Warmth

The LaSportiva Tech Gloves were by far the thinnest gloves in the test. Despite that, they still kept our hands relatively warm on the slopes during mild to cold days. When temperatures started dropping to freezing levels, however, the Tech gloves weren’t sufficient to keep fingers warm for long periods. In the ice bucket challenge, the Tech gloves didn’t repel water at all, and were completely saturated within a few minutes of being submerged.

Grip

The LaSportiva Tech Gloves stood out and provided the best grip of any of the gloves in the test. This was partially due to the fact that the gloves were thinner than any of the others in the test, but LaSportiva also incorporated many design features to improve the grip of the gloves including a “rubbery” texture on the material on the palm of the glove and an extra patch between the thumb and forefinger. LaSportiva even took the added step of designing the patch on the palm to reduce bunching and further improve the grip.

Dexterity

The thin padding in the fingers of the LaSportiva Tech Gloves gave them the best dexterity of any of the gloves in the test. The same material on the palm and fingers that adds to the good grip the gloves provide also makes it much easier to work zipper pulls, cuff straps, and other similar tasks.

Durability

The LaSportiva Tech Gloves held up through a season of hard use without showing any signs of wear. However, the material used to make the gloves gives the impression that it isn’t nearly as bulletproof as the thick leather, or even the tough synthetic material that some of the other gloves in the test are made from.

Comfort

The LaSportiva Tech Gloves don’t have an especially soft lining or a large amount of padding to cushion your hands. Their comfort comes instead from the way they fit so tightly to your hand that they almost feel as though they are a second skin. These gloves, more than any other in the test, are the kind of gloves that makes you forget you’re wearing them.

Features & Design

The LaSportiva Tech Gloves are designed for the minimalist. They don’t include a glove leash, and the neoprene on the cuff is only on the bottom of the glove instead of all the way around. However, while they aren’t necessarily feature-rich, the Tech gloves do incorporate practical functionality into their design with the grippy material on the palm, the ergonomic cut of the fabric, and the articulated knuckle on the thumb. The gloves are designed to work well, and they do.

Although they are often not given much thought, ski gloves are one of the most important tools in a skier’s arsenal. To give readers a better appreciation of how gloves perform in different conditions, we tested these gloves in every possible real-world skiing condition we could – from blue-bird days on the resort to cold, wet, blizzardy conditions that keep most sane skiers home. Because warmth and waterproof are such critical elements, we also subjected each of the gloves to an ice-bucket challenge where the gloves were worn for 30 minutes while submerged in a bucket of icy water.