The first thing being, buy some nice ones! The hands are the first to get cold, and sometimes they are the ONLY thing to get cold. And even though the rest of you is warm, your cold hands are making your day miserable, and lift rides unbearable. For me, I can handle cold toes, a cold face... but if my hands get cold and I can't warm them... I'm headed in.
After using a few different kind of gloves, watching what the long-time instructors use, GoreTex or leather is the only way to go. What I ended up using is a pair of GoreTex workman gloves from Cabela's, recommended to me from my brother that is a former lifty... and they were very warm.
What I hope to purchase for next season is a smart pair of leather gloves. Everyone who has been an instructor for more than one year has a pair. Compared to giant nylon gloves, the leather gloves look neat and professional. And when they aren't wearing them, they clip them to a loop on the back of their snowpants, and they hang there looking cool and sharp. Now if I were to clip my gloves to my pants, they'd look ridiculous because of how big and bulky they are.
Another bit advice I would give... the most common injury snowboarders get is a sprained wrist, especially when you are just starting out. You fall so much while learning, and it's natural to catch yourself over and over again by putting your hand down first to soften the fall. I had to go to ski patrol a few times to fill out paper work for students hurting their wrists. If you are a beginner, try a pair of gloves that comes with wrist protectors...
Hestra makes good gloves and mitts. I like these guide gloves.
Poler Stuff recently put up some of their gloves for half off.
Burton, of course, has beautiful glove/mitt options... go with their leather and goreTex. Check out the favorite leather glove.
I know it's the end of the season, Spring is coming, and you aren't thinking about snowboard gloves anymore... but it's probably the biggest lesson I learned snowboarding so often the past few months and thought I would share.
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