The Best Winter Hiking Clothing

When the long, warm days of the summer give way to the icy grip of winter, the hills that we love to explore can seem off limits, shrouded in swirling winds and blizzards. However, with a bit of planning and some additions to your wardrobe (any excuse for new kit), the hills and mountains will relinquish their secrets and give you adventures to remember for a lifetime and with some specialist bits of kit, you can navigate through these conditions and be equipped to enjoy the mountains safely. We took a rucksack full of kit up to the Scottish Highlands to put it through its paces and in this section, we’ll take a deeper dive into the best clothing picks for winter adventures.

 DISCLAIMER: You can have the best kit in the world, but you need to know how to use it to stay safe! The mountains demand respect at the best of times but especially so in the winter; the weather is more extreme; progress might be slower due to snow and the chance of a slip or fall on icy rocks increases dramatically. There are many winter hill walking courses that aim to equip you with the skills to stay safe in wintery conditions and if in doubt, go out with an experienced friend or two.

A good, sturdy pair of boots is the first step into enjoying the hills at any time of the year, and there are a few considerations to take if you’re looking for a pair of specifically for winter but we’ll get onto that in a second.

Hi Tec Ravine WP

If you’re looking for a great all round boot, the Ravine WP from Hi-Tec is a great choice, utilising a 2mm Anibio leather upper and the Dri-Tec membrane keeps water at bay. We found the Vibram sole to be grippy across a range of surfaces from slick rock to horrifically muddy paths. The supple leather made dialling in a good fit straightforward and the roomy toe box meant this testers feet stayed comfortable on five hour plus hikes across varied and rugged terrain. We found they struggled a bit in compacted snow as the lugs didn’t have quite enough ‘bite’, but if you plan on staying indoors when the snow comes down, these could be the perfect boots for you, especially as they’re a steal at £130

When the going gets really tough and there’s snow on the ground, it calls for a more focused boot that has the ability to work with crampons. Now, don’t be alarmed, crampons aren’t just for Edmund Hillary on his ascent of Everest, they’re a very useful tool in the winter hillwalkers arsenal for traversing icy slopes where a slip could spell disaster. The key feature that makes them crampon compatible is the stiffness of the sole, wear them back to back with a traditional walking boot and the soles feel incredibly stiff, almost like a ski boot. Trekking/mountaineering boots have different stiffness ratings from B1, being the most flexible to B3 being the most ridged - this corresponds to different designs of crampon which is an article best saved for another day.

Zamberlan Baltoro GTX

The Zamberlan Baltoro GTX could be described as the Lamborghini of boots, partially because of their excellent performance, but also due to their electric blue leather uppers with orange highlights which caused a few raised eyebrows when unboxing them. Looks aside, these boots perform outstandingly well in wintery conditions with the Vibram sole’s short blocks and open lug design offering grip in the most treacherous of conditions. The combination of a Gore Tex lining and Hydrobloc treatment on the upper fends off water in even the most foul of conditions and having had an unplanned river crossing we can confirm our feet were kept perfectly dry and toasty too. These boots would be the ideal partner to the Hi-Tec’s above for a true 4 season boot line-up to cover all conditions and weathers; from muddy dog walks to days up in the mountains in the Highlands throughout winter. They’re also available in black if is blue a bit loud for you.

Outers

The chance of encountering some weather when out on the hills in winter is high, whether that be snow, rain, gale force winds or a combination of all three. Fortunately, the market is awash with a host of high tech shell jackets designed to keep you dry and comfortable thanks to breathable membranes.

 Columbia Ampli-Dry

The Columbia Ampli-Dry shell forgoes the more commonly used Gore Tex in favour of their own proprietary Omni Tech waterproof membrane which we’ve already thoroughly tested and were very impressed with its performance for the money. The unique four way stretch material made for an athletic fit but still allowed for a wide range of movement. For the price, the Ampli-Dry is an absolute steal for those looking for their next shell.

Klattermusen Allgron 2.0

On the complete other end of the price spectrum is the Klattermusen Allgron 2.0 coming in at an eye watering £450. You might be thinking that this is a lot of money for a coat, and you’d be correct but wear this shell for even an hour in classic mountain conditions and everything will suddenly make sense. The Allgron 2.0 is a stunning jacket; the fit is exceptional for long days in the mountains and the performance of the proprietary 3 layer Cutan membrane is among the best we’ve seen in a long time. Feeling sweaty on long ascents is a thing of the past as moisture and heat generated from your exertion is allowed to permeate the membrane whilst precipitation stays firmly on the outside. Even in temperatures nudging double figures we were exceptionally comfortable. There’s so much tech in this shell that it warrants a more in-depth review but the bottom line is that the Allgron 2.0 is right up there with some of the best jackets we’ve ever tested at any price point.

Mid Layers

A mid layer is exactly that, it’s worn under a shell and on top of a base layer to keep you warm. Depending on conditions, a mid-layer can be anything from a lightweight fleece to a highly insulated jacket. Most of the time in Scottish winter you’ll want an insulated mid layer to trap warmth created by your body and preventing it being drawn away by the wind.

Insulated jackets fall into two distinct camps; those using synthetic fill and those using traditional down. Both have their strengths and weaknesses but the most important difference in this case is their ability to deal with moisture. Insulation relies on trapping warm air in the tiny pockets within the fill; if the fill gets wet, the pockets get much smaller or disappear all together and no warmth is trapped. Moisture doesn’t have to come from the sky either, wear a traditional down jacket under a waterproof shell and at the end of the day you might find the insulated jacket to be soaked with your own sweat rendering it almost useless at keeping you warm.

Berghaus Finnan

Traditional down falls victim to this and the Finnan from Berghaus is no exception…or is it? The Finnan jacket is filled with Berghaus’ Hydrodown fill which is treated to be water resistant and fast drying which helps this jacket keep you warm on those chilly days on the hills. Coupled with body mapping technology, the Finnan makes sure the warmth is right where you need it and we noticed that our entire torso was kept very comfortable. We’re not sure it’s the best option for very high output activities but found it perfect to throw on while sitting around the stove waiting for our food to cook.

Montane Fireball

For those looking for insulation even in the wettest conditions, a synthetic fill is king. The Montane Fireball is packed with their CLO VIVO EXTREME ECO insulation which doesn’t provide the same instant warmth as the Berhgaus but we found ourselves putting it on at the start of the day and only taking it off when we were back at the car; it’s got an incredible ability to adapt to a range of temperatures and the 4 way stretch material meant at no point were we uncomfortable as a result of a poor fit.

Base Layers

Craghoppers Merino

The purpose of a base layer it to wick away moisture and retain heat and there’s a couple of materials that excel at this. The first of which is Merino wool as it is highly effective across a wide temperature range and wicks moisture excellently. The long sleeved merino offering from Craghoppers kept us comfortable throughout long days on the hills and the slight stretch offered an athletic fit across a range of activities.

 Zerofit Heatrub

You might think the base layer is the simplest of kit in this article, but it’s 2022. There’s tech in  everything. You might not be familiar with Zerofit, but their claim of the worlds warmest base layer is certainly a lofty one. Hailing from Japan, their Heatrub technology uses ‘technologically enhanced fibres’ to generate heat by brushing against the skin to generate heat by friction. Intrigued, we headed out for a walk in their Heatrub Ultimate baselayer and were very impressed; even in snowy conditions, we were kept ridiculously toasty and were strolling around in just a lightweight mid layer whilst others out on the hills were wrapped up like the Michelin man.