The North Face Montana Ski Mitts Check Lots of Important Boxes for Cold Weather Use

Who is This For

While The North Face Montana Ski Mitts don’t provide the level of durability or warmth needed by professional guides or expedition users, they provide numerous essential features and warmth at a more affordable price point. They are well-suited for most recreational users. Provide good protection against water and wind.

Field Testing

Scenario 1

Skiing | 12° F | Sierra Mountains (Nevada)

I first tested The North Face Montana Ski Mitts on a quick early morning ski tour during a tiny cold storm that put some dust on crust and brought the temperatures down to 12°F at 9000 feet. After climbing up to the top of the Sierra crest in the early morning (wearing lightweight XC gloves), I was happy to have a warm pair of mittens in my pack that readily shed the new wet snow and also kept my hands warm and dry. My fingers quickly heated back up, and the Montana Ski Mitts provided enough grip to accurately control my ski poles. Their low bulk and weight made the mittens a welcome addition to my pack.

Scenario 2

Skiing | 50° F, sunny | Sierra Mountains (Nevada)

An alpine coaching clinic with staff at 6700 feet, with intense sun, no wind, and 50° F temperatures provided a completely different testing scenario. It felt so hot that wearing gloves all day was too much. At the same time it was cumbersome to be cycling between putting on and removing gloves while also retrieving skis and poles. I need some protection while trying to avoid the sharp edges and dealing with the slush packed all over the skis and bindings.

The Montana Ski Mitts have wrist leashes that were easy to adjust and kept the mittens readily available to slip on and off as needed. I appreciated that I didn’t need a liner that could get folded up or fall out during the many on/off cycles. I couldn’t quite get the touch screen section on the tip of the mitten to swipe my phone open when needed, it was simple to remove the Montana Ski Mitts and let the gauntlet leashes keep them from dropping into the snow. 

Scenario 3

Shoveling snow | -5° F | Sierra Mountains (Nevada)

After a month of no new snow the Sierra finally received a season’s worth of snow in a single week. It was heavy, wet, dense snow, accompanied by high winds that brought the wind chill to -5°F.

Contrary to popular belief, working in the mountain operations department doesn’t always mean I get to ski powder all morning. Instead, I often start with a little bit of shoveling. The North Face Montana Ski Mitts became saturated a little more quickly than my waxed work gloves with wool liners while excavating the ski area’s decks and walkways and lift ramps. Because these mittens do not have a removable liner, putting on a dry liner replacement wasn’t an instant fix for me.

I wouldn’t expect the Montana Ski Mitts’ polyester/polyurethane material to last multiple seasons like a full grain leather work glove. However, they showed little wear after several hours of shoveling, and their synthetic insulation remained warm even when thoroughly soaked. That’s a big plus.

They dried quickly on my boot dryer at home in about an hour.

Fit

I usually wear an XL or size 12 glove or mitten. The XXL TNF Montana Ski Mitts are a size 11. So, the fit seems accurate if we’re calling it a size 11, but there are definitely bigger XXL sizes from other manufacturers that fit those with size 12 or 13 sizing needs. The pre-curved palm on the Montana Ski Mitts comfortably spanned my fingers. I did find that the thumbs could have been slightly bigger, but I didn’t feel like it was enough of a sizing issue to drastically affect overall fit performance.

Too small

Slightly small

Fits well

Slightly big

Too big

Materials & Construction

Material/Fabric: The North Face’s Montana Ski Mitts check a lot of must have boxes for cold weather use: synthetic insulation, fleece lining, water-repellent shells, touch screen functionality, nose wipe, wrist leash, adjustable cinch at wrist and on gauntlet hem, and wind-resistant fabric lining.

The synthetic polyester/polyurethane palm material provides adequate grip on ski pole grips and snow shovels although not at the level of a reinforced leather material. I would have appreciated additional reinforced material completely covering the thumb as the top of the thumb is a high wear area for pole straps.

Extending the palm reinforcement over the top of the mitten to cover and reinforce the area over the fingers would also have been a plus. Still, for the price point this is a well designed mitten made with quality materials that provides warmth and durability.

Sustainability Creds: Insulated with Heatseeker™ Eco 70% Post-Consumer Recycled and lining is 100% Recycled Polyester.

Bottom Line

Great warmth in a compact, packable mitten with comfortable and secure wrist leashes.

Specifications

• Men’s Sizes: S-XXL in Black, TNF Medium Grey Heather, and Dusk Blue
• Women’s Sizes: S-XL in TNF Black, Mocha Brown, Marina Blue, and White Dune
• Weight:
• Price: $65 (now on sale for less)

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