I've searched and read all I could find here on high altitude mittens and it seems like BD Mercury mittens will be sufficient for North Col of Mt. Everest (23000ft) since it doesn't get brutally cold until above that camp.

I do like my fingers and have all the intentions to keep them, so if beefier mittens are required, I will get them. But trying to be reasonable with the cost of the expedition I don't want to go over board where I don't need.

Does anyone think Mercury mitts are bad idea for North Col? I tried them recently in a shop in Leadville, CO and I was somewhat split on the three finger inner liner design. It's great for dexterity, but I wonder if it sacrifices the warmth?

If Mercury is too lite for my purposes, I will go with MH absolute zero or OR Alti mitts, but I would like to hear community opinion first.

P.S. I will also use them for Mount Washington, NH winter climb.

Diver wrote:I've searched and read all I could find here on high altitude mittens and it seems like BD Mercury mittens will be sufficient for North Col of Mt. Everest (23000ft) since it doesn't get brutally cold until above that camp.

I do like my fingers and have all the intentions to keep them, so if beefier mittens are required, I will get them. But trying to be reasonable with the cost of the expedition I don't want to go over board where I don't need.

Does anyone think Mercury mitts are bad idea for North Col? I tried them recently in a shop in Leadville, CO and I was somewhat split on the three finger inner liner design. It's great for dexterity, but I wonder if it sacrifices the warmth?

If Mercury is too lite for my purposes, I will go with MH absolute zero or OR Alti mitts, but I would like to hear community opinion first.

P.S. I will also use them for Mount Washington, NH winter climb.

I used Mercury on Aconcagua summit day, and my hands were cold, not frostbite, but definitely cold. Fortunately, the sun came out soon after. I don't know how cold Everest is gonna be, but if it's colder than Aconcagua, then I would go get the best gloves money can buy. Considering you already gonna spend between 30-70K for Everest, do you really want to bail because your gloves aren't warm enough?

divnamite wrote:I used Mercury on Aconcagua summit day, and my hands were cold, not frostbite, but definitely cold. Fortunately, the sun came out soon after. I don't know how cold Everest is gonna be, but if it's colder than Aconcagua, then I would go get the best gloves money can buy. Considering you already gonna spend between 30-70K for Everest, do you really want to bail because your gloves aren't warm enough?

divnamite,

thanks for your reply! i'm not going for the summit on mount Everest - i'm going to North Col which is Camp1 at 7k meters or 23k feet. This is the elevation of Aconcagua so the conditions should be comparable. But I think you're right, it might be worth investing extra for mitts.

thanks!

They will be fine for Mt. Washington...

OR Alti mitts are worth every penny. If you also have a pair of OR PL-400 "liner" mitts:
http://www.us-parks.com/gear-details/ou ... 32998.html
you have a world of versatility as you go higher and the temps change. You can wear the inner or outer mitt from the Alti by itself, or wear the PL-400 mitts inside either the inner or the outer (weatherproof) Alti mitt, or when even the two layers of the Alti mitts aren't enough, you can wear the PL-400s inside both Altis. This system worked well for me on Denali.

I also had a pair of PL-400 "liner" gloves along. I wore them inside just the outer Alti mitt when using an ascender on the fixed lines on Denali, and had enough dexterity and warmth and waterproofness with that arrangement to make it work.

I don't like the BDs with the separated index finger in the inner mitt. That's the finger that's most likely to get cold. If insulated gloves aren't enough and you need mitts, you want all your fingers together in one warm space.

As I have suggested before, these gloves are the best. The nails on the end of them help in climbing Icy sections.

Hotoven wrote:As I have suggested before, these gloves are the best. The nails on the end of them help in climbing Icy sections.

are there matching boots?

BD has a new mitt that should be more comparable to the Alti. I believe it's called the Absolute Mitt.

Diver wrote:

Hotoven wrote:As I have suggested before, these gloves are the best. The nails on the end of them help in climbing Icy sections.

are there matching boots?

Yes, but I couldn't find the gold ones, silver will have to do for now.

i like built-in crampons!

Diver wrote:I've searched and read all I could find here on high altitude mittens and it seems like BD Mercury mittens will be sufficient for North Col of Mt. Everest (23000ft) since it doesn't get brutally cold until above that camp.

I do like my fingers and have all the intentions to keep them, so if beefier mittens are required, I will get them. But trying to be reasonable with the cost of the expedition I don't want to go over board where I don't need.

Does anyone think Mercury mitts are bad idea for North Col? I tried them recently in a shop in Leadville, CO and I was somewhat split on the three finger inner liner design. It's great for dexterity, but I wonder if it sacrifices the warmth?

If Mercury is too lite for my purposes, I will go with MH absolute zero or OR Alti mitts, but I would like to hear community opinion first.

P.S. I will also use them for Mount Washington, NH winter climb.

Check these out, they are the warmest mitt by BD"

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en ... olute-mitt

Diver wrote:i like built-in crampons!

Yes They are nice, also, the eyes shine a bright red LED, so as to illuminate your footpath. The nostrils have a spring loaded front pointing devise that pops out when you knock the heels of the boots together. This fetcher is so useful when you stumble upon a frozen waterfall and forgot your other set of crampons!