It’s Snowtime!
Top tips for protecting your eyes
on the slopes this winter!
A key factor in optimising sports performance is vision.
Optimum clarity of vision is best achieved by choosing specific
lenses suitable for your sport to enable all ski and snowboard
enthusiasts to perform better, as well as providing protection for
the eyes.
When choosing Ski goggles, there are various factors that need to be
taken into account when choosing the right pair to suit you.
The colour of the lens plays a critical role in the management of
light. The lens shade and its density can enhance or preserve the
perception of colours, improve contrast and reduce glare as well
eliminate UV rays. With this, provides better vision, speed and
accuracy for the sportsperson.
Certain tints offer advantages for specific visual tasks and
environments by changing the quality and quantity of light entering
the eye, but there are also various performance enhancing features
that will help, especially when skiing or snowboarding.
Sandip Sahota, resident optometrist at Eye to Eye–KNIGHTSBRIDGE
offers her top tips of what to look for when choosing the perfect
pair of ski goggles:
- UV protection: This is an integral aspect when choosing ski goggles. Without UV light protection, short term exposure can lead to painful sunburn to the cornea called photo-keratitis. Long term exposure can result in cataracts and other eye conditions.
-
Polycarbonate lenses:
Theses lenses are light weight, shatter resistant and offer 100%
UV protection against harmful UV rays.
-
Scratch resistant coating:
This is ideal especially when taking tumbles and falls on the
snow where they are more prone to scratching. This coating will
also help the goggles last longer.
-
Tint colour:
Ultimately the tint needs to enhance the contrast and thus
improve vision and performance. It is important to choose a tint
that blocks high levels of blue light. By filtering blue light
there is increased contrast and sharper focus especially on
overcast, hazy and low light conditions. This is turn enhances
the visibility of shapes bumps and objects in the
snow.
-
A gold colour tint filters out blue light and is suitable
for a wide range of light conditions.
-
In bright sunny conditions a blue/black Iridium tint
helps protect from bright sunlight glare as well as increases
depth perception and improves contrast.
-
Purple
is good in low- light conditions- i.e. overcast and snowy days.
This allows shadows and contours to be more visible in flat
lighting.
-
Lenses which are yellow-orange/amber and rose in
hue are the best tints to filter out blue light. This enhances
contrast and shadows thus increasing definition in the varying
light conditions.
-
Polarised lenses:
These lenses have a special filter which selectively blocks out
light reflecting from horizontal surfaces. Therefore are ideal
in blocking glare from the light reflecting from snow.
-
Anti-reflecting coating:
This applied to the back surface of the goggles will eliminate
glare from sunlight reflecting off this surface when the sun is
coming from behind. This reflecting glare is also reduced with a
wrap around style goggle is chosen so the lenses sit closer to
the face.
-
Protection:
Ski goggles provide protection for the sensitive areas of the
face as well as for the eyes, so making sure they fit well is
important. Most ski goggles are large, covering most of the
upper portion of the face. Large, wide lenses which wrap around
the head have a wide field of view and good peripheral vision
whilst protecting the eyes from wind and snow
-
It is important for the inside of the goggles to be padded for
added protection whilst providing a snug fit on the nose and
around the head.
-
Some ski goggles allow for optical inserts to be fitted to
correct a prescription. Other goggles are designed to fit over
the top of glasses by being slightly larger to provide extra
space.
-
Treating the lenses/glasses with anti-fog treatment can help
prevent them from misting up inside, although many goggles have
vents at the top and bottom of the lenses which allows fresh air
circulation thus reducing fogging.
EYE TO EYE - KNIGHTSBRIDGE offers a range of services, including
comprehensive eye examinations using the most up-to-date technology
within a calm, friendly and professional environment.
They are experts in eye care and at the forefront of luxury and
fashionable eyewear collections from niche brands to leading fashion
houses, offering premium quality product with elegant design to
ensure that eyes look and feel their best.
For more information about the products and services at EYE TO
EYE–KNIGHTSBRIDGE please visit
www.eyetoeye-knightsbridge.co.uk or pop in the store located
very close to Harrods at 3A
