Thanks Harvey, This is very helpful. Wondering what the value of mittens vs gloves is?
Physics. Mittens are far warmer than gloves. Your fingers are all together in one chamber, rather than 5, and helping keep each other warm.
You can also wear thin silk liner gloves inside of mittens. Thay way if you need to use your hands to tie your shoes or eat lunch, you can remove the mittens temporarily and still have some protection with the liners. It really does not take but a few minutes in high windchill to have paralyzed fingers.
Mittens should have wind/waterproof shell, not simple fleece or wool.
I take 3 hand items: Silk liners, wind/waterproof gloves, and wind/waterproof mittens. Use various combinations as needed.
I have been on plenty of trips (Whitney and elsewhere) where people's summit days were abandoned not because of cold feet but cold hands
