How To Choose Snowboard Goggles
When outfitting yourself for a great shred session, the right snow goggles are absolutely essential. Our guide to choosing snowboard goggles covers everything you need to know to find the perfect pair — including the characteristics of high-quality lenses, what features enhance visibility and safety, and how to snag a comfortable fit that feels great all day. With the proper goggles on your face, you can focus on what matters: having a damn good time and stomping your line.
Lens Technology: The Key to Clarity
Snowboard goggles designed with well-crafted lenses reduce glare and keep things in sharper focus so you can see subtle changes in the terrain. They also block harmful ultraviolet rays and help guard your vision's long-term health.
SPY+ has been perfecting the art of stylish eye protection for nearly 30 years — and we ain’t slowin’ down yet. We took our famous HAPPY™ Lens Tech to an entirely new level last year with our award-winning HAPPY BOOST™ Lens Tech. This patented therapeutic lens keeps out the ‘bad’ blue light and lets in the ‘good’ blue light, all while increasing color and contrast up to 30% beyond the naked eye. Time Magazine calls our breakthrough one of the best inventions of 2022, and Fast Company says it’s among the five next big things in consumer tech.
All of our snowboard lenses are finely tuned to optimize a range of light conditions — whether that’s full-on sun, mixed light, or flat skies. Our HAPPY™ Lens Tech and our HAPPY BOOST™ Lens Tech both create a crisp, clear experience that’s seriously out of this world. These lenses are designed for the person who wants the best snowboard goggle technology — and it’ll totally redefine how you see snow. Hitting the slopes after hours? No worries. We’ve got clear lenses for night boarding, too.
Field of View: Maximizing Awareness
Whether you’re all about the freeride in backcountry pow, sick slopestyle tricks, or a chill day of park laps, good peripheral vision is imperative for snowboarding safety (those groms just come out of nowhere). Wearing snowboard goggles with a wide field of view means you’ll be better able to see what’s around you — and coming at you — from the corner of your eye while looking straight ahead.
Our new Megalith snowboard goggle, with a low-profile frame and cylindrical lens, has an insanely impressive FOV that maximizes peripheral awareness to help you avoid accidents, take in more of that awesome terrain, and stay in the flow — not to mention a bad-ass, retro-inspired style and a helmet-compatible fit.
Ventilation System: Keeping It Clear
Stopping mid-run to wipe off the inside of your goggles is a major buzz kill. Here’s the root of the problem: when the temperature inside your goggles is higher than the outside air, you get condensation — and, ultimately, fog. Happily, there are clever ways to conquer physics using a fluid dynamics principle called the Venturi effect. Our efficient RISE™ ventilation system puts this principle to work, drawing air through subframe vents and pulling it out from behind the lens. It’s a core feature in many of our goggles, like the Marshall 2.0. This pair is reinforced with venting foam that offers another line of defense, forming a solid barrier against the elements and wicking away sweat. .
Lens Change System: Adaptability on the Fly
Having the right lens in your snow goggles comes down to characteristics specifically tuned for the light conditions you’re in. Properly dialed, your lens controls glare, lets in the right amount of visible light, and provides an optimal level of contrast. Our HAPPY™ and HAPPY BOOST™ Lens Tech cover just about every scenario — the real challenge is rapidly changing conditions. One minute, it’s gray and flat. The next minute — boom, the sun pops out from behind the clouds.
Fortunately, our DEADBOLT™ Lens Change System lets you easily change things out in a matter of seconds. Peep our Marauder Elite goggles with the DEADBOLT™ six-magnet system for a closer look at how it all works. The magnets are cleverly designed to guide the lens into place with locking levers to keep it secure. Slide worry-free, knowing everything will stay in place no matter how hard you ride.
Comfort: Riding All Day Long
Snowboarding is as much a mental sport as it is physical, so any aspect of your gear that causes the slightest bit of discomfort gets a big thumbs down. We’re all about rad aesthetics — but your goggles have to feel as good as they look.
Three main factors ensure your snowboard goggles are comfortable:
- The scale needs to be right for your face.
- The frames should be thoughtfully constructed with high-quality facace foam.
- The goggles must be compatible with your helmet.
The SPY+ snow goggle collection includes fits for all sizes, from the grom-friendly Crusher Elite Jr., ideal for smaller faces, to the low-profile Legacy with a wide peripheral view and a fit that’s well suited to X–XL.
Both styles are custom-built from flexible polyurethane with a triple layer of face foam and moisture-wicking fleece, and like all of our goggles, they’re compatible with most helmets on the market. Plus, there’s a silicone-lined strap to help prevent slippage. For snowboarders who rely on prescription glasses, another big consideration is finding snowboarding goggles that fit comfortably over RX specs. Styles like our Legacy SE come through with awesome over-the-glasses integration, thanks to subtle notches in the frame and face foam to give you a truly game-changing design.
Strap Art: Personalize Your Style
Individuality is at the heart and soul of snowboarding, and reflecting your own style is a natural extension of that self-expression. In the realm of snow goggles, strap art is a fun way to mix things up, and SPY+ partners with some incredible Change Agents who are brashly individualistic and highly comfortable in the realm of all that is now and next. Take snowboarder Chris Rasman’s blue jellyfish strap, featured on our Marauder goggle. The design captures his free-floating style, reflected by huge air and an incredible spirit that finds harmony with the terrain.
Now that you’ve checked out some of the main aspects of choosing snowboard goggles, we hope you’ve got a good overview of the importance of lens technology, field of view, ventilation, adaptability, and comfort — along with some inspiration for personalized strap art and expressing your style. Once you zoom in on the fundamental characteristics of goggles that best suit you and how you ride, finding a style that enhances your experience with crisp, clear, vibrantly colorful vision is easy.
HAPPY riding!
-SPY+