Gloves??

It's about like torso shells and insulation: shells with liners are good for sloppy precip and wind; lighter stuff for milder conditions to take the chill off.

I use some Mountain Hardwear shelled gloves with micro fleece linings that are like a lined rain shell and perfect for cold rain. When I was doing a lot of cross-country, wool gloves with leather palms were good in dry conditions. I recently added some REI fleece mittens with fold-back finger tips and have some OR overmitts for them. I have yet to go out in weather cold enough to require them. I have them to try with snowshoeing.

Removable fleece liners are better for versatility, drying and replacement issues. The OR Versaliner gloves have been popular here and I'm waiting for a deal.

What works for us ski touring in the back country:

First of all, thick ski GLOVES are generally bad news. The thick padding around each finger restricts blood circulation, making your hands cold. The leather often found in ski gloves is even worse: it gets wet. Resort skiers don't need to worry about this: they have drying rooms.

You can get good light fleece liner gloves, about 100 weight, for not very much. Very often in fine dry sub-zero weather that is all we wear. One pair is enough for us. If necessary you can do quite a lot of things wearing these liners. Yes, they do wear out after a few seasons.

If you are going to fall over a few times, liner gloves will get snow on them and get wet. Fresh icy cold water is not nice. Put LIGHT-WEIGHT WPB shell mitts over the gloves. This is a good place for UL GoreTex mitts. Your fleece gloves will probably still get damp from condensed perspiration, but they will stay warm. Remove the shells when you can to let the liners dry out.

You can get heavy shell mitts as well, suitable for welding or ice climbing. Do NOT buy these. They are very cumbersome and they make holding ski poles very tiring. Frankly, I do not see anywhere they might be justified. Much marketing spin of course.

You also need some fleece mitts, about 300 weight. Note again: MITTS, not gloves. These go over your liners inside the shells when things get seriously bad. Yes, there are times when liners and shells are not enough and your fingers start to freeze. Don't let them freeze: you need them.

Sometimes you can buy shell/mitt combinations. The mitt may be attached to the shell with hook&loop fasteners. These are fine as long as the shell is light-weight. Too often the shell is heavy and inflexible. Don't buy heavy shells, ever.

I found it wasn't worth while making my own liner gloves. Just too much fiddly work, so I buy them. They are all made in Asia.

I have made my own WP/B shell mitts very easily, partly because all the commercial ones were too heavy. It can be useful to put a small patch of naugehide on the palm, but not too big an area. I also made some very light WP/B mitts using 120 d PU-coated fabric for 3-season alpine use. Really just rain mitts, but when the rain is at 0 C … I take them and UL liners on 3-season alpine walks.

I have made heavy (300 weight) fleece mitts as well, using a similar patter to the mitts, but getting the thumbs right is a bit fiddly. So if I found some good fleece mitts I would probably buy them. You might think 300-weight fleece is overkill, and indeed outide the winter ski season it might be, but in a storm at -15 C they don't seem that bad.

It could be worth while taking a ski pole with you when you buy this stuff. If you find the mitts are so big that holding the pole handle requires lots of finger strength, put those mitts aside and look for something softer. Remember, you may have to wear these for 8 hours continuous.

Cheers

Cross country skiers typically have their hands gripping the ski poles. As a result, gloves often take a beating in those areas of contact. But, as Roger pointed out, if you get a very thick glove in there, it just doesn't work. That's why a thin glove with some sort of thin shell over it is commonly seen on the ski trail.

For a long ski tour, we just can't afford to have our hands freeze up. So, we generally bring some thin liner gloves plus some medium gloves in case it gets cold. If it gets really cold, then you wear both pairs.

Besides, if you don't wear any sort of gloves at all, your hands may be subject to sunburn.

–B.G.–

+1 on mittens over gloves.

My experience is with snowshoeing.

I use two pairs of Polartec fleece liner gloves from L.L. Bean. These have been very good to me; extremely durable and low-profile, and warmer than anything else I've tried.

I rotate them; when one gets soaked from perspiration or snow, I put them into the chest pocket of my innermost layer and let them heat-dry from my body heat, and wear the others. I switch them about once per hour while hiking and once per 6 hours while camping.

When I'm in camp or when conditions get especially bad, I put a pair of insulated Gore-Tex shells on over the liner gloves. I have not had a problem gripping poles with these, but they aren't too thick. In my opinion, if you're going to snowshoe and then stop at camp in near-0* conditions, you'd better have insulated mittens. Otherwise, you will lose dexterity and risk frostbite. There almost isn't such a thing as overkill when it comes to sitting-around mittens.

I do not like Merino Wool for gloves; it falls apart.

I use a base layer glove, mid weight fleece glove and a mitt. Mitts are the way to go.
http://www.underarmour.com/shop/us/en/mens-ramius-ii-mitt/pid1203334

This works for cold weather hiking and snow shoeing – You aren't gripping the poles – you use the straps on the poles and only guide the poles' direction with your grip. I don't know how well it would work for skiing.

I use fingerless gloves over liner gloves. It works really well.

You want to know what is really, really bad for fingers?

Pulling snow stakes out and feeding poles back out of frozen tent sleeves! For these tasks you MUST have gloves. I have tried doing it with bare hands, but the pain!

Cheers

Max has it right. Shells with fleece or heavier pile liners are the best combo.

Carry at least two fleece or heavier pile liners and a pair of GTX shells.

When one liner is wet from sweat change it out to dry and use teh other liner.

GTX or eVent mitten shells with a thick pile liner are very warm.

EDIT:
I know some will question this glove setup. As a former XC racer and Nordic patroller I can say that, unlike tight, thin XC gloves, looser liner-and-shell combos DO work very well in back country situations where you do not extend your arms far back like an XC racer does. Shells protect the vulnerable liners from wear at the thumb and web area. Just be sure your shells can be secured at the wrist with a draw cord to keep them on when vigorously poling on skis or snowshoes.

I've settled on the lighter pair of mitts from RBH Designs, with either a light or medium weight liner glove. They're really light, but so far I haven't been out in cold enough weather backpacking to get cold hands. And I'm talking down to 0F or more.

What you use while skiing depends on your energy output. I typically use a glove (yes, glove), either light or medium weight, but that's just me.

ETA: they have a built-in VBL liner, which is very effective in keeping your hands warm in cold, dry conditions.

I find that while the details may change, many experienced winter outdoors people use similar methods. Mainly the combo of base liner glove with shell mitten over that. For colder conditions, a thicker wool or fleece mitten in between the two.

I'm no exception. :)

1. My base layer are wool surplus gloves. Inexpensive, reasonably durable and seems very forgiving of moisture.

2. OR shell mitts

3. Used rarely, but still glad to have them: A thicker inner wool or fleece MITT.

With this system, I've been comfortable in all kinds of winter conditions.

Now if only Colorado would get some decent snow. :(

Thanks guys.

All good comments, very much appreciated. And confirms the direction I was leaning.

Thanks especially for the specific suggestions on what you use or recommend. It is a monstrous task looking at the different models of shells online.

At the risk of asking a question with no good definite answer, given moderate exertion, at what temperature do you guys usually switch out the dexterity of gloves for the warmth of mitts?

Ryan,

The time to break out your mitten shells is when your gloves no longer keep you warm.

Simple as that. It will usually occur in camp, especially in the morning at around "0 frigid thirty". :o)

When cross country skiing, I will nearly always be moving with just thin glove liners on or else maybe some medium gloves if it is a little cold. When I come into camp and quit moving is when the heavy mittens come out, especially if I am trying to construct a snow cave. The mittens are handy when the shovels start flying.

–B.G.–