Booking a ski holiday is no simple task.
Not only must you grapple with spending a small fortune to rent equipment, secure accommodation and ensure that you’re well-fed for multiple days of hardcore exercise, but you’re at the constant mercy of one notoriously fickle beast, the weather.
In the days before setting off on a ski trip, we often enter ‘dad mode’. Multiple meteorological apps are downloaded onto smartphones and tablets while trip participants and excitable skiers pretend to understand the intricacies of snow forecasts.
We act this way in order to feel a semblance of control over the conditions that we’ll be entering, but we certainly can’t change the weather and can only hope for miracles when it comes to overturning bad forecasts.
What all skiers hope for is to arrive at a resort that has just experienced a fair few days of consistent, semi-heavy snow which has since departed to make way for the bright light of pure sunshine in which to hit the slopes and, of course, après in nothing but thermal tops.
When the weather is miraculously sunny with fresh powder, many skiers will trade their hardcore goggles for a stylish and practical pair of sunglasses. They might even enjoy a downhill ski with an unzipped jacket billowing in the cool breeze.
What should I look for in a pair of sunglasses for skiing?
- Polarised lenses: Ensuring your skiing sunglasses are equipped with polarised lenses is incredibly important. Polarised lenses help to ensure clearer, more accurate vision while reducing glare and reflection. This helps to reduce eye strain and ensures your eyes are protected from bright white reflections of the sun on snow.
- Anti-fog technology: glasses fog up due to condensation, which occurs when skiing due to warm breath and body temperature interacting with the exposed lenses. Anti-fog technology on sunglasses is usually in the form of a hydrophilic chemical coating on the lenses which absorbs and diverts moisture.
- Wrap-around design: wrap-around sunglasses provide more protection from exposure to the elements. This further prevents any glare or bright spots from sneaking through the gaps in your sunnies.
- Breathability and comfort: ultimately, the most important factor to consider when purchasing a pair of sunglasses for skiing is that you feel comfortable in them. When trying on a pair, shake your head around and make sure you feel secure in the fact that they won’t fall off. Likewise, consider the fit of the nose bridge and ensure that there’s space for ample breathability.
Why do some people wear sunglasses instead of goggles when skiing?
Most of the time, it’s entirely weather-dependent. In blizzard conditions with low visibility and a high windchill, goggles are a necessity – even if some skiers find them uncomfortable. However, when the sun is shining and the only visible obstacles worth worrying about are snow blindness and bright light, sunglasses are the favoured option for their sheer practicality and style.
We’ve rounded up a selection of the best sunglasses for skiing to buy now. Keep scrolling to stay cool.
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Best sunglasses for skiing at a glance:
- Best for overall: Oakley Radar - £223, Oakley
- Best for wrap-around design: Maui Jim Amberjack - £223, Maui Jim
- Best for ski touring and mountaineering: Julbo-Explorer 2.0 Cameleon S2-4 - Glacier glasses - £158.36, Alpine Trek
- Best for UV protection: Blenders Alpine Moon - £50, Blenders
- Best for goggle-like coverage paired with comfort and style: Smith Bobcat Sunglasses - £174, Sigma Sports
- Best for classic alpine design: Heron Mountain - Vallon, £97
- Best for coverage: Bollé Shifter - Bollé, £180
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Oakley Radar
Best for: overall
The Oakley Radars are a best-seller for a myriad of reasons. A favourite amongst sportspeople in varying disciplines – from cycling and rock-climbing to ski touring and completive skiing – Oakley’s Radar sunglasses have been crafted with decades of research with some of the world’s best athletes in mind.
Highly customisable and equipped with polarised lenses in a wide range of colours, these glasses offer supreme anti-glare ability with just 11 per cent light transmission and are compatible with prescription lenses. They have also been supremely impact-tested under extremely high mass and high velocity to ensure the utmost protection in all conditions.
Buy now £223.00, Oakley
Maui Jim Amberjack
Best for: wrap-around design
Renowned for their ski-proof, wrap-around design, Maui Jim glasses are beloved by mountaineers and fishermen alike for their brilliant anti-glare properties and all-over protection. Expertly crafted to prevent glare from entering your line of vision from all angles, you can choose from an array of polarised lens colours before taking them to your local optometrist to ensure they have been fitted with your prescription.
Buy now £223.00, Maui Jim
Julbo-Explorer 2.0 Cameleon S2-4 - Glacier glasses
Best for: ski touring and mountaineering
If it’s your first time embarking on a ski tour, it’s important you’re equipped with lightweight, practical, comfortable and breathable equipment. The Sinner Reyes CX sunglasses make a fantastic ski tourer’s companion thanks to the detachable wrap-around features which have been designed with alpine adventurers in mind.
Light-responsive, polarised lenses will provide brilliant visibility in low-light conditions, as the lenses have been crafted to shift opacity depending on the intensity of light they are faced with. Meanwhile, anti-fog technology will prevent a build-up of condensation for when hiking with skis on your back inevitably becomes a sweaty workout.
Buy now £158.36, Alpine Trek
Blenders Alpine Moon
Best for: UV protection
Designed to protect and adapt to all weather conditions, the Alpine Moon sunglasses by Blenders may not look like much, but they are certainly mighty. With 100 per cent UV protection and polarized anti-glare lenses, these sunglasses offer crisp vision with a comfortable matte rubberised frame that’ll stay put on your face no matter what kind of sport you’re engaging in.
Buy now £50.00, Blenders
Smith Bobcat Sunglasses
Best for: goggle-like coverage paired with the comfort and style
Designed for small-to-medium faces, the five-base lens curvature Smith Bobcat Sunglasses offer ‘ChromaPop’ technology, which essentially boosts the contrast and natural colours of your surroundings in order to ensure crisp, extremely clear and glare-free vision. Strategic venting has been implemented in order to ensure the utmost breathability and reduce fogging, while temple and nose pads provide ample comfort and prevent slippage.
Buy now £174.01, Sigma Sports
Heron Mountain
Best for: classic alpine design
Interchangeable lens: no
Designed with alpine adventures in mind, the Heron glasses by Vallon have a vintage feel with modern, category three lens technology. The Heron Mountain glasses let more light in than your classic mountaineering glasses, yet simultaneously protect against glare. The polycarbonate lenses are shatterproof and mould seamlessly into the leather side shields – which will keep your specs nice and secure.
The detachable centrepiece blocks out dust, debris and wind, but can be removed for when you need more breathability. Uniquely, the Heron Mountain glasses feature adjustable temples, meaning that the ear socks can be shaped around your ears for maximum comfort.
Buy now £97.01, Vallon
Bollé Shifter
Best for: coverage
Interchangeable lens: yes
With curved temples, a vented photochromatic lens and the option to upgrade the lens to prescription level with your local optometrist, the Shifters are a top choice for both pro and casual cyclists.
Large TR90 Nylon frames and a thermogrip hydrophilic nosepiece ensure that these glasses will stay put, no matter how intense your session gets. The high contrast lens improves colour perception by up to 30 per cent and also allows for better depth perception, making these specs a fantastic option for high-altitude bikers who are constantly shifting between elevations and light conditions.
The lens is polarized, meaning it is protected against glare. For some road and mountain cyclists, this is an essential feature for preventing snow blindness. On the other hand, mountain bikers who cycle on sheltered, forest terrains should avoid polarized lenses as they can prevent you from noticing obstacles in an already glare-free environment.
Buy now £180.00, Bollé
