Mons Royale Base Layers

I get cold easily, I get itchy easily and have been known to wear something non-itchy under a warmer (but itchier) base layer if need be.

TEMP REGULATING & SOFT WOOL

This Kiwi brand is seriously the bomb for base layers and temperature regulating sport wear. Wanaka-designed underlayer tops and bottoms are merino wool, handpicked locally at local sheep farms for the softest wool, you can really feel in the garments. 

WHY MERINO

They’re non-itchy to the skin so you can wear everything on the very base/ bottom of your snow outfits. Wool being a self-sustaining material has anti-odour/ anti-bacterial properties. Merino keeps you warm and dry and requires a lot less washing, which is handy on a snow trip with no access to laundry the entire week. Synthetic clothes stink after a very short period of time, there’s not getting around that.

COLOURS

Everything comes in black if that’s how you roll, but the designs are eye-popping and very cool, including black and white stripes for base layers, mustard or mauve with the Mons distinctive stripe on the foot in black on the socks or mid-layers you can kick around town in to keep warm.

DIFFERENT FEATURES

You realise locally owned businesses are actually skiers and boarders themselves and not just boardroom bandits from far off places when all the little nuances that are important to the sport are built into the products. Many of the base layer tops have the thumb hole to cover more of your hand from the wind and there’s the option of base layer pants that only go to the top of your ski boot or snowboard boots. 

Some people prefer to wear their base layer pants all the way to the ankle because it can feel a little strange in the beginning to be wearing pants that just go to the knee but I enjoyed less bulk under my ski pants and it made it quicker to do my buckles up not flighting ankle fabric

HOW’S THE HEAD COVER?

The Balaclavas are flexible and soft enough to be worn as either a neck warmer or the full head cover and the material doesn’t make you gag like synthetic does. You only have to make that mistake once, like wearing somebody else’s neck gaiter that hasn’t been washed to know exactly what I mean….