Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board What type of winter gloves do you like?

Well, we are about as outfitted as we are going to get. We've got great, warm base layers..nice (warm) secondary layers and good jackets. We have warm hats and balacavas in case it gets really frigid at night in our tent. We have a few foot/hand warmer packets to throw in our gloves/boots to help with the early morning hours as well. The only real question I have is whether our gloves are up to the task. We both have North Face Pamir gloves, which are "windstopper" gloves that claim to be pretty warm. That said...I'm wondering if they will be warm enough? I know, it could be 70 degrees up there...but it could also be 0 (or less!) so I'd rather carry something and not need it than need it and not have it! What say the experts?

Here's a link to the glove we have:

<a href="http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47534745&parent_category_rn=40001352&vcat=REI_SEARCH"> Pamir Glove </a>

Thanks..as usual..for the great input!

Less than a week now!

BeachAV8R

I usually wear a thin fleece "liner" glove and carry a waterproof pair in the pack. There have only been a couple of occasions where I've needed the second set of gloves (even in winter).

My concern with the gloves that you have is whether the palm side is water resistent. If you end up having to climb on wet rock (if the weather deteriorates), will your hands stay dry?

If I'm worried more about warmth than dexterity, I'll take mittens over gloves any time. I have a pair of Polartec mittens that I bought several years ago, and they keep my hands warm even under adverse conditions, such as what we ran into in 1996 on Mt. Ritter (see the Mt. Ritter pulldown on my <a href="http://www.mtritter.org">WWW site</a>)

Polartec insulates even when wet, dries quickly and is light in weight.

For real winter, I'd want waterproof overmitts to block the wind, and probably a pair of lightweight wool or polypro gloves under the mittens for when I need the dexterity to use my camera, etc.

I have a pair of TNF Pamir Windstopper gloves. They provide good grip and wind protection, but are not particularly warm or water resistant. A thin pair of polypro liners will increase the comfort range

Marmot makes a great pair of gloves that I use for ice climbing. Get the womens model, they have more insulation.

Thanks guys..I guess the ideal would be a 2-part glove that has an inner liner of Goretex/fleece and individual fingers...and then a water-proof Goretex outer glove with even more insulating properties...hmm..time to go shopping on the net' again!

Thanks for the input guys..

BeachAV8R

I like Marmots ultimate ski glove a little spendy about 150.00 but well worth the money

Gloves, just like all of our other equipment, come in many shapes sizes and thickness.

I wear some very thin polypro gloves when I just have to break the cold wind from chilling me: I use some old x-c ski gloves when it gets a bit colder and if I need to grab onto any cold wet rocks: but for all out cold I wear long thick wool mitts that reach halfway up my forearms and I cover these with a pair of large Gortex over-mitts.

Like most of the clothing options it is just a lot of common sense and layering.