Therm-ic is a brand that focuses on keeping skiers warm on the mountain. They offer everything from insoles to socks and gloves—even jackets—that can be electrically heated via rechargeable batteries and heat-wires that run through the fabric. While heated ski boots are around for a while, other heated equipment is less common in skiing. We tested the Freeride Ultra Heat Gloves to see whether they could be a good addition to your kit.
The Therm-ic Freeride Gloves are a great fit, and with Ultra Heat cold fingers are a thing of the past.
Klaus Polzer/Downdays
Gear
Goodbye cold fingers!
Reviewed: Therm-ic Freeride Ultra Heat Gloves
As a ski photographer I’m quite familiar with cold fingers. On the other hand—pun intended—I’m also quite used to bear rather extreme conditions with my hands being less protected against the elements. So I might be a qualified or not so qualified tester for heated gloves, depending on the perspective. To put this upfront, I didn’t come across conditions while testing the gloves where I really needed the extra warmth provided by Therm-ic’s heating system, but I most definitely never had cold fingers. I wish there were those type of gloves that many ski photographers use—cut-off fingers with a cap to put on and off as needed—with the Ultra Heat system. That would be a sure buy for me.
But let’s have a look at the Freeride Ultra Heat gloves. First and foremost, they are a great pair of gloves regardless of the extra heating. They are made from premium goatskin leather, have Pittards Amor-tan leather reinforcements at the palm and all-round Kevlar stitching for extra durability, a waterproof and breathable 10k/10k membrane and a Primaloft Gold insulation. There are removable straps to secure the gloves to your wrists which are a great idea for everyone who makes a habit of dropping things—especially while sitting on a chair lift—and they have a widely adjustable cuff that makes it possible to wear the gloves over or under the jacket’s cuffs, depending on preference.
I was really comfortable wearing these gloves on a regular ski day. They fit perfectly to my hands, they have a good feel when holding things like skis and they never got in the way of anything. They never got wet—admittedly I didn’t face the most challenging conditions—and I never got cold, even without the heating in effect. So they are a pair of gloves that I’d be happily wearing for a wide range of ski days. You can actually take out the battery and use them as any other glove but considering the price point, that’s probably not what you want to do. In fact, Therm-ic also offers gloves without an electrical heating which might be worth a look if you have no problems with cold fingers, ever.
Klaus Polzer/Downdays
What about the heating system, then? Most importantly, it’s a system that is really easy to operate. There is a button on each glove at the back of the hand that you can easily press with the gloves on. There are three operating stages reflecting different amounts of heating power. To turn the system on or off, you simply need to press the button for a few seconds. Once the system is on, the button illuminates with a red flash that is constantly pulsating—not bright enough that it is disturbing but clearly identifiable even in sunlight. You are now on the lowest level of heating. Press the button once more and you enter stage two with higher heating and a pulsating double-flash of the button. Another push of the button gets you to the highest level where the button is just showing a constant red light, and one more push of the button will get you back to stage one.
Klaus Polzer/Downdays
The heating of stage one is on a level that runs comfortably through a full ski day with a charged battery and is hardly recognizable when you aren’t freezing. In other words, it’s not obtrusive in any way—and that is a very good thing. As I stated before, I didn’t come across conditions while testing the gloves where I would expect to get cold fingers with a good pair of gloves, so I’m not sure what difference the Ultra Heat made for me, but I could still wear the gloves with the system on without any distractions. On level two, the heating gets noticeable and on a regular day that amount of heating would be too much for me over longer periods of time. The third and highest stage then is really heating up the glove. Therm-ic advises you to never run that stage over longer periods of time since there is a risk of burning your skin. It’s that heat I’d be looking for when shooting photos with my fingerless gloves and then resort to warmer gloves in-between shooting scenarios to warm up my fingers. I usually have a pair of down mittens for that purpose in cold conditions but those need extra care to be kept dry. The Ultra Heat gloves are a great replacement for that.
You might wonder if you can feel the heat concentrated around the heating wires—that’s not the case. While I don’t know how dense the array of those wires is within the fabric, it produces a pretty universal heat around the whole hand with a bit more on the outside than on the palm which is very welcome. So altogether, it is simply a very well functioning system. You won’t recognize it when you don’t need it and it will be very handy when you are skiing in very cold conditions or simply are prone to cold fingers. The battery is also hardly recognizable during normal wear. It sits at the inside of the wrist in a small pocket that is closed by a dense velcro to keep snow or water out. On a ski day, there is no need to ever open this pocket, it’s only at home for charging of the battery when you need to open the velcro to access the charging plug. Only when wearing the cuff of my jacket over the glove was when I could notice the battery, but that might be depending on the type of cuff of your jacket. Since I usually prefer to wear my gloves over the jacket, I never noticed.
Are there any downsides to the Therm-ic heating system? Well, there is one. Although you can remove the battery pack easily via a plug—which is advised to do when storing the gloves over a longer period of time—you still can’t wash the gloves because the wires and plugs of the heating system remain in the glove at all times. You also shouldn’t dry the gloves on a heat source like a radiator since the electrical system could get damaged.
On the other hand, the heating system could help avoid getting really wet gloves, or if the gloves ever got soaking wet, the heating system might help with drying. I didn’t come across this scenario, so I can’t tell, but in any case it is advised to dry your gloves with a dedicated drying device—which Therm-ic also offers.
Klaus Polzer/Downdays
Bottom line:
The Freeride Ultra Heat gloves are a great product and much recommended if you are regularly skiing in cold weather or are prone to cold fingers. If you aren’t, it might be tough to justify the admittedly high price point of the Ultra Heat system. However, you might want to have a look at the regular gloves that Therm-ic also offers, or at the variety of other products from this brand, particularly their drying devices.
Within the EU, the Freeride Ultra Heat Gloves retail at 299,95 € on Therm-ic’s website.
Klaus Polzer/Downdays