Women’s Ski Glove Shopping Tips
When you come to the women’s ski gloves and mittens section on Skis.com, you may be a bit overwhelmed. We get it, there are a lot of gloves and mittens to choose from! We know how important it is to have warm hands on the ski slopes and all winter long whether driving, walking, shopping or obviously skiing. We stock a lot of specialty women’s gloves made specifically for skiing, but we also stock many gloves for everyday use. Here we will go over some of the main refinements used while shopping for the best women’s ski gloves and mittens. Refinements are the boxes on the left of the page where you can select different types, colors, styles and more to sort and change the page.
Shopping by Brand, Price or Color
Brand: If you are looking for gloves made by a specific brand, you can select that brand using this refinement and the page will refresh with only gloves by that brand. For example, if you select “Hestra” from the Brand refinement list, you will only be shown Hestra women’s ski gloves.
Price: If you’re shopping for a gift or have a strict budget to spend on gloves, go ahead and use the “By Price” refinement; here you can select from a range of prices and only be shown gloves in that price range.
Color: This one is way cool. Here it is super easy to shop all the gloves we stock by the color predominately featured throughout. So if you choose purple, you will see all the gloves on Skis.com that are purple on the majority of the glove.
Shopping by Use
Under the refinement for “Use” you will see a couple of options for different types of women’s ski gloves:
Casual Gloves: These are going to be your drive-to-the-mountain and everyday gloves. Here you will find great offerings in women’s casual gloves from The North Face, Patagonia and more, with a variety of styles, such as leather ski gloves, synthetic, fleece and more.
Ski and Snowboard Gloves: These are going to be the real deal. Here you will find the gloves and mittens that are fit to be worn for a day out on the slopes of your favorite mountain.
Shopping by Type
If you know whether you prefer gloves or mittens, you can click gloves or mittens in this refinement and be shown only that type of hand protection. You can also opt to select glove liner as an option. Women’s ski glove liners are very important pieces of ski equipment that will go on underneath your regular gloves. Liners help keep your hands warm in the coldest temperatures and act as an additional barrier for moisture.
Shopping by Insulation
Finding the proper insulation in your gloves is vital to your comfort while skiing. Some skiers need gloves that with more insulation because they either get cold very quickly or tend to ski in colder conditions. In these instances, thicker insulation is generally a better choice. There are also different types of insulation though, each of which has their own pros and cons.
You can find particular types of insulation by using the refinements on the left side. You can choose from synthetic, down, heated, other or if you don’t want any at all, “none”. Each of these types of glove insulations have their own advantages, it just depends on what you are looking to use them for.
Synthetic: Synthetic insulation is the most common. It often has a brand name such as Thinsulate, Primaloft, etc. Regardless of the brand, a synthetic layer provides you with warmth even if the gloves are wet or damp. Gloves with synthetic insulation hold up very well, protects you from the elements and keeps you warm.
Down: Down is a natural insulation material that has very strong warmth-to-weight ratio. The disadvantage to down gloves is that it may not be very weatherproof. Down loses its insulating properties when it gets wet, making down gloves an especially viable option in dry climates. It is very important that down ski gloves are waterproof because of this.
Heated: Heated ski gloves have a battery-powered heating element that is used to keep your hands feeling toasty all day. Many heated gloves have a number of settings that you can use to adjust the heat of the gloves, so you can tune it to the perfect level to avoid overheating. These gloves are typically more expensive, but for skiers who always struggle with cold hands, they are the warmest ski gloves out there and will be a worthwhile investment.
Shopping by Waterproof and Breathability
Weather conditions can often change at a moment’s notice while on the mountain, so it’s important your gloves are ready for anything that will be thrown at you. Two of the best features for maintaining comfortability during extreme weather conditions are waterproofing and breathability.
Waterproofing: The waterproof rating of gloves tells how much water they can withstand before it permeates the exterior. Essentially, the higher the waterproof rating of waterproof ski gloves, the better it will be able to keep you dry in wetter conditions.
Breathability: Breathability in gloves is also great because it allows any sweat or moisture that condenses inside your glove or mitten to escape keeping your hands warm, dry, and comfortable. The breathability of a glove allows for much-needed airflow. Similar to the waterproof rating, a higher breathability rating will allow more sweat and moisture to pass through, keeping you dryer.
Shopping by Extra Features
Many gloves come with extra features for your convenience and comfort. Some have zippered pockets for disposable hand warmers that you can take out when the weather calls for it. Many gloves and mittens have grips and reinforcements located on the areas that get the most use like your palms and thumbs. Another helpful feature that is available on some gloves and mittens is a wrist loop attached to the cuff so you can let your gloves dangle when helping the kids with those pesky zippers or hanging out in the lodge.
All of these features mentioned have refinements on the left side navigation, so if there is one (or a few) features that you really want in your pair of gloves, you can easily search for them.
Now you know how to easily shop women’s skiing gloves by using the easy left-hand refinements. You know you can narrow down your choices of gloves by color, price and more. You have also learned the different types of women’s ski gloves we carry and their uses. Now, the only thing left to do is to get shopping!
If you would like to learn more about the different glove features, visit our Ski Gloves Buying Guide, and to find the perfect fit for you, check out our Ski Gloves Sizing Guide.
