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Waterproof breathable Gore-Tex and a lightweight fleece liner make the Outdoor Research Arete Gloves a great choice for backcountry skiing. Stretch softshell material on the back of the hand increases dexterity to make it easier for you to hang onto your ski poles and buckle your boots. The Arete Gloves' 100-weight fleece liners remove for fast drying when you finish skiing. These Outdoor Research gloves have all the features serious backcountry skiers demand.
Bottom Line: The Outdoor Research Arete Gloves provide the dexterity, protection, and low maintenance you want for backcountry adventures.
I recently returned my pair because the stitching along the inside of both index fingers had come undone. The dexterity, warmth, and versatility are all positives for the Arete, so I am going to give them another try.
Pretty good as a glacier climbing glove into mid winter conditions. The original liner glove did not seem to fit me or the shell too well. Consistently bunched up on my little fingers and would have a battle to get my fingers straightened out when I put the gloves on. Replaced with a pair of Mountain Hardwear Power Stretch gloves and this made a huge improvement. Now the gloves are good down to around 0 degrees F, provide good dexterity for a glove of this type, and remain dry working wet rope through the day. I'm pretty happy with them but a better liner to start with and a looser gauntlet would be good.
I have been a fan of OR handwear for a long time. I have used these on extended trips and they are a solid 2 piece golve. They have some features not mentioned - idiot cords to prevent dropping and the cuff has one handed cinch.
If you are doing inbounds skiing in real cold weather, I would look for something a little warmer. But for warmer days or touring, these are an excellent choice.
Had these on Rainier and above 5,000 M in Ecuador a few times. Easy to deal with, decent liners. Love the idiot straps (cause I'm an idiot at 5,000 M).
Negative: Not a lot of insulation in the palm - if you spend all day with an ice axe in your hand you will chill a bit.
The shell is great, comes up fairly high on the wrist. As others have mentioned, for cold, cold weather though, you want to get a better liner. Most of the time they are fine, but on cold days and/or night skiing when the temps drop, these will not hold up. Decent for the price I suppose.
These gloves are good enough for a relatively warm day or for active pursuits like touring. The shell is good and the liners are decent, I tend to wear the liners separate and I have some fleece liners inside the glove shells to boost their usability in colder weather. The gloves actually allow more dexterity with thicker liner gloves cause they are a bit baggy with the thin liners. Overall they are versatile gloves, but it requires an investment in a second set of liners. The gore shells are great by themselves on warm, wet days, the shells with stock liners are good to about 25 degrees F, and with a new set of liners you can push 0 degrees F
I might be biased just because i dropped 80 bones on a pair of flippin gloves, but these things are sweet. Definitely keep me warmer than any other pair i've owned. Also love the fact that their gore-tex, can't go wrong there.
I wore this at about 5200m on the way to Imja Tse (or Island Peak) in Nepal end Sep 07. We set off at around 3am from Base Camp and my fingers began to freeze! I find mitts cumbersome but decided to change to the Cornice Mitt which is much much warmer. However, the Arete liner is useful as a pair of glove to put on for very short trek.
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