Burton Gore-Tex Mitten - Women's Review

The Burton Gore-Tex Mitten is an exceptional value, offering warmth on resort groomers and in the backcountry. The double mitt construction utilizes a pair of smartphone-savvy liner gloves with a myriad of applications. If you seek a warm mitt with great features at a fair price, this is our top recommendation and a favorite among our lady testers.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

The lower profile Burton Gore-Tex Mitten is “more than warm enough for most days,” according to lead tester Amber King. They had no problem keeping our hands comfortable on long ski lift rides and throughout the average cold days of winter. During our testing, they were able to keep us warm when days dipped into the single digits — but below zero, we'd likely reach for a different option. While it certainly is warm, it's not built for the coldest days as it has only an insulated shell and thin liner glove.

For resort skiing, the shell of this mitten allows fingers to wiggle and articulate, which inherently generates more warmth on cold days than any glove. However, the gloved liner prevents the fingers from huddling together to keep them warm inside the insulated shell, as is common with traditional mittens. We appreciate the fleece liner on the main part of the glove, which wicks away moisture to keep hands dry. Unzipping the exterior pocket offers great breathability when it gets too warm, and it will easily fit a hand warmer when the mercury plummets. “If I was really feeling the cold, I could also add a handwarmer to the integrated pocket in a pinch,” said our main tester. The thumb is heavily insulated, which also promotes excellent warmth. We didn't notice our thumb getting super cold, even in single-digit temperatures.

The interior glove is a simple liner glove that offers just enough warmth for most winter days. However, this mitten isn't nearly as burly as expedition-style mitts, which incorporate insulation into both the liner and exterior glove. On ski tours, we appreciate that we can take off the glove's shell and use the liners for skinning uphill when we get too warm. Another plus is the liners are touch-screen compatible, meaning that you can text friends your location while on the chairlift without exposing your bare hands to the cold. Overall, this mitten is warm in comparison to other gloves in this review, but it's not the warmest out there—a great companion for nearly any resort season, backcountry skiing, or simply building a snow family.

Water Resistance

Built with a Gore-Tex and a Dry-Ride membrane, this glove proved to be satisfactorily waterproof during our testing. We dug snow pits and got out in warm spring conditions, where snow eventually turned into water by the end of the day. We also tested this mitten in a more controlled environment during our water absorption test. Its construction seems to be water-resistant, and minimal maintenance is required. This is just another reason it's a great option for winter resort skiing.

We had our hands intermittently in the snow for a few hours during our field tests, digging snow pits and assessing backcountry snowpack conditions. The temps reached well above freezing that day, warming up the snow, making it quite wet, and creating conditions that would normally soak a poorly constructed glove. During this entire period, the Burton Gore-Tex Mitten resisted saturation and staved off moisture. We inspected the glove when we returned home and found that the exterior fabric was a bit damp, but the faux leather palm of the mitten was still dry.

In our water-resistance tests, they didn't do so hot. We immersed each glove in water and weighed it before and after, measuring how much water it soaked up over the course of two minutes. The exterior of the Burton mitt readily absorbed water, although it didn't enter the inner compartment at all. “I noted a 150 percent increase in water weight after two minutes of water submersion,” recorded our tester. This is quite a lot, considering some other models showed as little as a 7% increase. The moral of the story is don't go around dunking your hands in puddles while wearing these mittens.

Dexterity

For mittens, we appreciate the dexterity provided by this pair. We were able to transition from tour to ski mode easily. While you might be able to perform tasks that require fine motor skills, like texting or tying your laces, you can pull off the shell and use the liners to do so. For a mitten, it's surprisingly thin, which still allows you to perform several tasks that you couldn't normally do with a bulkier mitt or glove.

We typically perform a myriad of tests to evaluate dexterity. These include pulling on boots, stripping skins, transitioning from tour to ski mode on our split board, driving a car, tying shoelaces, and even making a cup of coffee in the snow. We were able to complete all of these tasks with these mittens on. For most fine motor tasks, if the temperatures weren't too cold outside, we'd simply slip off the shell of this mitt and do everything wearing just the liners underneath. The thinner construction allows you to perform a series of tasks that you wouldn't normally be able to do with a super thick or heavily insulated mitt. Overall, we are impressed with the dexterity of this product. For a mitten, it features excellent options that'll keep your hands warm, even when you need to fiddle with your gear. “I was even able to do a fast, skimo-style transition without taking these mittens off, which I found quite impressive. There was a little fiddling, but honestly, they worked better than some gloves,” our lead tester said.

Construction Quality

So far, over our few months of testing, we've witnessed little wear and tear. The materials are still fully intact, even after several days of riding in the backcountry.

The faux leather palm and Gore-Tex construction appear to be solid. As we test it throughout the seasons, we'll report back if anything changes, but as far as we can tell, this mitten seems to be durable with next to no maintenance. Some waterproofing on the leather at the beginning of each season could go a long way, but that might suffice.

Features

This mitt has all the features you need for backcountry touring, resort skiing, sledding, and pretty much any other outdoor winter activity you can think of.

Starting with the liners, we love the fact that they are included in the first place, but moreover, they are smartphone compatible, so you can easily text or call without fully exposing your hands while you ride up the lifts this winter. The double-glove construction makes this mitten very versatile as well, allowing you to use the liners and the shell separately if you prefer. It comes with a one-pull adjustable gauntlet that's easy to adjust to keep the wind out or to promote ventilation.

The leashes are removable, and the handwarmer pocket fits hard warmers as expected. The thumb is also outfitted with a little extra fabric that functions as a nose or goggle wipe. Overall, we're happy with the well-thought-out construction and features it offers. We have no complaints.

Should You Buy the Burton Gore-Tex Mitten?

If we were to suggest a great-value mitten to any of our friends, this would be our top recommendation. It is well-priced and well-built and exceeds our expectations for the price. We boast to our friends about its versatility, functioning for both backcountry and resort riding. Plus, it comes in a variety of great looks suited to any lady's style preferences. Look no further if you want an affordable mitten that'll look good, perform well, and go anywhere you ski or snowboard this winter.

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