Montane Extreme Mitt - AW22

Product Information

The idea of carrying two gloves is to keep the warmer pair as dry as possible. When winter climbing, on particularly wet days, I’ll travel with a third pair that I can switch over at belay stances, or when my main gloves become a little too damp to perform. In short, gloves tend to offer more dexterity, but less insulation, whilst mitts offer more insulation but less dexterity.

The palms of the mitts have a grippy reinforced material that seems fairly hard wearing (so far) but we don't think it has quite the beef of a real leather palm (get it!). Our test team climbed Scottish grade V in these bad boys, as well as days skiing, and the obligatory wet walk-ins and outs! They have performed excellently throughout and it was actually very hard to tell the difference between these and 'Best in Test' winners from Mountain Equipment. They were very very similar in spec. That’s why we’ve pulled together this list of key factors for Montane Extreme Glove below, to help you choose if it’s the right product for you and your budget. In this review we've looked at warmth, dexterity, water resistance, durability and overall design. We've climbed, skied, hiked and camped in these mitts at low temperatures and in terrible weather, and here are our findings. Ever wondered what it takes to survive the extreme elements that you’ll find in the coldest places of the world? To find out we asked 2 cold adventure experts, who between them have unrivalled experience of exploring challenging conditions in the depths of winter.

Pages

The leather feels quite soft in comparison to some of the other gloves here, like the Rab Guide – so it’s perhaps a little less durable. However, this makes the glove feel nicely dexterous straight from the get-go with that worn in comfort felt from day one. Full Specifications Insulation-wise, Helly Hansen have chosen PrimaLoft Gold fill – 80g of it – which means good insulation even if moisture has managed to creep past the waterproof liner. They’ve coupled this with a very comfortable microfleece lining. Full Specifications It has touchscreen usability built into the finger and thumb and a generally dexterous and light feeling meaning that phones can easily be held and used.

The warmth was excellent, easily up to the job in Alpine winter, Scotland and we would love to take them to the Greater Ranges, confident the UKC review budget would take more of a battering than our hands would in these warm, tough and fairly dextrous mitts. Rab have built the Guide Glove in a pre-curved way that fits the natural shape of your hand to ensure your ability to clench or grip isn’t affected too much by the leather reinforcements and insulation. Price – as you’d expect the price of a product can be an instantly recognisable factor on what sort of quality you can expect. Whoever came up with the phrase “you get what you pay for” pretty much hit the nail on the head. Whilst it’s not always the case and there are many bargains to be had, you can as a general rule, expect the higher priced products to offer better quality than a the cheapest option. We’ll dive into the price of Montane Extreme Glove in more detail in a moment. The palms are reinforced with a grippy, rubbery material that is fairly robust, but not as tough as leather. We wouldn't want to climb tens of rough Cairngorm routes in these. One thing is for sure, there isn't a bad mitt in this bunch, but some were better than others, and some were more suited to specific tasks. Read on to find out which mitts won our best in test, and why.Be aware that the Pertex outer fabric might offer good breathability and dexterity but it won’t have the same kind of durability that some of the other gloves here can boast – the Rab and Salewa for example. The leather on the palm is also quite thin. We couldn’t see this withstanding consistent abuse from climbing or skiing. You do pay a premium and give up a little breathability with increased waterproofing, so we’ve included a few non-waterproof gloves in this test. These are more suitable for winter walking/running where you’re spending little time with your hands on snow. When buying gloves, the quality of the product is going to be one of the factors that you really scrutinise before you commit to buying. The little extras were all there with Mountain Equipment obviously trying hard to make these the perfect mitts. They have small tabs for clipping them on to a 'biner, and carrying them on your harness (cuffs pointing down, no snow inside), and they have a really nice elastic wrist loop, and an effective one-handed cuff closure system. Our only tiny criticism of these mitts was that the elastic on this was a little long, so when we pulled them tight it was a bit distracting - answer was, we cut 3cm off the end of the elastic - job done.

Another factor that can be a great indication of product quality is the brand. Brands like Montane are of course extremely well known, especially for gloves. Helly Hansen have designed the Ullr Leather HT Glove as a ski glove, but, like the Columbia option here, that doesn’t mean that it’s unsuited to a winter walking or climbing environment. A no-fuss beast of a mitt – you know something has been built with durability in mind when the stitching consists of Kevlar (the same material used for bulletproof vests). A tough outer fabric and strong goat leather across the palm both combined with a blend of pile fleece and PrimaLoft Gold for insulation make this built to take on the harshest of Scottish winter belays. Nothing is going to get past it. They were quite big for the size, and we liked the roomy nature of the Crew Mitts, and we found them fairly dextrous too. They didn't win simply because they weighed a bit more than the other mitts. When in use we couldn't tell at all (what's 100g!) but in the specs table it became clear they were tipping the scales at over 300g - well you get durability for your weight with these well built bruisers.

Blog Archive

Aside from the choice between a mitt or a glove, insulation also has a big influence on how dexterous a glove is. In short, more insulation equals more warmth, but that trade off is a less flexible glove. You’ll have an idea yourself how much insulation you require. The glove feels very light and nimble, with a supple goat’s leather palm that has been further reinforced with quality leather from Pittards (a leather supplier that’s been around for 200 years) around the thumb to survive constant use with climbing tools. It’s fairly beefed up, but despite this, there’s still good dexterity. It has a very slightly pre-curved construction and the leather is supple enough without being flimsy. This covers the whole palm and then wraps around and over the index finger. PrimaLoft Gold insulation / Pertex Shield / Kevlar stitching / split-finger lining / BDry waterproof insert. People are often surprised when I tell them not to forget their sunglasses when they are heading to extremely cold places, a rookie mistake if there ever was one! The sunlight at high latitudes and altitudes is usually incredibly bright, especially when you consider the pure white reflection off the snow and ice. As with sunburn, don’t be caught out by the temperature or clouds up above. In a recent expedition to Alaska, one of my teammates experienced severe snow blindness which can be very painful and last for days. Protecting your eyes with sunglasses or goggles is crucial for safety. They also provide a great shield from the wind from moving ice and snow in polar climates. Eye protection should always be high up on your list of adventure essentials!