Does anyone else ski without goggles or glasses?

A snowHead

Hi,

I have skied about 5 times - 20 days.
I never wear goggles or sun glasses (I find them annoying and they impair my peripheral vision).

I never wear sun glasses in the sun for similar reasons.
I have no difficulty skiing without these.

Any comments?

A snowHead

You will go blind.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Who needs eyesight anyway? If you screw them up you can always get a new pair. Shocked

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

each to their own

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@dewsbury, when you have cataracts due to over-exposure to UV light, you may wish to reconsider.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photokeratitis

After all it is free

Seriously, start wearing goggles or sunglasses.

I was the same as you - for the same reason - and in the middle of one particularly sunny week both eyes started burning to the point of me being doubled up in pain and having to stumble down the mountain with my eyes closed to reach the medical centre - where they filled both eyes with painkiller and did some tests. Lady luck shone on me (I have blue eyes and so was even more at risk) and I didn't have any retina damage. The medics rightly gave me a proper telling off and made it clear to me how lucky I'd been. I spent the next two days in bed, often crying with pain.

I then went out and bought some large wrap-around glasses by Carrera which I loved because they were very low tinted yet Category 4, and didn't restrict my peripheral vision. I've since moved on to normal goggles because I value the switchable lens system. Naturally, I'll never go out in snow without protection again!

But I still sort of hate wearing these things; I'm naturally quite tolerant to sunlight (hence me not feeling the need to wear any protection in the first place), and although I've mostly got over the peripheral vision thing, I find that all eye protection changes the perspective in a quite-hard-to-explain way that sometimes makes me misstep; I wear them when mountain climbing due to that past experience, but I still take them off temporarily when tackling things that require accurate balance/placing/judgement. I mostly put up with it though; there are few things more worth protecting than your eyes!

@dewsbury, you are insane.

Altitude = increased UV
Snow = increased UV

They don't call it snow blindness for nothing.

And it is not always temporary.

You MUST WEAR apprpriate eye protection skiing.

You really should wear appropriate eye protection in the sun.

Are you older than , say, 12?

End of.

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Darwin Award

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Now I agree with everything that's been said about wearing sunglasses (regardless of what I said above) ..I've just go no idea why he's asking "any comments" - he must be happy in his decision. What sort of comments was he expecting?

snow reports

I can't even drive during daylight without sunglasses...

No way. You'll hurt your eyes

You know it makes sense.

@queen bodecia, +1 and it doesn't have to be sunny. Blue eyes are the culprit apparently Puzzled

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Waffle, I never knew that. I have blue eyes too. Every day is a school day... wink

A snowHead

Not qualified to comment re snowblindness... But I suggest you must be skiing very slowly and in the warm if you can avoid streaming eyes without some sort of protection! wink

A snowHead

Thanks Pyremaniac for your informative understanding response.

Your advice is appreciated. Your comment "quite-hard-to-explain way that sometimes makes me misstep" certainly has a familiar feeling to me.
When I am driving I sometimes remove my glasses because they seem to get in the way when doing a tricky manoevre. (Relax folks, my glasses are not very strong!).

I'll check out your Carrera suggestion.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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It's crazy. Did it once for a few days when I lost some sunglasses. Did for about four days by which time I could barely see.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Snow reflects a rough average of 90% of the UV light that strikes it. Probably (to my mind) a little less in reality due to dirt/dust etc. Great way to screw your eyesight up.

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As the OP, I've never worn sun glasses or goggles.
(Somewhat like my grandfather and his ancestors!)

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Inuit have been wearing them for ever, it's the snow that's the problem.

After all it is free

@dewsbury, @Pyremaniac,

Firstly let me say that I am not an expert, but having worked closely with ophthalmologists for over 7yrs, might I suggest that you have your eyes checked for astigmatism if you're finding your sight compromised by lenses (it's the curved surface that does it).

As others have noted, continued exposure to UV radiation will cause cataracts, it's simply a matter of time; and whilst blue eyes are indeed quicker to develop, all shades are vulnerable.

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Apart from the danger posed by over-exposure to UV light, goggles also protect the eyes and surrounding area from physical damage. I remember one of my class mates took a ski pole to the face on a school skiing trip. The lens of his goggles were cracked but they were enough to deflect the pole and he was left with only a scratch below his eye.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Not sure what you're looking for here. I would lend you goggles; if you refused to use them I would refuse to ride with you.

If you only ride indoors, on plastic, or at night, and only slowly, I suppose it may work

In the Alps in the sun you will go snowblind. Expect incapacity and pain.

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Rarely have a seen a more stupid topic than this thread.

If you want to go blind, continue... guaranteed you won't be asking us our opinions when you do - and, I won't feel sorry for you. Why do you think eye protection comes with UV filter on them? some kind of marketing scam to make you think you'll damage your eyes, or the fact that we now understand what damage UV does to our skin and eyes. Tell me, do you not wear sunscreen because it makes your skin shiny? don't moan when you get melanoma!

restricted peripheral vision or no vision... let me think about that for a sec!

Snowblindness is basically sunburn on your cornea. Very painful... http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=19378

You know it makes sense.

I knew someone with some strange opinions, one of which was that sunglasses were for wusses. He developed a blind spot after skiing with sunglasses, which scared the **** out of him. Fortunately it was temporary. After that, he wore sunglasses.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

A snowHead

I saw a schoolmate go down with snowblindness on a trip to Italy in 1973. Very unpleasant, very painful and a truly pitiful sight (!). Wouldn't dream of skiing without eye protection after that.

I would urge @dewsbury, (is the clue in't name?) to try to find something that works for him - or the consequences could be appalling.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Got to be a troll because if it was true he'd be too blind to post....

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I skiied for 5 days at La Plagne recently, all of them pretty sunny. I had goggles out with me the first 4 days and sunglasses the last day. I mainly used the goggles on the lifts cos it was often baltic. I did use the sunglasses the last day because it was very bright. In between, more often than not I skied quite happily without wearing any eye protection. From reading this thread it would appear that I should have gone instantly blind, I haven't. I saw many other people skiing without eye protection and none of them went instantly blind either.

Now I agree that it's maybe more sensible to protect your eyes whilst skiing when, especially when the sun is shining, but some of the comment in here is ridiculous overkill!

Edit: Unless as a relative newbie here I'm missing the joke?

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@Pyremaniac, Interesting point about the miss-step, I often start a rock climb with sunnies on to protect the eyes then take them off as the play havoc with depth perception, particularly in areas of high contrast.
@dewsbury, years ago it was frowned upon for outdoor instructors to wear sunglasses, now they are positively encouraged to do so, particularly on water. For years i hated them then realised I spent all day squinting, a bit like that photo of the Inuit.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Seriously! Put some sunglasses on. I am not a fan of goggles unless its a whiteout but do wear at least Cat 3 glasses.

On a sunny day I cant see the slope correctly without some protection.

After all it is free

@dewsbury, get yourself a pair of good goggles or at the very least wrap-around sunglasses (cycling glasses have been sensibly suggested) which don't impair your peripheral vision too much, and spend some time getting used to them. You can probably find some without too much of a tint, which at least cut out the ultraviolet. Whatever you may think, it's not a 'different strokes for different folks' thing, and that you're fortunate enough not to need them. You do need them. Everybody needs them. If anything, you're unfortunate that your body isn't giving you the warning signs. I sometimes look with envy on people who can down loads of alcohol without getting hangovers in the morning, but actually hangovers may be helpful in preventing long term liver damage, because at least you're getting timely warnings.

I always wear them as I wear contact lenses and my eyes stream massively if I try without, not to mention the improvement they give me in perceptionwhen the light is crap. I always make my kids wear them too, one has got Irlens which is a visual perception disorder so the tint is brilliant for him.

Each to their own, it's your body, you can abuse it as you wish wink

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@Ravelin, sounds as though it wasn't so bright on the first days? If you're skiing in cloud or the light's not so good you won't get into trouble as quickly as if it's sunny, obviously. Last day it was so bright you had to wear sunnies? Well, there you go then.

Help!!

Does anyone else ski without goggles or glasses?

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