Finding the best ski goggles to protect your eyes while skiing is incredibly important. Without good eye protection in the mountains, you run the very real risk of suffering snow blindness from excessive exposure to harmful ultraviolet light. This is the serious reason behind why we’ve tested, reviewed and shortlisted our favourites for this guide to the best ski goggles money can buy.
Best Ski Goggles For 2022
- Oakley Flight Path XL
- Giro Contour RS
- Spektrum Östra
- Smith 4D Mag
- Anon M4 Toric MFI
- Julbo Aerospace
- Oakley Flight Deck L
- Smith Range
- POC Retina Clarity Comp
- Izipizi Glacier Sunglasses
These days, ski goggles come in all different shapes and sizes. Various advancements in design, such as vast improvements in the functionality of interchangeable lenses, make the goggles of today (especially at the high end of the market) feel a world away from the goggles of yesteryear. Field of view, and an appreciation of how to optimise this, has come on leaps and bounds with spherical lenses, that essentially mirror the shape of a human eye, now common.
Many of the ski goggles that feature in this guide have been designed to be paired up with ski helmets made by the same brand. In some respects, this is obviously a slightly cynical play by the brands to essentially make you spend with them twice. That being said, there’s undoubtedly a smart logic to joining up the dots on your goggle and helmet purchase. The synchronised airflow it allows for will make for a less fogged-up experience on the slopes, meaning you’ll have superior vision when you need it the most. The goggle’s shape, as well, will have been designed to fit seamlessly into the shape of the helmet.
Whether you’re a beginner, an intermediate, or an advanced skier, you’ll find a ski goggle here at a price point you’re comfortable with. Like to charge hard and fast? There’s a product for you on this list. Need a clear view of landings when you send it in the park? There’s something for you here. Want something that makes you look a bit like James Bond? See the Izipizi Glacier Sunglasses. They’re on this list as well.
Oakley Flight Path (XL)
Price: £153
The Oakley Flight Path (XL) make the mountains feel like a big place where anything is possible. The field of view offered up by them is genuinely incredible, and serve as a reminder (if a reminder was really needed) that when it comes to goggles Oakley are arguably the best in the business. A colleague of ours, on Whitelines, described the experience of wearing these goggles recently as like having “a widescreen TV stuck to your face.”
Now in its second year of existence, the Flight Path (XL) goes all in on enhancing the skier’s field of vision to an almost laughably good degree. Designed in collaboration with the Norwegian World Cup alpine ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Flight Path (XL) has been designed to be a confidence-enhancer for those of us who relish the adrenaline that comes when charging down the hill at top speed. The design of it means you’re able to lock down into a racing shape without compromising your view of the slope ahead.
One of the cleverest things about the Oakley Flight Path (XL) is the way the spherical lens curves away from you equally on both the X and Y axis. By following the curvature of your eye, this reduces distortion and means you’re more likely to see the world around you as it actually is. A big surface area, that semi-rimless design, and an orbicular shape that reduces flat spots for light that can cause glare means this goggle stacks up very nicely in the benefits column. The inside of the goggles are also incredibly spacious. This makes it easier for air to circulate and, in turn, reduces the risk of fogging.
The RidgeLock EV system here means you can easily, and swiftly, swap lenses in line with what the ski conditions are doing. Speaking of conditions, the goggles have been fully sealed to keep the elements out. Throw Oakley’s excellent Prizm lens technology into the equation, which essentially fine tunes the light spectrum for the sport of your choosing, and it’s clear you’re onto a good thing with the Oakley Flight Path (XL). Speedsters, who need to assess terrain rapidly, are particularly well catered for.
BUY FROM |
This product was selected for our Ski 100.
Read our review of the Oakley Flight Path (XL).
Giro Contour RS Goggle
Website: GIRO.COM
The Giro Contour RS takes everything that made the Contour so popular, and then compacts it down into something that’s smaller but still high-performance. It’s a bit of a misconception that larger frame equals wider field of view, and the Giro Contour RS demonstrates this to the letter. Peripheral vision is, more often than not, affected by a goggle’s frame and lens shape rather than its size.
Thanks to Giro Expansion View Technology (aka Giro EXV+), which is a lens curvature that allows for one of the widest fields of view on the market and which creates a field of vision entirely unobstructed in the peripherals, the Giro Contour RS packs a mountain-viewing punch far mightier than its moderate size might suggest.
Throw in some seriously stylish strap options, the inclusion of two Vivid Zeiss Lenses – one for sunny conditions and one for low light conditions, excellent EVAK Vent technology and the fact they pair up well with Giro helmets and you’re undoubtedly onto a winner with these superb ski goggles.
This product was selected for our Ski 100.
Read our review of the Giro Contour RS Goggle.
Spektrum Östra Ski Goggles
Price: £164
People who live for enjoying the mountains in winter are increasingly becoming switched on to the fact that snowboarding and skiing has a sustainability paradox. Spektrum, from Åre in Sweden, know this and know that when it comes to the environment the ski industry can’t afford to sit on its laurels. The plant-based plastic used in the Spektrum Östra is a clear demonstration of that proactive thinking. It’s not something that will solve all of Mother Nature’s problems on its own, but it is a step in the right direction and one of the main reasons we included this good product in our best ski goggles list.
The frame of the Östra is born out of a plant-based plastic derived from castor oil. This, combined with the cleverly implemented injected dye colour in the frame, helps to make it an environmentally-friendly and more sustainable choice for skiers and snowboarders this winter. Obviously, on their own these ‘green’ credentials don’t necessarily make for a ‘good’ ski goggle in terms of usability. Instead, this conclusion can only really be drawn from the functionality and quality of its features.
Carl Zeiss Sonar lens technology delivers amazing contrast in low light conditions, maximum clarity, and 100% UV protection. According to Spektrum, the Super-AntiFog Kyohou inner lens provide “140% better fog management than industry standard.” Of course, it’s worth taking percentages thrown around by brands with a pinch of salt but there’s no denying it’s an aspect of the goggle that works well.
We like how well the magnetic lens exchange system has been implemented into the Spektrum Östra. It makes switching up lenses, depending on what the conditions are doing, incredibly straightforward. The Tri-density face foam delivers supreme levels of comfort on your face, and we’re also big fans of the air-flow lens system. The multi-layer finish on the lens is done well, and the 50mm jacquard polyester strap has a premium feel that’s only enhanced by the use of grippy silicone on the inside.
We’re big fans of the Spektrum Östra, not just because of its sustainability story but because it’s also a very good ski goggle in its own right. Whether you care about the future of our planet or not (you really should), this is a fantastic option for your eyes and face.
| BUY FROM |
This product was selected for our Ski 100.
Read our review of the Spektrum Östra.
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