.
The Bottom Line
There’s no perfect glove and what your hands need can vary a lot day-to-day depending on conditions and what kind of skiing you’re doing and what season you’re doing it in. So you’ll likely want a couple different options to fit different needs. I generally like to have 2-3 glove and mitten options that I really love and can choose from for different activities. In building this line-up, I primarily think about warmth and dexterity. I want an option for cold days where I just need to keep my hands warm. And I want an option that allows me to maintain dexterity so I can keep them on during backcountry transitions.
In my experience, Hestra offers great options for every type of glove and mitten you could think of. So if you’re on the hunt for warm, high-quality hand protection for the slopes, Hestra is a great option. If I had to recommend just one of the three products above, I would choose the Fall Line 3-finger gloves. I think they strike the best all-around balance of warmth and dexterity and will be a good option for most types of skiing throughout most of the winter.
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