Open palm mittens for most of us. NP, ION and others seem to work equally well. In much colder climes, some people use Glacier Gloves and other preshaped gloves.

Your standard neoprene gloves will almost never work as there is too much slip. Some people use dishwashing gloves with okay results.

Downhaul line is 4mm (or 3.8 in some brands). The good stuff is Dyneema: Formuline Robline. Cheaper blue/black like Chinook lines work okay but the more expensive stuff runs more easily and lasts a long time.