Montane Extreme Mitt - AW22

Product Information

Gore-Tex / Pittards Atacama Goat leather / further Pittards reinforcement / PrimaLoft Gold – 60g/m2. 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. 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! The downside to buying online is that you can’t actually get hold of the product to try it out first.

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. There’s so much information available online when we’re shopping now, that it’s easy to find lots of detail about products like Montane Extreme Glove. This is of course really helpful, but there’s almost too much information available, so it’s important to know exactly what you’re looking for.

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. Gloves have individual fingers that allow you to move each finger separately. Mittens usually only have a separate thumb (although there are some on the market with a separate index finger that gives you increased warmth with decreased mobility. 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. 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.

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. At first glance these mitts look pretty chunky, but when you put them on you realise that most of the 'chunk' is behind the hand, meaning the Nebula mitts are surprisingly dextrous (for their size).It’s also worth bearing in mind that the amount of insulation required depends on the activity you’re buying the glove for. For example, a winter climbing or ski touring glove will need slightly less insulation than that of a walking glove. A glove that will be specifically used when sitting on belay ledges on the north face of the Ben will require a fair bit of insulation. We did come up with a negative for the Nebulas though, and that was fit. You can't go far wrong with mitts, as they aren't the most complex of designs, so of course the Nebulas went over our hands and kept them warm! But if we are looking closely then we thought that the mitt itself was slightly too narrow in shape, and the thumb section was hard to find with the thumb, and slightly too high up the mitt. Also we found the insulation or lining behind the hand on just one of the mitts seemed to fold over slighty, as if the inner was wider than the outer and didn't have anywhere to go. It could just have been our test model, so we'd say try before you buy. Mitts: perhaps not the sexiest of outdoor clothing, but if the weather is at its worst, or you suffer from cold extremities, then these are the things that will make the biggest difference to your hands.

Robert Pollhammer is the founding director of the notoriously challenging Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, billed as ‘the world’s toughest and coldest ultra’. Whilst Montane athlete Jordan Wylie has taken on several polar adventures, including the Yukon Ultra and, most recently, the Antarctic Ice Marathon. We've some of the best mitts on the market in this test, and although mitts generally break down really into two different types; the rugged waterproof Mitts that you can actually use for technical climbing (obviously not as technical as gloves), and the super-fatty pairs for those who are either wheezing up at high altitudes or want something for winter Alpine bivvies (masochists!), we've mainly covered type 1. The exception to this is the super lofty Berghaus mitts, which are very fat and very warm, but not dextrous. Read the review for full info! They have a really comfortable micro-fleece liner, and the Pertext outer fabric, whilst not as tough as the leather palm, certainly held the down well and was completely wind-proof. PrimaLoft Gold insulation / Pertex Shield / Kevlar stitching / split-finger lining / BDry waterproof insert. 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.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.

I've only had them out on a couple of day hikes so far but I do know one thing: these puppies are WARM! Really warm. The Primaloft insulation and pile lining mean almost instant warmth when you pull them on. Because they don't have a membrane they also breathe far better than most manufacturers 'Big Dumb Mitts'. My only concern with their design is how the Primaloft insulation handles any moisture build up on longer trips. We’re really pleased to have scored Montane Extreme Glove so highly, givimg it 9.5 out of 10, making it well above the average for all gloves. Whilst taking part in the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, I used the Punk Balaclava for the first time and it didn’t disappoint. As we know, a large proportion of our body heat is lost through our head so, once again, this is another essential piece of cold weather kit for climbing, hiking, running or any adventure where you are battling against the cold elements. “The Punk” as I like to call it, provides durable warmth and insulation, with breathability (nose and mouth) and true comfort is considered in the design. I have used it under both an outer shell hood and a helmet too without any issues to report, an absolute must have! 5. A good baselayer I’ve gone through heaps of gloves following my time spent crashing around the mountains. Almost all the failures have involved the palm or fingers wearing or splitting apart. This makes sense, of course. The palm takes the brunt of the wear whilst out in the mountains, so it always helps to have gloves that have a high quality leather – or something equally durable – in that area as well as clever stitching methods to avoid the seams splitting open. We imagine that this will begin to soften off over time as we use the glove over a longer period, but still, it might be worth considering sizing up here.

If you’re unsure then I’d err on the side of caution and go for a slightly warmer glove than you imagine. There’s nothing worse than a numb pair of hands halfway through your day. Pertex Quantum / 100g PrimaLoft Gold / DryActiv pile lining / goat leather palm and underside of fingers / gauntlet style / adjustable hem closure / adjustable wrist cinch strap / elasticated leash / stuff sac. Used on its own we've found the inner is good for fair weather walk-ins, gearing up and camping. The 300-weight polyester fleece feels very snug, and comes a long way up the arm for super wrist coverage. However the fabric provides no wind protection and of course wets out instantly in damp above-zero conditions. 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. It essentially comes in two parts. There’s the outer Pertex Shield waterproof shell, then there’s a removable inner liner (the insulation). This liner includes a divider for your index finger which adds some points for overall dexterity. Overall, however, the the high-loft fleece lining does still make this mitt a lot less dexterous than a glove. That’s generally a given though.