Best Low-Light Ski Goggles 2024
You can’t expect the best conditions every time you hit the slopes, but you can prepare for whatever the day might throw at you by bringing the proper equipment.
Low-light ski goggles can help you make the most out of the days when the lighting is lacking and the snow is difficult to read. They’re essential for any skier who refuses to have their time on the mountain ruined by unpredictable weather conditions.
But what makes for a great low-light ski goggle? What are some of the best options available? We’ve combed through a ton of different selections in order to find some perfect suggestions for you!
What Are Low-Light Goggles?
As the name suggests, low-light ski goggles are simply goggles that are designed to help you see the slopes better in low visibility.
These goggles not only widen the time frame for your skiing hours, but they can also make your time on the mountain a much safer one. They do this by sharpening contrast and color through a lighter lens tint, which allows more light to pass through.
Most often, you’ll find that low-light ski goggles are yellow, rose, or blue. They can also be phototropic, which means that they change color according to the light conditions present.
All of these lens colors are useful for allowing a greater amount of light in when conditions are poor so that you can get a better view of what lies ahead of you as you traverse the mountain.
Visible Light Transmission(VLT)
When you’re shopping for low-light ski goggles, you’re bound to run into the term “VLT” quite often. It stands for visible light transmission. It’s a useful way to measure how much light your goggle lenses allow passing through.
As a rule of thumb, a good ski goggle follow light should be somewhere in the range of 50-90% VLT.
Our Selections for the Best Low-Light Ski Goggles
There are a ton of different options for low-light ski goggles on the market. To be honest, a lot of them will get the job done just fine. But if you’re a more discerning type of ski shopper, you’ll probably want to know that your low-light goggles are highly rated and well-received by the general skiing public.
That’s why we picked our four of the best pairs available on the market for 2024 to highlight. You simply can’t go wrong with any of these selections.
The Glade Adapt 2 needs no introduction. Widely considered the best goggle on the market today, this goggle has won just about every award in the industry including Ski Magazine's Best Overall Goggle, Freeskier's Editor's Choice award, Outside Magazine's Best Goggle, and Blister Gear Review's 'Best Of' award for the last 2 years in a row, to name a few. At only $150 this goggle is truly a steal. One thing to note: Glade seems to sell out of this goggle every season so your choices may be limited depending on when you are looking to purchase.
Features
The Glade Adapt 2 comes standard with anti-fog treatments, an anti-scratch lens with 100% UV protection and a wide range of vision. Still, instead of providing multiple different lens options with varying VLT percentages, the photochromic lens can give you anywhere from 16-61% VLT as it adapts to whatever light conditions are present.
Style
With that signature clean and simple Glade look, to Adapt 2 is another pair of beautifully designed ski goggles. The range of options has expanded to six photochromic lens colors and seven strap colors available, so you can effectively customize your look, while always getting the single lens solution.
Affordability
Again, it’s doubtful you’re going to find too many photochromic ski goggles at this price point with such a great look and these features. Anything within the near vicinity of $150 is a good deal, and with lenses that adapt to various light conditions, you’re saving even more money by ridding yourself of the need to buy extra pairs of goggles.
Two of the most important factors to consider when you’re looking for ski goggles with the ability to fight fog are ventilation and anti-fog coating. With the Smith Squad goggles, you get both of those features at an undeniably agreeable price point.
Their Cylindrical Carbonic-x lens is designed with built-in airflow technology that allows the goggles to breathe away all of that hot and humid air. The Fog-x inner lens prevents any of the hot air that manages to stick around from fogging up your goggles.
Features
Dual-layer moisture-wicking face foam makes for a dry and comfortable experience while also helping to prevent fogging. The set comes with a free replacement lens and a microfiber goggle bag, too. The Smith Squad goggles are designed for perfect compatibility with Smith ski helmets, so if you already own one, these are definitely the anti-fog goggles for you.
Style
The Smith Squad goggles are available with seven different lens colors and three different strap colors, making for a total of 21 combined unique looks. Not a bad selection if you’re trying to match your goggles to your other snow gear.
Affordability
Perhaps the most enticing aspect of the Smith Squad goggles is that they ring in at a reasonable $110, so your efforts to combat lens fog won’t necessarily break the bank. All of those features and color options at that price point are a steal in our book.
Dragon offers some of the finest premium ski goggles on the market. The PXV2 are what they call the “goldilocks goggs” of their lineup, which means that they offer a perfect balance of everything you’re looking for in a ski goggle.
These goggles also offer changeable lenses, so the impact of their higher price point is softened a bit by the fact that you can use them in any light conditions.
Features
The Dragon PXV2 lenses are ionized, anti-fog, anti-scratch, hydrophobic, oleophobic, and 100% UV-protected. They offer LUMALENS® color optimization designed to provide improved visibility in all light conditions.The goggles have a triple-layer face foam with fleece lining to provide supreme comfortability.
Style
With 22 styles to choose from, the Dragon PXV2 can accommodate pretty much any taste. Interchangeable lens systems offer even more styles.
Affordability
You may have noticed that the Dragon PXV2 is loaded with features, including some that no other selection on this list can offer. Well, that’s because these goggles are premium, which means that they come at a premium price point.
The cost may knock them off of your list all by itself, but if you’ve got the extra money to spend, you’ll get a product that’s absolutely worth your while.
These goggles offer a different kind of versatility: Changeable lenses. Instead of a single photochromic lens that can adapt to various light conditions, the Spy+ Marauder goggles give you the option to switch your lenses out in order to meet the conditions you’re presented with. It even comes with a free bonus lens so you won't have to shell out more money to be able to see in low light.
Features
The Spy+ Marauder lenses are anti-fog, anti-scratch, and100% UV-protected. The goggles are made with a patented ventilation system.Moisture-wicking face foam makes your skiing experience as comfortable and fog-free as possible.
Style
Spy+ is known for its wide array of styles and its bold strap designs. They don’t stray from that reputation with their Marauder goggles. They offer 12 different styles for you to choose from. You can choose to keep things clean and simple, but Spy+ is more suited to those who like their gear to have a lot of character.
Affordability
The Spy+ Marauders are not the cheapest option on the market, but it’s important to remember that they have changeable lenses, sothey can serve as your low-light goggles or your bright light goggles. This makes the higher price point seem a bit more palatable.
