How to choose specialist mountaineering clothing

One of the main aspects to consider when undertaking activities in the mountains is undoubtedly your clothing choices. They are essential to have a great and safe experience during your adventure in the mountains. This is why we need to equip ourselves with specialist, functional and high-performance garments, to ensure optimal comfort in all weather conditions. Thanks to the in-depth work of La Sportiva's Research and Development division, you can choose to purchase a wide range of garments suitable for every need. In this guide, we'll help you make the most suitable choice for you, depending on the activities you want to do. 

When evaluating whether to purchase specialist mountaineering clothing, several factors must be taken into account: 

1.   Weather and the environment around us: At high altitudes, opt for specialist, protective and comfortable clothing suitable for sudden changes in climate and temperature. For this reason, it is essential to stay abreast of the weather conditions we'll encounter, to make an informed choice about our equipment and avoid being caught off guard.

2.   In summer or winter, it is advisable to dress according to the different seasons of the year, although we may need thermal protection even in the height of summer, depending on the conditions. We must always keep in mind what height we wish to reach, but remember that even at not particularly high altitudes, in bad weather, the situation may require us to rely on specialist, insulating and waterproof clothing.

3.   Length and technical difficulty of our itinerary: The appropriate mountaineering clothing should be matched for each environment. For less technical routes, it is better to choose comfortable clothing, to ensure we can enjoy our adventure in comfort. For mountaineering routes, however, it will be important to be equipped with clothes featuring specialist components that could prove decisive.

To choose a garment suitable for use, it is also essential to take  different technical properties of fabrics into consideration: breathability, thermoregulation, waterproofness, insulation, durability and comfort. 

• Breathability: the ability of water vapour to escape from the inside of a fabric through micro holes. Especially in outdoor sports, breathable clothing offers a more comfortable, dry body climate and helps to counteract excessive sweating. Keeping the body dry and avoiding waterlogging in the fabrics guarantees better performance and greater comfort during activities.

• Thermoregulation: thermoregulating specialist garments restore the body's comfort zone, and have the characteristic of keeping us cool when temperatures are high, while keeping us dry and warm when it is cold. Thermoregulation is often also managed by layering clothing.

• Waterproofness: waterproof fabrics, such as those designed by GORE-TEX, prevent moisture from penetrating textile fibres. This quality is essential for a product to be durable, high-performance and practical. 

• Insulation: the thermal resistance of the clothing. When the "layer" is thick, it is often well-insulating, but even finer-looking garments such as merino wool sweaters can have good insulating capacity. Thermal insulation of the body is also achieved by dressing in layers.

• Resistance: to undertake mountaineering routes and via ferratas (equipped paths), it is necessary to wear clothing that provides good protection against rocks, is abrasion-resistant and doesn't tear on contact with walls. Long-lasting, high-quality garments are preferable.

• Comfort: the comfortable feeling of a newly worn garment, a particularly important property for outdoor clothes which must guarantee ample freedom of movement and be able to be worn comfortably even for hours at a stretch.

Many garments can be combined with each other to optimise performance in terms of breathability, thermal insulation and waterproofness, thus ensuring that optimal comfort is always obtained. Mountaineering clothing should be considered as a staunch ally to help us on our mountain adventures. This is because the environment we move through in the mountains determines the choice of specialist garments, which in turn influence our outdoor experience.

What should mountaineering clothing be like: light or heavy?

Focus your choice on specialist garments, which guarantee maximum protection and durability but not to the detriment of  lightness. During mountain excursions, we carry part of our clothing inside a backpack: its weight and volume will therefore also be determined by the items we have chosen to bring with us. The lighter and more compressible the garments are, the less weight we will carry on our shoulders, and the smaller our backpack will be.

How do we choose the right size for mountaineering clothing? 

There are many options available on the market for different body types, so how can we find our bearings when choosing the most suitable product for us? When choosing a garment for mountaineering, we should estimate how many hours we will wear it for. This is why it is important for it to feel comfortable immediately. The fit should give you a good feeling and allow ample freedom of movement, a key feature for outdoor adventures. 

Finally, we must be careful to avoid uncomfortable pressures. It is therefore preferable to go for a slightly more comfortable size that carefully protects the extremities and your lower back from the weather, rather than a slightly smaller one. Today you have a very broad range of options specifically designed for each activity in the mountains and for each body shape, therefore allowing considerable choice without compromising on technicality and performance.

Dressing in layers: what does it involve?

Layering clothing is an effective method to stay protected and dry in the mountains. It is based on the use of various layers of clothing with different characteristics, which can be added or removed as needed.

• Women's and man's base layer: base layers are in direct contact with the skin. They must be breathable, to be able to keep sweat away from the body. 

• Man's and woman's mid layer: mid layers offer thermal protection. The choice of their characteristics will vary depending on what activities we will carry out. 

• Man's and woman's insulated layer: these garments insulate the body from the external cold, by keeping a layer of air inside them. The greater the amount of air trapped in the padding (down or synthetic), the greater  the heat retained. 

• Man's and woman's outer layers: these products are also known as shells. They are able to protect us from adverse weather conditions such as rain, snow, and strong winds. 

Remember: dressing in layers is a versatile and effective method for dealing with different weather conditions in the mountains.

What fabric to choose? Which ones are functional?

The evolution of the technologies used in specialist mountain clothing always makes new fabrics available to choose from. Base your purchase choice on the activity you will carry out and the climate you will encounter.   

The thermal fabrics you can choose between are:

• Down: light, insulating, but delicate.

• Wool: breathable, absorbent, but may cause itching.

• Synthetics: breathable, durable, but less insulating than down and wool.

These three fabrics can all contribute to a garment's composition at the same time, in different proportions. 

 Waterproof and breathable fabrics meanwhile include:

• Gore-Tex membrane: ultra-durable, guarantees protection from water and maximum breathability.

• Evo-Shell: not only high-performance, waterproof and breathable, but also eco-friendly. 

Don't forget: it is important to choose the fabric that best suits your needs to stay warm and dry in the mountains, so that you can enjoy your experience to the fullest and safely.

Which garments are absolutely essential?

Good mountain clothing is essential to ensure a comfortable experience, even in adverse conditions. This is why you should always carry with you, in summer and winter: 

• A man's or woman's shell jackets: in every season, shell jackets provide protections against rain, snow and wind. 

• Shell trousers: in cold or particularly rainy climates, leg protection must also be considered an essential part of our clothing. 

• You can't go without spare gloves for men and gloves for women, hats for men or headbands for women and socks for men or socks for women: they protect the most exposed parts from cold, wind, rain and snow.

• Specialist underwear is also not to be underestimated: it keeps sweat outside, regulates body temperature and provides thermal insulation. Always carry a change with you. 

It is important to choose quality garments, in line with your needs and the expected weather conditions. 

What should you never forget in winter? 

In particular, during the cold season, dressing in layers to stay protected is essential, which is why – in addition to essential mountaineering clothing – you should always bring the following garments with you:

1. A base layer with short or long sleeves.

2. One thermal layer in fleece or pile.

3. One insulating layer like down.

4. Finally, remember to always cover your torso well, which has to maintain a constant internal temperature and therefore suffers from the cold more than other body parts. 

And how to dress in summer for mountaineering activities?

The main feature of the garments we use during the hot season is breathability: in summer, high temperatures make even the most trained mountaineers sweat, so if the garments remain as dry as possible, even those who wear them feel more comfortable. A damp garment, used at a colder time of day, will in fact cause an even greater difference in temperature to be perceived: for this reason, synthetic garments with anti-odour technologies are a winning choice for our outfit. Even during this season, wearing a hat that protects us from the sun is essential.

What colours to choose?

In the mountains, the colour we choose for our clothing is not just an aesthetic question, but plays an important role in terms of safety. In fact, in an emergency, it is easier to be identified if we use backpacks or outer layers of colours that differ from the environment in which we find ourselves, and are highly contrasting. In summer, during sunny days, it is also preferable to avoid dark colours to avoid unnecessary overheating.

Care and maintenance of mountaineering clothes 

Correct maintenance of mountaineering clothes is of fundamental importance in the La Sportiva philosophy. A conscious approach to life means limiting your purchase of new products, taking care of those you already own. A first step towards prolonging their life consists of simple but effective precautions, such as: 

1. Not overexposing your garments to strong heat sources, such as stoves and radiators, as doing so would compromise the technologies contained in them. 

2. Not applying chemical products on your heads.

3. Not using your clothing  improperly and for activities for which they were not designed. 

4. It's also important to wash clothes correctly, carefully following the specific instructions for each fabric. 

Many sports items are thrown away due to the inability to regenerate them and always have them as good as new: not deteriorating them is an important element for sustainability, and significantly reduces our environmental impact.