Spectacle wearers used to have a raw deal when choosing the right skiing goggle. It used to be a case of buying a regular goggle and wearing your glasses underneath. Anyone who has done this knows how uncomfortable it can get as the goggle presses the arms of your specs into your temples. Also – you’ll be fully aware of how easily your glasses steam up – especially if you have a goggle with limited or no ventilation system. Similarly, the goggle can press your glasses closer to your eyes which can result in smearing of the lenses by your lashes or, even worse, your eyelids. All-in-all, not a great solution for eyeglasses wearers on the ski slopes.

Of course, the goggle-manufacturers came up with a range of goggles that were specifically made to fit over your glasses. They typically have better ventilation which relieves some of the fogging problem, though it can still be an issue due to the proximity of the glasses to the (sweaty!) face in and after periods of physical exertion. Such goggles generally have a small cut-away at each temple to allow the arms of the eyeglasses through with less pressure than that of their predecessors. Pressure at the temples is still an issue to some extent, though, as the cut-away section is frequently insufficient in size to accommodate the width of modern-day eyeglass arms.

But it’s not all doom and gloom! Recent times have generated demand from the wishes of prescription-glasses-wearing-skiers for skiing goggles which have prescription lenses included within them.

Prescription skiing goggles work by having a prescription lens adapter click into place within the goggle itself. The prescription adapter sits almost flush with the back surface of the goggle’s shield. It’s further away from the surface of the eyes than the lenses of eyeglasses. This, combined with the more modern, ventilated design of good-quality ski-goggles, helps to drastically reduce the fogging issue alluded to above.

Such skiing goggles fitted with a prescription lens adapter also have the major benefit to the wearer of being so much more comfortable that over-the-glasses type goggles. There is no more temple discomfort caused by the arms of glasses ‘digging in’.

These days, prescription skiing goggles are the preferred choice for most glasses wearers who venture on to the slopes. No more discomfort from temple pressure – and much clearing vision with the minimised chance of fogging.

The ski slopes really have become clearer!