What makes a good pair of ski gloves for kids?
Scandinavian Outdoor content creator Tanja went on a ski holiday with her family and set out to find which ski gloves work best for kids. Her children Eppu (9), Atte (8) and Konsta (6) tested the gloves for a week.
Good ski gloves matter more than you might think on a family ski holiday. Nobody has fun when someone's fingers are freezing. In cold winters this has been a real problem in our family. No combination of gloves, mittens and liners ever seemed to keep hands warm and dry. So this year we decided to test a few kids' ski gloves with a good reputation.
We picked three pairs from different brands:
Black Diamond Kids Spark Gloves €45
- Waterproof ski gloves with leather details.
- 150 g Thinsulate insulation on the back of the hand and 100 g Thinsulate insulation on the palm.
- BD.dry™ 100% waterproof, windproof and breathable material.
- Leather sections in soft goatskin.
- Extra padding on the back of the hand.
- Soft fleece lining.
- Elastic wrist leashes.
Hestra Army Leather Heli Ski Junior €99
- Waterproof ski gloves.
- Palm in soft goatskin.
- Removable liner with Fiberfill insulation.
- Outer fabric in durable, waterproof Hestra Triton polyamide.
- Elastic wrist leashes.
- Waterproof mittens for skiing.
- PrimaLoft wadding insulation.
- Soft, warm fleece lining.
- Reflective fabric on the thumbs.
- Zipped pocket on one mitten for a lift pass.
- Wrist leashes (non-elastic).
We tested the ski gloves during a ski holiday in Åre, Sweden, in February 2020. The weather was wintry but not especially cold, with temperatures between minus four and plus four degrees Celsius. We had sleet a couple of times; otherwise the skies were clear. At times there was a strong, biting wind.
As soon as the young testers got their hands on the gloves, an argument broke out over who would get the Reima Riggu mittens. To Mum's eye they were the plainest-looking pair, but the kids loved the little zipped pocket on the cuff of one mitten, just big enough to slip a lift pass into. None of the other test gloves had a pocket like this, most likely because ski jackets usually have a lift pass pocket on the sleeve.
Reima Riggu ski mittens in use
In the end everyone agreed on who got what, and the Reimas went to our nine-year-old tester. Over the week, even Mum had to admit that you shouldn't let the modest looks of the Reima Riggu mittens (compared with the other test pairs) fool you – they did the job without a hitch. Moisture never got through, and hands stayed warm. That said, as mentioned, the test conditions were never very cold. Our tester also thought they were the best-looking pair, thanks to the reflective thumbs.
Black Diamond Kids Spark Gloves protect when you fall
Black Diamond's five-finger kids' ski gloves look well made and durable from the first glance. They're thick, warm and sturdy. The extra padding on the back of the hand adds insulation and cushions the inevitable tumbles on the slope. Ideal for our six-year-old tester, who came down the hill in every way imaginable except upright. These gloves also kept hands dry and warm every single day.
Classic Hestra doesn't disappoint
We saw so many pairs of the classic Hestra Army Leather Heli Ski gloves on both kids and adults on the slopes of Åre that there was no doubt which brand Swedes prefer for ski gloves. And they are well made: the very soft leather gives a good grip on the lifts, and the tough-feeling polyamide fabric on the back of the hand stands up to heavier rain too. So it came as no surprise that our eight-year-old tester's hands stayed dry and warm on every ski day.
So which ski gloves are best for kids?
Conditions make a big difference, so there's no definitive answer. All the gloves we tested had good features, such as wrist leashes, but each also had some room for improvement.
Reima Riggu mittens offer good value for money, although the fabric doesn't seem tough enough to last several winters or be handed down to younger siblings (we haven't tested this, so it's just a gut feeling). In the coldest conditions you'll almost certainly need liner gloves under the Reimas, as they were the thinnest pair in the test.
Verdict, Reima Riggu Mittens: Good, no-frills ski mittens for mild conditions. Bonus points for the little pocket on one mitten and the wrist leashes, which keep the mittens with you even when they're not on your hands. Reima also earns credit for communicating clearly about its environmental commitments, both on its website and on the packaging. Reima's gloves aren't treated with environmentally harmful perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) – a real plus, especially when the person wearing them is a child.
The Black Diamond and Hestra gloves are very similar in their features. Both are made from sturdy fabric with leather details. The Hestra gloves' clear advantage is the removable liner, which speeds up drying when you need it.
Based on this one test week, though, the Black Diamond gloves (which, by the way, also come in a mitten version) were every bit as well made as the Hestra model. One thing that bothered us slightly about the Hestras is the white leather. Seeing plenty of Heli Ski gloves in Åre that had clearly seen better days, you can't help wondering why the leather isn't brown or black. White leather inevitably turns greyish with use, especially if you don't look after it.
Verdict, Hestra Army Leather Heli Ski Junior: Very well-made ski gloves that are likely to last a long time. On the other hand, white leather can quickly start looking shabby, particularly on kids' gloves. The price is also fairly high. The removable liner is a very useful feature, as are the wrist leashes. Hestra doesn't state on its website whether PFCs are used in treating the gloves, but the company works towards responsible production by, among other things, owning its entire manufacturing chain, which makes production easy to monitor.
Verdict, Black Diamond Kids Spark Gloves: Based on our test week, the Black Diamond gloves offered the best value for money. They're well made and have plenty of practical details. For the quality, the price feels reasonable. Points off because Black Diamond says nothing about responsibility or environmental impact. It would be good to know more about the manufacturing conditions and the chemicals used.
There were differences between the gloves, but all three pairs are coming with us on next year's ski holiday too. They were evenly matched, and best of all, the kids liked them. Now we just have to hope next winter isn't too mild, so the gloves get the use they deserve on our local slopes in Hirvensalo too!