Question: The unicorn of skiing - a goggle for flat light. Does it exist?

[Liquid Yellow]

I have Oakley Flight Deck XMs with the Rose Prizm lenses, and do like them very much in flat light. There are quite a few reviews out there on the Rose Prizm, the majority very positive. They are far better than the yellow or amber lenses I've tried.

Same here. They're great.

I can't use yellow lenses as I find the snow dazzles me, even in flat/low light and I feel dizzy.

 

[artistinsuburbia]

Anon M3 is polarized. But I'm with the indecisive crowd, @Jenny ! My lenses are beyond their expiration date and I am also suffering from paralysis by analysis.

 

[Lavybear]

I have the Oakley rose prizm lens too and it works great in flat light!

 

[ski diva]

I was recommended the blue sensor lens for the Smith IO/S goggles for flat light. Finally found some on eBay. Supposedly these are the "bomb" for flat light. Guess I'll find out.

Just following up on this. Have you had a chance to try these in flat light, @santacruz skier ?

 

[santacruz skier]

Just following up on this. Have you had a chance to try these in flat light, @santacruz skier ?

Sadly I have not been skiing yet..... heard today that Northstar opened the entire backside. Hopefully will be going on Dec 16 for a few days.

 

[sibhusky]

I've read that it depends on your eyes which color works the best. I've always preferred a rose or persimmon color. As I age, the inability to distinguish terrain surface in the fog is getting worse.

 

[mustski]

Aww, rats! I thought we were all supposed to be getting better with age!

We are getting better! It's a direct result of everybody else's eyesight diminishing.

 

[santacruz skier]

Just following up on this. Have you had a chance to try these in flat light, @santacruz skier ?

Yes! Today at Heavenly was a perfect day today to try them.. Light was flat and weather was foggy at times and lightly snowing....Blue sensor lens was exactly what I hoped they would be... Very pleased! Of course, I'm kind of slow switching out the lens so did it before going on the mountain. @marzNC much better at it!

 

[Serafina]

Oakley Prizm in rose FTW, in my books. I remember one day not too long after I bought them, we were on the lift and the light was flatter than a pancake, and I could still see some trails from the cord as we passed over it. No one else on the lift could see a darn thing.

 

[SqueakySnow]

Last weekend, during the beginning of the snowpocalypse in Lake Tahoe, I had the pleasure of testing out my new Hi Pink Oakley Prizm lens in overcast to snowy to whiteout conditions. It was great in everything but the whiteout, but I can't imagine anything would shine in that. I was able to make out contrast in the slope right up until I couldn't see more than about 15 feet in front of me. This new lens pairs really well with my torch iridium lens that covers bluebird through overcast conditions.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

There you go, @santacruz skier - "your" winner (and still a champion after all these years - on the market at least 10 years) is the Smith Blue Sensor mirror. Mine too. Have Oakley HI yellow (at end of its life), HI persimmon. For flat light, it's the blue sensor mirror. Thankfully, Smith got the message and has reincarnated it (if in limited quantity). I got a new goggle last year with Smith blue sensor. Does great in flat, even breaking clouds. (Have Oakley Rose Prizm, too dark for me in flat light but good in sun).

 

[santacruz skier]

I'm so glad the Blue Sensor lens is available.. Today was sunny so switched to green iridium lens.... May I add the snow at Heavenly was awesome today and was loving the Black Crows in smallish bumps and low angle trees!!

 

[MissySki]

I used to use the blue sensor for low light, I'm not sure if I have it stored away somewhere still. I stopped using it because on one day with wet snow when I used the blue sensors the droplets made all kinds of weird gold specs on the lense wherever it was wet. For some reason this really messed with my eyes, and I wasn't a fan after that.. it was like I was seeing spots everywhere like when stare at the sun too long or take a picture with a really bright flash and have all spots hovering in your field of vision. Maybe I should give them another try if I can find them, or at least use them when it's flat light but dry. Has anyone else had that experience in wet conditions with the blue sensors?

 

[santacruz skier]

I used to use the blue sensor for low light, I'm not sure if I have it stored away somewhere still. I stopped using it because on one day with wet snow when I used the blue sensors the droplets made all kinds of weird gold specs on the lense wherever it was wet. For some reason this really messed with my eyes, and I wasn't a fan after that.. it was like I was seeing spots everywhere like when stare at the sun too long or take a picture with a really bright flash and have all spots hovering in your field of vision. Maybe I should give them another try if I can find them, or at least use them when it's flat light but dry. Has anyone else had that experience in wet conditions with the blue sensors?

I did notice a droplet in the corner of one lens and thought maybe some water got in there ... But I loved them and today is cloudy and may snow so will try them again today.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Droplet means the seal has broken.
Not good.

 

[santacruz skier]

Droplet means the seal has broken.
Not good.

Actually when I switched them out on Friday I noticed I didn't have one side "locked in".....

 

[MissySki]

My droplets were just on the outside of the lens

 

[Christy]

I've had the blue sensor mirror for years and liked them just fine. They were falling apart so based on recommendations in this thread I bought the Oakley prizm hi-pink. I wore them today in the snow in Sun Valley and liked them a lot. Of course the thing to do would be to bring both and see which works better for me, but now that I've bought the new Oakley and I'm happy with them it doesn't really matter. I thought I might have to buy a different lens for sunny days but I skied in them yesterday which was sunny and blue sky and it was fine.

 

[Mermimi]

I am on a mission to find a goggle with lenses work best in flat light. I usually wear Smith Chromapop Storm lenses but they don't provide enough contrast for those days when the light is flat or I'm skiing in a storm. I find that if I wear my polarized sunglasses under my goggles, I can see the terrain much better than with the goggles alone. Not only is that uncomfortable, I end up with "HTIMS" stamped on my forehead from having the goggles tight enough to hold my sunglasses on! Does anyone have any recommendations for a flat light lens/goggle system that provides enough contrast in flat light? Thanks!

Hello, Divas-
After checking out Oakley, Giro, Smith, Anon and Spy goggles - I chose the Giro Contact goggle ($$$) with the Vivid Infrared lens. Changing the lenses on the the Contact google is easy- magnetic contacts with a small clip- I can do it with gloves on. The vivid lenses have similiar technology as the Smith chromapop but I find the Giro lenses were better during overcast conditions. They actually are a good all-around lens- I wore them all day on sunny days at Squaw and on overcast flat light dasy at Alpine and I my vision was fine in both situations. They work well in transition light when clouds temporarily block the sun. So far, these goggles get at 4.5 out of 5. The half point ding is because the I don't like the fasteners on the strap.

 

[Jenny]

I've had the blue sensor mirror for years and liked them just fine. They were falling apart so based on recommendations in this thread I bought the Oakley prizm hi-pink. I wore them today in the snow in Sun Valley and liked them a lot. Of course the thing to do would be to bring both and see which works better for me, but now that I've bought the new Oakley and I'm happy with them it doesn't really matter. I thought I might have to buy a different lens for sunny days but I skied in them yesterday which was sunny and blue sky and it was fine.

Thanks for saying this - I've been dithering between the Hi Pink and the Rose for a while now. As long as the Hi Pink is fine on a sunny day, then I think that's the way to go, since it's cloudy way more often than sunny here. I was afraid they'd be too light when I traveled, but then was also afraid the Rose would be too dark here.