What are the best gloves for skiing?

There are plenty of excellent ski glove manufacturers out there, most of them creating excellent gloves at a range of different prices. To find the best gloves for you, you need to decide on a price point that you are willing to spend. The top quality gloves such as those made by Hestra can cost as much as $150.

If you are planning a ski holiday at any time of the Winter or Spring, one of the essential purchases is to buy ski gloves. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because the sun is out and it looks like a warm sunny day, that it will be. At any point during the ski season when there is still snow on the mountain, the temperature will be chilly and you will need ski gloves – especially with the wind chill on your hands and fingers.

I can't stress how important it is not to be taken in by thick, warm looking, cheap gloves. If you spend anything less than $50 on ski gloves, you could very easily regret it! This is especially the case as a beginner when you will spend a lot of your time on your bum and with your hands/ gloves in the snow. At $50 there is no way your gloves are going to be waterproof, and they will barely even water resistant. If you purchase ski gloves that are too cheap and cheerful, you are going to end up paying for it later. Your fun cosy day wrapped up skiing is going to become wet, cold and miserable very quickly!

From my experience of working in ski shops around the world and seeing varying qualities of ski gloves on sale, I personally think for an adult pair of ski gloves, you need to be spending around $70 minimum. This will ensure your hands are kept dry from the snow, as well as kept nice and toasty from the chilly conditions.

Best ski Gloves

The best ski gloves available are made by a very select few manufacturers. The best brands of ski gloves you can get will be made by Hestra, Arcteryx or Black Diamond. Any gloves from these manufacturers are going to cost you a lot, but if you have a bit of extra money to spend, and you need the extra protection, its certainly worth spending the money for the extra quality. As well as this, these gloves are made to the highest standards and the highest quality, therefore you will have these gloves for seasons and season of skiing.

Hestra Army Leather Heli Glove

Hestra Army Leather Heli Glove are arguably the best ski gloves you can buy. Made with Goat leather on the exterior and an inner insulated layer which is removable, these gloves will keep your hands dry and very toasty even in arctic conditions. The durability of the goats leather and the warmth of the insulation is hard to match on any pair of gloves. The extended cuff is great for skiing in the backcountry and through powder, making sure no snow sneaks its way into your coat. The other added bonus of this glove is that it comes in 3 different forms. Have your pick from 5-finger gloves, mittens or 3-finger mittens.

If you’re interesting in finding out more about these gloves and buying them if this is what you need, visit the article Hestra Army Leather Heli Glove.

Arc’teryx Rush SV

Durable, insulated & comfortable are three words that encompass what the Arc’teryx Rush SV offers skiers and snowboarders. These gloves are made for the back country and for extreme conditions. Think of the depths of winter in central British Colombia or Alberta where it gets down to -30°C during the day on the mountain. These gloves provide incredible dexterity and comfort for being such large and well insulated gloves. This is often the disadvantage and drawback of having heavily insulated gloves, that you can no longer grip your poles due to all the padding! This is certainly not the case, and one of the reasons I love these ski gloves so much.

These gloves are fully waterproofed with GORE-TEX and even have a removable inner liner to make washing them easy.

If you’re interesting in finding out more about these gloves and buying them if this is what you need, visit the article Arc’teryx Rush SV.

Black Diamond Mercury Mitten

On the other side of the coin we have the Black Diamond Mercury Mittens which are possibly the warmest gloves I have ever worn. The caveat of this is that there has been a significant amount of dexterity lost for this warmth and comfort. How cold do your hands normally get skiing? It may be worth this sacrifice if you need the warmth. If you are snowboarder and won't be holding poles as you sail down the mountain, there is no real need for dexterity. It may be more important to consider for skiers who need to be able to grip their poles firmly.

If you’re interested in finding out more about these gloves and buying them if this is what you need, visit the article Black Diamond Mercury Mitten.

Outdoor Research Lucent Heated Mitten

If you want to go one up on well insulated gloves for keeping your hands warm, then there is always the option of buying heated gloves. Yes, as well as heated ski boots, it is also possible to buy heated ski gloves. Heated ski gloves come with an additional price tag as you might expect, and will be a little heavier than you might expect – this took me a bit by surprise, but you do need to fit a battery in there somewhere as well!

If you’re interested in finding out more about these gloves and buying them if this is what you need, visit the article Outdoor Research Lucent Heated Mitten.

Hestra Fall Line Leather Glove

Of all the ski gloves I have reviewed in this article, these gloves are the most compact and the most dexterous gloves. Although probably not the warmest of each of the gloves reviewed here, for the size of them ad the dexterity on offer, it is remarkable how warm these gloves keep your hands and fingers. The gloves are lined with a beautiful feeling fleece lining on the inside which make them a joy to wear! If you do suffer from cold hands in particular on the slopes, these may not be the gloves for you, and I would maybe recommend some of the other, warmer gloves on offer, but if you are looking for a super comfortable pair of spring skiing gloves, or if you don’t normally suffer from cold hands while skiing, then I would highly recommend these gloves for you.

If you’re interested in finding out more about these gloves and buying them if this is what you need, visit the article Hestra Fall Line Leather Glove.

Ski glove inners

If you are especially prone to getting cold hands, another essential purchase I would recommend is to buy glove inners. This is a thin extra layer worn underneath your ski gloves. Depending on how much you want to spend there are merino wool ski glove inners, though this is on the more expensive side of glove inners available at around $40. If you are looking for something a little cheaper you could pick up some cotton ski glove liners for around $25. While these won't be as good quality or as warm as the wool inners, having an extra layer of warmth will always help!

Have a look at the article Best Ski Glove inners to see what brands of inners are available and the sort of prices you can get them at!