Contacts and skiing

[Slemers]

I'm contemplating contacts for distance vision to get rid of my fogging problem with my glasses. I guess I could upgrade my goggles and fix the matter that way too.
Any words of wisdom for me? I currently wear transition glasses that go coal black even during night skiing. So there is a contrast problem during bad visibility days.
I'm thinking contacts and my Vuarnet glasses may be a big improvement.
This contributed to a nasty fall Monday. I'm ok but my body is paying for my blunder. No broken bones but at age 64 I don"t bounce like I used too. I also discovered my groomer ski does not like the crud and soft blown in snow. But that is a totally different subject!

 

[KingGrump]

Contacts and goggles are the way to go. Your nose will thank me.
For spring skiing, I will often switch out the goggle for a full wrap around to keep the air out of the eye area.

 

[fatbob]

Yep wouldn't wear photo reactive glasses under goggles. Have skied on occasion with glasses under OTG googles, usually when I've had an eye infection but skiing one of the few things I wear contacts for.

Just remember to take a pair of reading glasses along for map and phone reading etc.

Low light bad vis days go yellow or pink on goggle lens.

 

[Seldomski]

I tried skiing with contacts many years ago and had problems with them drying out and falling out my eyes and into my goggles. My vision isn't too bad yet so I just ski with no correction. My only point here is that contacts aren't necessarily a magic solution for this.

 

[Jilly]

Contacts for over 40 years. Love them, can't read a trail map though.

 

[DanoT]

Prior to my cataract operation which corrected my shortsightedness, I wore contacts when skiing and eyeglasses all other times. Goggles were a must to prevent eyes from watering with my contacts in. Come spring, sunglasses with side flaps or wrap around shades don't work for me as my eyes water too easily when getting going with any sort of speed.

 

[Plai]

Contacts for me. My prescription is quite high. My glasses are made from high index plastic (read expensive :-(, and don't get used much because contacts are much more preferable to me.

I've worn rigid gas permiables (rgp) for almost 40 years. They are hard plastic, not hard glass, or the filmy-floppy plastic ones.
https://www.allaboutvision.com/hard-contact-lenses/

It sucks getting old. About 6 years ago, we went to one (dominant) eye long distance, and reading in the weaker eye. I can play sports with normal nonprescription sunglasses and still read books, phones, and trail maps. I'm told that not all people can deal with this combination.

I tried soft contacts about 15 years ago and the clarity wasn't even close. It was like using cheap sunglasses vs premium.
That said, I know of many who are happy with their soft contacts.

 

[KingGrump]

Come spring, sunglasses with side flaps or wrap around shades don't work for me as my eyes water too easily when getting going with any sort of speed.

Dude, you gotta streamline your head.

 

[Slemers]

Yep wouldn't wear photo reactive glasses under goggles. Have skied on occasion with glasses under OTG googles, usually when I've had an eye infection but skiing one of the few things I wear contacts for.

Just remember to take a pair of reading glasses along for map and phone reading etc.

Low light bad vis days go yellow or pink on goggle lens.

The current goggles are yellow tint .I rode the quad lift with a MRI tech and after I rang my bell she was kind enough to lead me down the slope as she had skied it the previous run.

 

[Slemers]

Contacts and goggles are the way to go. Your nose will thank me.
For spring skiing, I will often switch out the goggle for a full wrap around to keep the air out of the eye area.

I figured the Vuarnets would complete my retro ski ensemble on days I didn't need my goggles

 

[Slemers]

Contacts for over 40 years. Love them, can't read a trail map though.

Dollar store readers might be in order. My wife has them all over the house. I could keep some in the car(s)

 

[Slemers]

Contacts for me. My prescription is quite high. My glasses are made from high index plastic (read expensive :-(, and don't get used much because contacts are much more preferable to me.

I've worn rigid gas permiables (rgp) for almost 40 years. They are hard plastic, not hard glass, or the filmy-floppy plastic ones.
https://www.allaboutvision.com/hard-contact-lenses/

It sucks getting old. About 6 years ago, we went to one (dominant) eye long distance, and reading in the weaker eye. I can play sports with normal nonprescription sunglasses and still read books, phones, and trail maps. I'm told that not all people can deal with this combination.

I tried soft contacts about 15 years ago and the clarity wasn't even close. It was like using cheap sunglasses vs premium.
That said, I know of many who are happy with their soft contacts.

I tried monovision years ago and couldn't adjust to them. I think that skiing will be the only time I would use them. I think it's worth a try.

 

[KingGrump]

I figured the Vuarnets would complete my retro ski ensemble on days I didn't need my goggles

Too old to do retro. Senility haven't set in yet. At least I don't think so. BTW, what are we talking about?

 

[Slemers]

Too old to do retro. Senility haven't set in yet. At least I don't think so. BTW, what are we talking about?

Good point, guess if you are wearing ancient stuff it's not retro it's just old. At least I'm not wearing a onesie

 

[raytseng]

if you're a glasses wearer and this is just for skiing rather than vanity, how about looking into the rx inserts for ski goggles that are specifically designed for skiing goggles.
I think one of the vendors or optometrists that sells them posts here...

Same with snorkelling there are rx snorkel goggles now too.

I would suggest that before contacts. Ive also worn rgp for over a decade and overall its less healthy due to dust and irritation and micro scratches and theres this always fear that you'll blink out a contact and be really screwed.
Friends that use soft always use a fresh pack for the ski trip and carry a spare as well.

If we bring up price/costs, unless you have exceptional vision insurance plan, contacts are expensive and not a cheaper option compared to upgrading goggles/glasses/inserts.
If your optometrist is good and looking out for your health; contacts triggers a more rigid schedule of checkups/exams to check your eye health and your contacts for contact-related issues, and more than the frequency, this is also an expanded exam and billed more expensive than a regular vision exam.

Ultimately I got lasik and that is the magic solution and solved the issue at least for this period in my life. This may also be laser surgery options even for seniors, although usually bundled in as a "free" sidebenefit while getting rid of cataracts or a true medical issue; you should discuss with a real qualified optometrist/opthamologist what options are avail though.

 

[ejj]

I'm a glasses wearer--I use single-use contacts for skiing and watersports. They are relatively cheap and have a good shelf life. I can't see as well--but they tradeoffs are worth it. Bring some cheap readers for emergency texting/map reading if that's an issue.

 

[mdf]

I had one cataract fixed, and now have good distance vision in that eye. The other eye has good near vision. So I wound up with monovision sort of by accident.
I still wear glasses about 3/4 of the time, but I do like being able to function without them.
I wear one contact when skiing to turn the near eye to another distance eye, for the best possible depth perception. I do carry cheap readers for trail maps, etc. At the end of the day I remove the contact if it is getting dry and go monvision for the rest of the evening. (I have single day disposables.)

Make sure the eye doc knows you are planning to use the contacts for skiing, and that the wind in your face tends to dry out your eyes. My current ones are "Accuvue Oasys with Hydro-luxe" and are much better than what I had before.

 

[Mel]

I wear glasses with an odd Rx (one normal eye, one nearsighted eye with astigmatism and reading correction) and used to ski with mono vision as I hate wearing glasses when I ski. I was having more and more trouble with depth perception so switched to wearing a single contact (single use disposable toric lens, no reading correction) in my bad eye and nothing in my good one last season. Only wish I had done it sooner. Minimal fogging and very comfortable. I put in eye drops in the morning after putting in the lens, at lunch, and before driving home to avoid dry eyes, which works well. If your eyes are quite different Rx, inserts can cause distortion and in this season of mask wearing is still very prone to fogging. Contacts also give me much more peripheral vision than glasses would. If you can get contacts to work for you, would definitely recommend.

 

[P-Ute]

I (age 61) switched from goggles & glasses to goggles & daily wear soft contact lenses in January this year. Fogging was much worse with masking requirements. I would estimate the contacts/goggles combo have reduced fogging more than 90%. I have not been carrying cheap reader glasses yet, reading maps and phone has been difficult, but not impossible.

I recommend soft contacts as they are much easier/quicker to get use to (comfortable) imo. Because you just throw them away at the end of the day, much less hassle, lower infection risk and no equipment/solutions required. I found visual acuity is good with soft lenses, but not quite as good as with my glasses. One contact for distant and one for near/reading does not work for me as I lost a lot of depth perception. Considered RX inserts for goggles, but seemed like it would not solve my fogging problems, most were just another pair of glasses.

I discovered another benefit of contacts, when you face plant, you only need remove snow from your goggles and good to go!

 

[John O]

No real words of wisdom other than the fact that I was much happier after switching over to contacts instead of skiing in glasses. I still wear glasses for most of my daily life, but wear contacts whenever I'm doing various activities like skiing, biking, etc. I find the daily use disposables are perfect for this.