Skiing and snowboarding with glasses is possible, although some prefer wearing contact lenses. If you decide to wear your glasses under your ski goggles, it is important to know the right setup so that it will not be uncomfortable and off-putting. A wrong setup might also cause fogging, and damage your expensive frames.
To wear glasses under your ski goggles, choose goggles that are big enough to accommodate your glasses. Make sure you try it on before your trip, and see if it fits closely to your face to prevent fogging. It can be challenging to combine both accessories, which is why we have come up with this guide to help you wear your ski goggles with glasses more comfortably.
Wear OTG goggles
OTG means “Over The Glasses,” and these are goggles that are oversized and specifically designed to be worn over your prescription glasses. These goggles are shaped specifically, and their frames are roomier than that of regular goggles, which gives your glasses some space to rest naturally on your face without pushing them up your nose or crushing them onto your cheeks. The frames of OTG goggles allow the temples of your glasses to sit comfortably without squeezing your face. There is also a slightly thicker foam padding on the goggles’ edges to create a seal around the arms of your glasses.
A lot of people wear large goggles thinking they are the same as OTG goggles, and end up suffering because of how uncomfortable that is, although some larger non-OTG goggles do work for some people.
OTG goggles don’t just have to fit well with glasses, they also need to vent well, as this will keep your glasses from fogging. Having more vents around the edge of the OTG goggles will allow your face to breath, and will not fog the lenses. However, if you still have issues with fogging, some manufacturers make OTG goggles with a built-in ventilation fan that comes with a small battery pack. Although, it adds a little bit of weight and you have to remember to charge the battery. But if you consistently run into issues with fogging, this is a good solution.
If you’re not sure about which OTG goggles to purchase, check out our article about the best ski goggles where we laid out our top ski goggles recommendations, including an OTG one.
Wear prescription inserts
One option that ski and snowboard enthusiasts also like is wearing ski goggles with prescription inserts. These are larger lenses that clip onto the ski goggle to give you a wider field of view. They sit a little further away from your face, and have a special coating, so they are harder to fog up.
Inserts are perfect for someone who doesn’t want to deal with OTG goggles. These inserts can be used in just about any ski goggle and with any lenses. However, they are more expensive than OTG goggles. Furthermore, when you take them off, your glasses are taken off too, which is why it is a good idea to have a pair of backup glasses in your pocket.
Wear contact lenses
A lot of skiers and snowboarders also prefer wearing contact lenses beneath their goggles, instead of glasses or inserts. The good thing about contact lenses is that they don’t fog up, and will prevent you from damaging your expensive glasses if you take a tumble. However, you have to find out if your optometrist suggests that they are a good idea for you, because contacts don’t work for everyone. If they do work for you, then these may make skiing or snowboarding much simpler.
It’s by far the simplest way to ski with less than perfect vision, because you can just put them on when you wake up, then wear any goggles or sunglasses over them. As we’ve mentioned, contacts do not work for everyone, because some people have sensitive eyes and can’t wear contacts.
Also, if you take a hard tumble, contacts can fall off. Therefore, bringing a few extra pairs if you are skiing with contacts is a good idea.
No matter what kind of goggles you’re using, keeping them clean is always important. Because of their special properties, cleaning ski goggles is not as simple as wiping your eyeglasses with your shirt. If you want to preserve your goggles and avoid making an expensive mistake, follow our instructions on how to clean ski goggles.
Keep your goggles from fogging while wearing glasses
There are a few things you can do to make sure you’re getting the most out of your goggles:
- You have to make sure your glasses are developed for skiing. It is best that you opt for a flexible, slim, athletic frame, because this type of frame will ensure that you can wear your goggles as comfortably as possible. Moreover, it will be low-profile, and there will be less frame to get compressed onto your face if you happen to crash.
- There are a few things you can do to keep your goggles from fogging. Fogging is caused by different temperatures between the air inside and outside of the goggles and glasses. That is why it is best that you keep those temperatures equal. Do this by not sliding your goggles up to your forehead, because the sweat from your head will fog them up quickly, and then, it will be hard to get the fog back out.
- When you go into the ski lodge and take your goggles off, remember not to put them back on immediately when going back out. You have to wait for your face and glasses to cool back down, and make sure your ski mask isn’t sending the warm air from your nose and mouth back to the bottom of the goggle, as that will cause fogging.
- It is also best to take your goggles out of their bag, and hang them where it’s warm and dry overnight. Fogging may reappear if you don’t dry them after every day of using them.
- If your ski goggles fog up, remember never to wipe the inside of the lens when it’s wet. Doing this may permanently damage the anti-fog coating inside the lens.
- Make sure that the air vents at the top of your goggles are not blocked by your headwear. Doing this will also help prevent your ski goggles and glasses from steaming up too much.
Conclusion
Never wear your glasses alone when skiing, because normal clear prescription glasses will not be able to protect you from UV rays, which are stronger at high altitude, and even more extreme when they are reflected off of clouds and snow. Furthermore, in extreme cases, you can get snow blindness due to the high reflectivity of snow. It’s also very difficult to see where you are going and to follow your direction without protection, as the glare of the sun blocks shadows and the contrast of the slope ahead of you. The point is that you need UV protection, and using prescription glasses isn’t enough. This is where ski goggles come in.
Ski goggles were made to shield your eyes from harsh winds, cold air, and they can also block UV light. They are one of the most important skiing gears that you need to invest in, especially if you have poor eyesight. Since you need glasses in order to see properly, you will definitely need to wear them while you’re skiing. Because of this, you might need to invest in ski goggles that can accommodate your prescription eyewear.
If you plan on wearing your prescription glasses when you go skiing, then you will be needing OTG goggles that can accommodate your glasses. If you don’t want to deal with OTG goggles, you can opt to wear prescription inserts instead, or just wear contact lenses. No matter what kind of prescription eyewear you choose, the bottom line is still the same: you need to wear goggles when skiing to protect your eyes from harsh winds, cold air, and UV rays.
