Skiing or snowboarding without boots is only possible with sunglasses or goggles. They are a crucial component of your ski gear. Nowadays, there are several prescription sports glasses available online. Like ski boots, you should choose eyeglasses based on performance, comfort, and safety.
Skiing reflects the brilliant blue sky’s UV rays into your eyes. Because of this, cataracts and photokeratitis can happen. Photokeratitis can feel like a sunburn on the eyeball’s tissue. The ski slopes are also dangerous because they are often very windy. They can make your eyes dry and irritated by sending dust and other small particles right into your eyes.
Mistakes or not using eye protection cause most skiing and snowboarding eye injuries. If you fall while wearing the wrong glasses, the lens or frame could break and hurt your eye. You could become sick from UV rays or damage yourself if you don’t wear them. For this reason, you need to choose the best prescription glasses for sports. Also, the wrong lens type can make it hard to see, making skiing less fun and dangerous.
Think about these important things you need to consider when choosing winter sunglasses or goggles.
Table of Contents
1. UV Protection
UVA and UVB rays can cause eye disorders and hasten age. Damage to the cornea can lead to photokeratitis. It also causes cataracts, macular degeneration, and eye cancer. Another name for this kind of harm is sunburn of the retina. Even when it’s cloudy, UV light bounces off the snow, and the effects of UV rays get worse the higher you go.
It is so vital to have protection from both UVA and UVB. Putting a transparent film on the lens protects it from UV light. Your glasses should always say so on the label. Only buy it if it says that it blocks UV rays.
2. NXT/Polycarbonate Lenses:
If you want to snowboard or ski, you should only wear polycarbonate or stronger NXT lenses. Glass and plastic lenses can break when they get hit. It can send small pieces into the eye. If polycarbonate or NXT lenses fall to the ground, they won’t hurt. Bullets can’t get through NXT glasses.
Polycarbonate glasses are thinner and less likely to fog. The clear lens blocks 100% of UV light because the material inside it soaks up UV. For high-altitude mountaineering, glass lenses are acceptable. Glass lenses are the most precise and least likely to get scratched.
3. Frame Style and Material
Polypropylene frames outperform metal in cold weather. In cold weather, metal frames can break, and nose pads can poke your eyes. The design flaws also make them uncomfortable to wear on one’s face. Skiing and snowboarding enjoy wraparound plastic frames. They have extra-wide fields of view, good coverage, and won’t move during activities. People who wear contacts need them to protect their eyes from wind and snow. It is to reduce glare by blocking light from the sides. Advanced eyewear has removable side guards for extra protection.
The best glasses or goggles for skiing cover your eyes all the way around. These glasses give you a broader view, don’t move or bounce when skiing, and block wind and snow well. If you wear contact lenses, this is even more important.
4. Polarized Glasses
Polarized lenses can be good and bad for active skiers and snowboarders. Caused by “polarized light,” they stopped glare. Glowing is most noticeable on surfaces that reflect a lot of light, like water and snow. Snow takes in about 98% of the light that bounces off it. But it works so well that sometimes it’s hard to tell snow from ice. If you’re worried about icy weather, you should only get polarized lenses. If you still need to, you should get lenses that look like mirrors.
5. Photochromatic Lenses
When the light changes, photochromatic lenses change color as well. So, they will get darker, and when it’s cloudy, they will get weaker. They keep you from having to switch lenses or sunglasses when the light changes because they can change to give you the best vision in the morning.
6. Paints for Mirrors
Mirror coatings (or “flash”) work well when the light needs to be less bright, like when the sun is shining on the snow. For snow sports, a metalized coating with two different levels of shine works well. Remember that a mirror will make back reflectance more noticeable, especially on darker lenses. The back should have a coating that stops light from reflecting.
7. Anti-Fog Features
If your glasses have fogged or formed condensation, look for sunglasses or goggles with anti-fog features. Some of these are double or triple lenses, anti-fog coatings, and wide vents in the lens.
Lens Color
You can’t use the same lens for all sports. There are the best lens colors for each sport. Think about the following tints for winter sports.
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Gray
The most common shades for tinted lenses are gray, smoke, and gray-green. They block glare without changing how you see colors and be used in any weather.
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Brown, Rose, or Amber
Contrast best against white, making snow shadows on a ski slope stand out and showing ridges or bumps on the surface. Brown is better for bright sunlight, while amber and rose are better for low light (when the sun is behind the clouds). It blocks blue light, which is standard on cloudy days.
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Yellow
Yellow tints work well when there are many clouds in the sky or low light, like in a fog. They block out blue light, which makes shadows in the snow stand out and makes it easier to see the bumps. Overall, they make the contrast better and make it easier to see.
8. Lens Class and Environmental Suitability Symbols
Our sunglasses and goggles include lens category values and environmental compatibility icons. They state the lens’s light transmission and optimal conditions. Choose interchangeable-lens eyewear for variable weather.
9. Goggles
Snowboarders wear prescription sports goggles in sunny or snowy weather. In contrast, skiers wear them when it is snowing or windy. You would follow the same rules about lens color as above. If you only ski in lousy weather, buy amber, rose, or yellow-colored goggles. These tints work better in low light. Make sure the goggles have enough airflow.
It is essential if you wear contact lenses. You must ensure your goggles have enough airflow so your lenses don’t dry out. Also, remember to blink a lot to help keep your contacts moist. If you wear a helmet, make sure your goggles fit with it. They will have an outrigger that can bend and move. The strap can work around the helmet and goggles to stay on the face.
10. Prescription Lenses
Most sunglasses, including wraps, can fit with prescription lenses. Wrapped frames impede peripheral vision, so avoid them if your prescription is high. Several sunglasses and goggles have optical adaptors that fit inside, including anti-fog coatings. Optical adaptors fogging up decent sunglasses on the slope are the worst. All prescription adaptors on our site are anti-fog.
An optical adaptor lets you remove it when using contact lenses. Glasses-compatible goggles exist. They are flexible yet unpleasant, and they fog glasses easily. If you buy over-the-glass (OTG) goggles, try anti-fog spray or wipes like this site’s “Fog-Buster.”
Conclusion
Make sure the goggles fit if you wear glasses. Even without a helmet, check your goggles for fit. For wind, ice, and dirt protection, choose thick foam inserts. To see 180°, make sure they don’t obscure your side vision. Look for polycarbonate lenses, which can withstand being hit and are more robust than plastic. Your goggles’ frame and lenses should also be flexible so that the lenses don’t pop out or break.
