Rab Khroma Freeride Gore-Tex Gloves Review

With solid performance in every testing metric, these gloves are a great choice for any skier who spends time in cold weather, wet or dry.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

The Khroma Freeride uses high-quality insulation throughout the front, back, wrist, and fingers to provide a warm experience for the user. It also has a thick fleece lining, which adds warmth and a cozy, comfortable feeling. Our lead tester says, “These are a great choice for skiing on the coldest days of winter.” Though they don't provide as much warmth as battery-heated gloves, they are warm enough for any day in the snow.

Some gloves skimp on insulation through the wrist, but these gloves are packed with insulation through the gauntlet, meaning your sensitive wrist areas won't get cold before your hands do. The fit is well-tailored, meaning there aren't loose areas in the fingers where cold air can build up. The professional feel and cozy lining create a luxurious user experience and inspire confidence when using these gloves in cold weather. We don't hesitate to reach for these gloves when the temperature plummets.

Dexterity

Given the amount of insulation and the waterproof membrane stuffed into the body of these gloves, we were impressed by the amount of dexterity they were able to maintain. We were able to perform almost all of the detailed tasks we attempted, like pulling zippers and clipping buckles, and our handwriting was impeccable while wearing them. It was hard to tie our bootlaces, but for most outdoor tasks, these gloves have plenty of dexterity.

Our lead tester, IFMGA Mountain Guide Jeff Dobronyi, says, “I use these gloves every day of the winter, wearing them on cold days and throwing them in my ski pack on warmer days. Their impressive dexterity means I can keep the gloves on while zipping zippers, buckling boots, and using an avalanche transceiver.” Of course, any glove that stays on your hand also keeps you warm. We love how the well-tailored fit makes us feel confident to use these gloves for tasks that usually require you to take your gloves off.

Water Resistance

These gloves are tightly sealed against the environment. They feature burly leather and softshell around the outside of the glove, a DWR treatment, and a Gore-Tex insert to keep water at bay. The wrist gauntlet reaches high up the user's forearm and has a drawstring that securely tightens over a jacket cuff to keep snow out of the glove on powder days.

We did not feel any water seeping into the glove during our dunk test, and we trust these gloves to hold up in the worst weather conditions. The softshell material on the outside of the glove repels water, and the glove only absorbed a fraction of its weight in water during a 2-minute submersion test. If you need a glove that will keep you dry in any weather, these are a great option.

Durability

The Khroma Freeride is built to last. The leather palm and fingers are reinforced in key areas, including the outside of the index finger and the space between the thumb and forefinger. This reinforcement patch is secured with double-stitching, meaning it will take a lot of abrasion to wear out these gloves. This design feature also makes them a good choice for winter mountaineers and ice climbers.

The softshell material on the back of the hand and wrist gauntlet deflects sharp objects, and there is no hook-and-loop design to wear out. Of course, synthetic insulation and leather fingertips wear out over time, but these gloves didn't raise any warning signs during our initial test period. After a couple of seasons of use, our gloves aren't wearing out much at all.

Features

The Rab Khroma Freeride has enough features to keep most users satisfied. The wrist gauntlet is wide enough to fit over a hardshell jacket cuff, but it also sinches tight enough to fit inside most winter jackets. A removable wrist leash helps avoid dropping the gloves off the chairlift, and there is also a clip to keep the gloves together during storage and travel. There is a soft and generous nose wipe on the outside of the thumbs. Finally, the leather on the fingertips is touchscreen compatible after being broken in.

It lacks the bells and whistles of other gloves on the market, but the Khroma has all of the features we consider essential, and they work impressively well, improving the glove's performance rather than compromising it. There aren't any handwarmer pockets, and the wrist cinch is elastic rather than a manually-controlled strap. In the end, features can help a glove, but they aren't as important as other performance attributes, and the set of features on this glove is comprehensive.

Should You Buy the Rab Khroma Freeride Gore-Tex?

These are great gloves for resort skiers who spend most days of the winter on the ski hill or for snow professionals to use on cold days. They also come at a great price, especially given their performance. We wouldn't hesitate to choose these gloves as our go-to pair for any winter conditions, though they might be overkill for warm spring skiing. If we could use only one pair of gloves for the entire ski season, these would be the ones we'd choose.

What Other Ski Gloves Should You Consider?