Best Ski Gloves And Mittens

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Picture this: you plan a fun day of skiing with your family or friends and everything goes just the way you had imagined—except for one tiny problem. Your ski gloves are not doing their job and your fingers are cold the entire time. Regardless of how well you are wrapped up, cold fingers and hands can completely sabotage an otherwise perfect day on the slopes. This is where a quality pair of ski gloves or mittens can come to the rescue.

If you are thinking that your ski gloves are just like any other gloves and nothing to put much thought into, think again. A quality pair of ski gloves or mittens are of paramount importance, especially for those who indulge in skiing frequently. Moreover, a lot of careful consideration needs to go into choosing the right pair of ski gloves—it is certainly not a one type fits all kind of deal.

However, there is no need to get intimidated by the technicalities of buying ski gloves. To make the process easier for you, our team tested and reviewed a number of ski gloves and compiled a list of the 5 best ski gloves and mittens. Read on to find out our top picks.

Best Ski Gloves and Mitt

Gordini Cirque 3-Finger Mitt
Max warmth without restricting dexterity
Swany X-Plorer Glove/Mitt
Warmth, light and wieldy
Seirus Heated Atlas Glove
Ideal for skiers whose hands freeze up easily
Black Diamond Solano Heated Mitten
One of the best ski gloves
FlyLow Oven Mitt
Incredible value for money

Our five recommendations

Gordini Cirque 3-Finger Mitt

Gordini is a name familiar to all skiing aficionados and for good reason—they have been an industry leader since the release of their first pair of mitts in 1970.

Consistently providing quality and durability, the company produces a range of skiing and snowboarding gear. The Gordini Cirque 3-Finger Mitt is one of their very best, packing in maximum warmth without restricting dexterity.

The Cirque 3-finger mitt was designed in collaboration with freeskier Julian Carr to meet his standards of the optimal warmth and feel. Both its shell and accents are crafted out of 100% genuine, responsibly-sourced goat leather from a licensed Leather Working Group partner, giving it an authentic look and feel. The ribbed knuckle padding provides additional support, adding to its durability. The glove is available in three appealing colors—black, buffalo, and royal blue.

These mitts come with the PrimaLoft Gold synthetic insulation—a brand known for its warm, soft, and supremely durable insulations the world over—so having cold hands should be the least of your worries. The moisture-wicking lining is a fine addition, particularly useful for those whose palms tend to get sweaty easily. The neoprene cuff facilitates just the right amount of thermal regulation and the hook-and-loop closure ensures that your mitts stay on securely and do not call for frequent readjustment.

Attesting to Gordini’s environmentally responsible and sustainable manufacturing process, both the moisture-wicking lining and the PrimaLoft synthetic insulation are bluesign approved. The bluesign system provides for safer and more sustainable working environments and traces the production process from start to finish, making necessary improvements along the way. This guarantees that the finished product that you receive is ethically produced.

The leash straps and carabiner loop on the Cirque 3-finger mitts are a testament to the company’s immense attention to detail. They make carrying and storing them significantly easier and also prevent inconveniences such as dropping your mitts from the chairlift or losing them.

These mitts are available in a wide range of sizes starting from S all the way up to XXL, so you do not have to worry about not being able to find the right fit.

While 3-finger ski gloves often mean having to compromise with dexterity and free movement, that is absolutely not the case with the Cirque mitts. They are designed with dexterity in mind, so you can rest assured that they will not restrict the easy movement of your fingers. The Gordini Cirque 3-finger mitt is built to last you years and keep your hands dry and toasty during the coldest of skiing sessions. All this comes at a highly lucrative price point and with a limited lifetime warranty—all the more reason to have them in your ski arsenal.

Swany X-Plorer Glove/Mitt

Next on our list is a company that specializes in ski gloves and mittens. Swany is backed by close to a century of experience designing and manufacturing premium quality mitts and gloves, claiming to “make warmth for the world”. 

They have a huge assortment of products to choose from, but we decided to test their most popular one yet—the Swany X-Plorer, available as both gloves and mitts.

The X-Plorer is a crowd favorite among pro athletes and ski enthusiasts alike and it is not hard to see why.

Both the Swany X-Plorer gloves and mitts feature the signature Swany soft shell, making them light and wieldy. The smooth grain LeatherShield sidewalls, Fourchettes, and palm gives you perfect grip while packing in maximum heat.  While the mitts could have been more efficient with a 3-finger design, the light build of the product ensures that it does not severely compromise dexterity.

The Swany X-Plorer mitts and gloves pack quite a punch in terms of innovative and extremely useful technology. The Tri-Plex Alpha insulation system combines three different weights of PrimaLoft insulation that is thicker on the back for added warmth and thinner on the palm for optimum dexterity. The Dryfinger II waterproof breathable insert on the back of the gloves/mitts is a monolithic membrane that comes with a heat reflective shield wicking moisture and allowing perspiration to evaporate while protecting against water, wind, and snow.

A feature that sets the X-Plorer apart from its competitors is its Polygiene lining that inhibits the growth of odor-causing microbes and bacteria, keeping your hands completely odor-free and reducing the amount of maintenance that needs to go into the product.

One of the best features of this product, in our opinion, is the signature utility heat pocket with AquaGuard lock down zipper which allows you greater control over your comfort. 

You can either leave the zipper open to vent if you would like to cool down or insert a hand warmer into the pocket and fasten the zipper for some added warmth. If leaving the zipper open, you need not be concerned about the snow as the Dryfinger II lining continues to do its job of keeping your hands dry.

The Swany X-Plorer also showcases the highly effective stem-finger construction that creates a dead air-space at every finger tip, making sure that each of your fingers stay toasty the entire time. The quick-release strap on the cuff promises a snug fit and the buckle is smooth and easy to unfasten. The SpeedDraw system can also help secure your gloves or mitts in place and doubles as a connector that can hold both gloves together for easy storage. This product comes in a wide range of color options and sizes, so you will have plenty of options to choose from. Finally, the nifty leash at the end of the cuff keeps you from losing or dropping the mitts or gloves.

All in all, the Swany X-Plorer perfectly blends comfort, warmth, and dexterity with its premium-grade design and innovative feature set, and a reasonable price and extreme durability really seals the deal.

Seirus Heated Atlas Glove

Seirus has been designing and manufacturing cold weather gear and outdoor technology since 1979 and has been able to carve out a name for itself with its innovative and superior quality products.

The company was among the first to come up with the concept of insulating gloves with an active heating system. 

The Seirus Heated Atlas glove features such a system that is ideal for skiers whose hands freeze up easily.

Right off the bat, the Seirus Heated Atlas glove has a soft shell made of a mechanical poly stretch fabric that is not only breathable and waterproof but guarantees a comfortable and snug fit, perfectly hugging the natural contours of your hands. In our experience, the stretchiness of the fabric enhances dexterity although it is somewhat less durable compared to a genuine leather build. The premium quality shell encloses 240g of Heatlock insulation, but that is not even the best part.

The majority of the warmth in the Seirus Atlas comes from a state of the art active heating system powered by the trademarked Flexible Fusion heat panel. The panel evenly distributes heat throughout the glove, reaching every nook and cranny. You have complete control over the degree of warmth with the liberty to choose among three heat settings—green which provides low heat for 6+ hours, yellow providing medium heat for 4+ hours, and red providing high heat for 2+ hours.

This revolutionary heating system can therefore successfully keep your hands warm and comfortable even in sub-zero conditions.

You may be thinking that a heat panel must definitely make the glove unusually heavy and unwieldy. With the Flexible Fusion heat panel, however, that is the least of your worries. Both the panel and the battery within are light and thin, having close to no impact on the overall weight of the glove. The battery takes 4 hours to recharge with a USB adapter that comes included with the gloves.

The palm of the Seirus Heated Atlas glove is made of a durable ToughTek fabric—a fabric that is leather-like, abrasion-resistant, and made of 100% polyester backing with a rubber outer coating. Other useful additions include the adjustable strap that provides a snug fit and keeps out the cold and the leash that makes carrying and storing the gloves easy.

Available for both men and women and in 4 different sizes—S, M, L, and XL—the Seirus Heated Atlas Glove is one of the more affordably-priced heated glove in the market that helps you find your optimum comfort zone so that you can ski comfortably under the harshest weather conditions.

Black Diamond Solano Heated Mitten

If you are an avid climber or skier, you are bound to have used or at least heard of Black Diamond equipment at some point.

In a 2020 SNEWS Retailer Survey of 136 independent specialty outdoor retailers, Black Diamond was ranked as a leading brand across several climbing product categories.

The Black Diamond Solano heated mitten is a premium mitten that is another chief contender for the title of the best ski gloves and mittens primarily due to its active heating element. These mittens embody all the best qualities of Black Diamond products from robustness and durability to functionality and an eye for detail.

The Solano heated mitts come with a sturdy and durable goat leather shell along with a two-layer Pertex Shield nylon gauntlet-style cuff that is lightweight, breathable, waterproof, and windproof. The back of the mittens are lined with 200g PrimaLoft Gold insulation and the palm with 100g PrimaLoft Gold insulation Eco.

The palm lining also comes with a Grip Control technology for better grip and added dexterity.

The premium goatskin shell is further backed up by a Gore-Tex insert which is a breathable, durable, windproof, and waterproof fabric made out of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene or ePTFE. Being a microporous material with fantastic weathering properties and low water absorption, the Gore-Tex insert allows the Black Diamond Solano mitts to stand up extremely well to harsh weather conditions.

The supplemental heat deployed throughout the mittens by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery is what makes the Solano mitts the quintessential skiing gear, especially for those whose hands tend to get cold easily. This heating system leverages the concept of countercurrent exchange, that is, the transfer of heat by positioning the heat source perpendicular to the blood flow in the wrist. 

The heat thus wraps around the wrist and your body gets the impulse to keep itself warm. The degree of heat deployed can be controlled with an integrated LED switch. With this switch, you have the liberty to choose among 3 settings—green providing low heat for 8 hours, orange providing medium heat for 4.5 hours, and red providing high heat for 1.5 hours. The heating components are concealed behind a waterproof zipper situated in the cuff section.

Our qualm with the Solano heating system is that it is a bit on the bulkier side leading to the mitts being slightly heavy. Each pair weighs in at 462g, making it a hassle to carry around. Another flaw is that the heating system interferes with your avalanche beacon when it is within a 0.5m range. The price can also be a deterrent for those who are looking for a budget pair of skiing mittens.

Other than that, the Black Diamond Solano Heated Mittens can be a fantastic choice if you are looking for something that can withstand years and years of heavy use and keep your digits warm and comfortable on the slopes.

FlyLow Oven Mitt

FlyLow makes some of the best budget outdoor gear in the market and the FlyLow Oven Mitt is a testament to just that.

If your hands run cold rather easily, then these mittens can be just the thing for you on your skiing sessions. Trendy, tough, and reliable, the FlyLow Oven mittens excelled in our dexterity tests from opening and closing zippers to tying the laces on our snow boots.

The Oven mitts come with a sturdy pigskin leather outer shell that is coated with Sno Seal beeswax and triple baked to make it waterproof. The wax does wear off with a few months of heavy use, but can easily be reapplied at home.

While the pigskin in itself provides sufficient warmth, the mitts are lined with a Spaceloft Micropuff insulation for extra heat. The material, however, is not very breathable so it is not ideal for slightly warmer weather conditions or for those whose hands tend to run hot or get sweaty.

In terms of features, these mittens are fairly simple and straightforward. The elastic cuff ensures that it sits comfortably around your wrist and keeps the cold out. The pigskin construction makes these mittens exceptionally durable.

Overall, for such a low price point, the FlyLow Oven Mitt provides incredible value for money.

Closing Thoughts

We have covered some of the best ski gloves and mittens currently available across several different price points so that you can find one that suits your use case scenario regardless of what your budget is.

Be sure to consider factors such as how frequently you intend to use your gloves/mittens, how warm or cold your hands tend to get, how often you are looking to switch your gloves/mitts for a new pair, and so on before making a choice. Weighing these factors and the pros and cons of each product will ensure that you extract the maximum value out of the pair that you choose.

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