The North Face Montana Ski Gloves Overview

Bottom Line

The North Face Montana Gloves (men’s / women’s) are designed for winter activities needing warmth, protection, and durability. While designed primarily to be used as a ski glove, the Montana’s worked great as an all-around winter glove making it one of our top winter gloves.

Featuring waterproof, breathable DRYVENT technology, these gloves keep your hands dry even in wet, snowy conditions. The 250g Heatseeker insulation ensures warmth without excess bulk, making them perfect for skiing, snowboarding, or outdoor activities in below-freezing temperatures where you still need a little dexterity for gripping poles or adjusting gear. 

A comfortable, adjustable cuff seals out snow and cold. A reinforced palm provides a secure grip on ski poles or snowboards and can handle heavy use and abrasion.

While warm and weatherproof, the Montanas sacrifice dexterity. They inhibit dexterity while opening pockets and zippers and the touchscreen fingers are only good enough to unlock and tap to make a call. 

The glove also runs slightly large, adding to the bulk. Still, these were minor grievances, and otherwise, The North Face Montanas delivered solid performance for skiing and a variety of winter activities.

How We Tested

Gear analyst, Miles Knotek, conducted comprehensive evaluations of The North Face Montana Ski Gloves through both laboratory and real-world testing in Alaska. In the lab, he assessed water resistance by conducting a four-minute submersion test, measuring the time until moisture breached the material. Field testing spanned three months across Alaska’s landscape, including snowy mountain summits, frozen lakes, and hiking paths, allowing him to evaluate their durability in all conditions.

Comfort & Dexterity

The North Face Montana has an extremely soft and comfortable inner, constructed with super-soft Raschel Fleece. The gloves are designed with a progressive precurve which is the increase of curvature in the fingers from index to pinky. This creates a natural shape so our hands feel relaxed without straining against the glove’s material

These gloves run slightly large and are bulky for tasks that require dexterity. They work great for Basic tasks like tightening ski boots but small zipper pulls are trickier while wearing these. The touch screen-capable fingertips are too large for anything beyond unlocking your phone and tapping out a phone call. 

We also found that these gloves have a lot of excess material that bunches through the back of the hand when the wrist is tightened. In the end, these are designed for warmth and protection, not for texting or tying knots.

Warmth

The Montana comes equipped with targeted weight insulation to provide warmth where you need it and a trim design in other locations. The back of the hand has 250g of insulation to provide the bulk of the warmth. The hand has 160g and the gauntlet has 80g. Insulated with Heatseeker Eco, it is made with seventy percent of post-consumer recycled polyester. 

We found the gloves comfortable down to ten degrees. The inside of the glove is roomy enough to layer with a liner which helps extend their wearability into even colder temperatures. Unfortunately, the fingers are not as well insulated as the palm and wrist, especially at the fingertips. While these gloves are overkill in temperatures well above freezing, they are a great winter layer for moderately cold temperatures.

Moisture Control

While using these gloves skiing and hiking, we noticed increased sweat and moisture build-up in the gloves. While the fleece lining does wick moisture away from the skin, the DRYVENT outer shell does not let it escape as well as other materials on the market.

These are not our glove of choice for aerobic outings where we plan on exerting ourselves and sweating heavily. The bulky construction, while warm, does not provide enough moisture control for high output activities like cross-country skiing, brisk hikes, or trudging through snow.

Weather Resistance

The North Face Montanas surprised us with their strong weather resistance. Testing these hiking and skiing in ice and snow, we never had any water penetrate the material. 

The DRYVENT waterproof insert is a great material for keeping water out and warmth in. The gauntlet gloves increase protection up the forearm and are cinched down with a wrist strap and cuff tightener. However, the cuff tightener does not tighten as securely as others we’ve tested leaving a gap for snow and water to enter.

During our four-minute submersion test, not a single drop of water made it through the material to our hands. However, once we removed the glove from the water, it was heavy with absorbed moisture. We had to wring out the glove a lot and it did take a while to dry. While water does penetrate the outer shell, it does not make it past the DRYVENT insert making this glove ideal for damp and snowy outings.

Durability

Throughout testing these gloves on Alaska’s peaks and trails, they held up well and continued to perform as if they were brand new. The faux leather palm helps add both grip and durability to a high-contact area. 

All stitching has remained strong and intact including through the touch screen fingertips, a common weak point. 

Extra baffles of material on the back of the hand protected us from impact with tree branches and the outer shell withstood scratches and whips from vegetation without showing scratches or abrasion. For under one hundred dollars, the Montana is a dependable and reliable glove that will continue to perform day after day.

Should You Buy the North Face Montana Ski Gloves?

The North Face Montana Ski Glove is a waterproof and warm glove perfect for the entry-level skier or winter enthusiast. Its sub-hundred-dollar price, combined with excellent durability and construction make it a great way to get the most out of your dollar. 

However, if you don’t like the feeling of a bulky glove, this might not be a great fit. Running slightly large and with a lot of excess material in the back of the hand, it lacks the dexterity found in more streamlined gloves. 

Warm enough down to ten degrees, this is a great glove for most winter temperatures. It is too bulky and lacks the breathability needed for higher output activity, but excels at lower energy outings like downhill skiing and easier hikes. This would make a great glove for someone new to winter activities looking for a good price and a glove that will hold up for a long time.

What Other Winter Gloves Should You Consider?

Check out our full guide to winter gloves.

Dakine Titan Review: Slightly warmer than the Montana, the Titan offers great warmth with a removable liner and thick insulation.

Burton Gore-Tex Review: Similarly priced, the Burton incorporates Gore-Tex to be fully waterproof and perfect for wet days on the mountain.

Hestra Fall Line Review: Another skiing-oriented glove, the Fall Line is a premium build glove with exceptional leather construction.