October 08, 2014

What is the warmest ski glove?

Somebody asked me the other day, "What is the warmest ski glove?"

I thought about the question for a second before answering, "A super thick goose down mitten placed inside another super thick goose down mitten."

Get a pair of these (see below) in the size that fits your hand properly, then get another pair that is 2 sizes bigger so the first pair fits nicely inside the second pair.

And this all presupposes these will be worn in very cold temps.

warmest ski glove

"But how are you supposed to use your hands to grip anything?"

I feign confusion for a moment, and respond, "I'm sorry, I thought you asked me what the warmest ski glove was."

The person asking the question, What is the warmest ski glove, is actually asking a very complicated question, which should be answered with a series of other questions and comments:

1) What do you intend to do, specifically, with these gloves? Resort ski, backcountry ski, snowmobile, snow kite, snow ball fight, winter construction, ski patrolling, sit-out-in-the-cold-and-drink-beer...

2) Do your hands tend to sweat a lot? If they do, you need to be very concerned about the terrible cold that most-of-the-time follows hand sweats in very cold conditions.

3) How much money are you willing to spend? It doesn't matter what the warmest ski glove is if you can't afford it.

4) The answer to the question is usually answered by a person trying to sell you something. And wallah, they have just your size in stock!

The reality and correct answer is, the warmest ski glove IN MOST CONDITIONS AND ON MOST DAYS is one that is dry, has sufficient insulation, but not too much, and the best dexterity and grip for the current activity that you are undertaking.

In trying to make the best ski glove for most conditions and most days, Free the Powder Gloves uses twice the density of insulation of your average cold weather glove, but in order to do so without afflicting you with the dreaded soon-to-be-frozen sweaty hands, we focus on keeping the glove as breathable as possible.

So my official answer is, the least expensive glove with the most insulation that breathes the best.

What about mittens?

Yeah, sorry, mittens... with what I said above...

 

How to Keep Your Hands Warm Skiing- Stop Cold Hands!