Welcome to a special Buyer’s Guide feature from FREESKIER. Here’s a close-up look at the best ski goggles of the year. Click here to explore the entire 2021 FREESKIER Buyer’s Guide.
Anon WM3
The Anon WM3 is a cylindrical goggle that offers clean styling and high-performance. Year after year, Anon’s Magna-Tech lens-change system utilizes eight magnets around the frame and remains one of the best on the market because it just works, plain and simple. In addition to that, the lens features Anon’s new PERCEIVE technology, boosting contrast to help you navigate terrain in low and flat light conditions. And finally, something you’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, a magnetic facemask that pairs seamlessly with the women’s-specific frame.
Bollé Nevada Neo
Bolle’s Phantom+ lens is the most advanced in its lineup. It’s 50-percent polarized and includes a photochromic filter with “LTS technology” that adapts to changing lighting conditions (even in frigid temperatures), two-layer construction that helps eliminate moisture build up, and an anti-fog and scratch coating. On the frame of the Bollé Nevada Neo, you’ll find magnets around the perimeter for easy lens swapping and a latch above the nose bridge ensuring your lenses stay locked in place.
Giro Contour
To enhance the skier’s field of view without adding bulk, the Giro Contour employs Expansion View Technology—a toric-shaped lens that combines the unencumbered peripheral vision of a spherical lens with the low-profile styling of a cylindrical one. On the Giro Contour the proprietary VIVID contrast-enhancing lens, made in collaboration with the experts at Zeiss, further heightens the on-snow experience helping define snow variances and blocking harmful UV rays while allowing contrast-boosting “blue light” through. The ventilation pattern atop the goggle frame promotes airflow to effectively eliminate fogging; it’s lined with a comfortable triple-layer face foam; there’s a magnetic quick-change lens system; and every goggle comes standard with a second low-light lens.
Head Magnify Supershape
Large-but-not-too-large is a good way to describe this optical offering from Head. The Head Magnify Supershape sports a wide field of view thanks to a toric lens, which is guided into place with magnets around the frame and held securely with eight clips. The goggle offers an over-the-glasses fit and comes standard with a second, low-light lens so you can adapt to lighting conditions, as well as a protective case to keep them safeguarded when you’re not out there shredding.
POC Fovea Mid Clarity Comp
The Fovea Mid is based on POC’s popular Fovea goggle, but the frame is sized down for those with smaller facial features. The spherical lens on the POC Fovea Mid Clarity Comp—one of the best ski goggles of the year—was developed in collaboration with industry-leader Zeiss to meet the demands of POC’s competition riders—like halfpipe star Aaron Blunck. The frame sits comfortably on your face, thanks to its thick foam lining, and provides a wide field of view so you can forget you’re even wearing it.
Scott Shield
A semi-frameless design and oversized strap give the Scott Shield a unique look, which is available in 11 different frame and lens combinations. Scott’s cylindrical AMPLIFIER lens boasts a large field of vision, boosts contrast and improves clarity while also combating moisture thanks to an anti-fog coating. When it comes time to change the lens, just pull on the frame and pop it right out. Plainly put, this is a high-quality goggle that won’t break the bank.
SPY+ Marauder
The Marauder’s Deadbolt lens-change system utilizes magnets to easily guide the lens into place along with pins (AKA “deadbolts”) on both sides that fasten it securely to the frame. The SPY+ Marauder, one of the best ski goggles of the year, sports a clean, frameless design with an uninhibited field of view through Spy’s HD+ lens and comes paired with a second lens to get you through those greybird days. Notches in the foam around the temples allow you to wear eyeglasses without the oversize look of some other OTG goggles.
Sweet Protection Boondock RIG Reflect
The Sweet Protection Boondock RIG Reflect packages Sweet Protection’s top-tier technology in a more affordable package. The cylindrical lens includes RIG (Retina Illumination Grading) technology to balance colors and contrast, and is built to be extremely impact-resistant, which helps protect your eyes in case of a big tumble. A high-density face foam and silicone lined strap round things out on the Sweet Protection Boondock RIG Reflect, providing a fixed, comfortable fit against your face. packages Sweet Protection’s top-tier technology in a more affordable package. The cylindrical lens includes RIG (Retina Illumination Grading) technology to balance colors and contrast, and is built to be extremely impact-resistant, which helps protect your eyes in case of a big tumble. A high-density face foam and silicone lined strap round things out here, providing a fixed, comfortable fit against your face.
Zeal Beacon
Imagine the Control Tower at the airport and its downward-tilted windows. Well, the Zeal Beacon, one of the best ski goggles of the year, employs that same engineering, coined Observation Deck Tech. The lenses on the Beacon are tilted to match the downhill angle of the slope, effectively increasing your vertical field of view and your ability to interpret variations in terrain. The single, polarized lens that comes standard—along with a flashy mirrored coating— also helps promote peripheral vision.
