UKH

Any thoughts on my dilemma….

Heading to the Dolomites 1st time skiing. I’ll need OTG goggles.

Is there any difference in my buying Cat 1 and putting them over my prescription sunglasses or buy Cat 3 and using them over my normal spectacles?

Get the Cat 1. In bright weather you can wear them over your prescription sunglasses, in bad weather you can wear them over your normal lenses. I did this for years before I switched to contacts for skiing.

Brilliant, thanks 

What a brilliant destination; have a great time!

I have a decathlon helmet with a visor. Maybe worth considering.

Ooooh…..never thought of that. I’ll check that out. Ta

the OTG goggle market is considerably smaller, than it used to be... and also a lot of the so-called OTG goggles don't really cater all that well to all but the smallest glasses... which can be a problem, especially with sun glasses.

So it might work, but it can also be a path to disaster...  So unless you shop locally and try with both before you buy... it can be quite bad (sun can be rather strong with snow reflecting)... and if you can't use your sunglasses underneath the cat 0 goggles... well, skiing will not be much fun.

The visor is a hit and miss... can work, can be a nightmare. The windshill will get me to weep, so a visor is a no-go for me... not to mention, then when I do fall... I often do it in spectacular fashion... the tomahawk style... and goggles often end up staying put... where as I'd expect that with a visor... my face would get even more coated in snow than normally...

One option is that you get goggles, with both cat 0 and cat 3 lenses (provided you can fit your normal glasses inside). This would be my preferred option btw...


or in fact, do as I do... and simply omit the glasses all together .... only half joking here, but to be honest I do obtain my sight even without glasses... things just aren't all that in focus in the distance

Have you considered contacts.
I don't get on with them for day to day, but snowboard a fair bit. 
They are absolutely fine for out and about, especially when your moving as you are not focusing and reading etc. I find it hard to wear contacts when reading/ working.
But the benefits of wearing them while in the snow is so vast, i don't have to worry about stabbing myself in the eye with my glasses ect, and fogging.

I used to use RX inserts rather than OTG as this was a little safer, but still an absolute nightmare for fogging even with all the potions to keep them from doing so.

Contact lens technology has come on so much in recent years and other than them not being as good for reading as my glasses, they are very comfortable and i can forget im wearing them.

I have. Can’t wear them. Annoying as it is.

Thanks. Bought a sale pair from Tiso. Seemed ok over my glasses. Only time will tell.

I have photochromic OTG goggles, and wear them over my normal specs.  I can also wear them over my prescription sunnies, but since the sunnies are also photochromic it doesn't make much difference since they stay clear when the goggles darken.  But it does mean that I don't have to switch glasses e.g. during coffee or lunch stops when I take my goggles off.

HeMa is right about confirming that the goggles will actually go over your glasses, which means trying them on in a physical shop rather than buying online.

I can't wear contact lenses.  Actually, that's not quite true: I can wear contact lenses, but I can't get them out of my eyes when I want to stop wearing them, so the optician won't prescribe them for me.  Which I can quite understand.

Ta. Tried them on earlier today. Seemed to fit ok. Budget brand. But as it might be my only week ski holiday ever, and certainly not for a few years I don’t see much point in spending a lot. 

If they fit, they will certainly work. And indeed, no sense in buying spendy brand ones, If they only get used for max a week per year.

for future reference, going second hand might also be an option. I used to buy good ones, when I skied a lot. Now as I ski less, or less good stuff, I simply buy lightly used ones as I know I will anyway trash ’em in the local mole hills and in their parks trying to be the jibby senile… the good thing is, that trying new jumps or trying to learn How to do rails takes my mind away from the fact that I really haven’t done much proper skiing lately (as in say 10 or do years).

Taking from this that you don't know how to ski/never skied before. I learnt (well sort of, I am still not particularly competent) in the dolomites. Worth noting that they don't really seem to do green slopes, at least not in the area that I was in and when I was learning some of the blue slopes seemed very steep! If you're in the Colfosco area there's a quite flat wide blue slope (which really probably would be green if they used green) which I went to on my second day and wished I had been to on my first.

Thanks for the heads up. I’ve skied a couple of times but suffered an injury on Cairngorm. Def need to check the proposed venue will suit me ie shed loads of easy stuff 

Think they’re looking at Caminetto? Do you know that area?

I bought an Atomic helmet with a visor from Craigdon, I also can't get to grips with contacts. The visor works well for me, I wear prescription sunglasses or cycling wraparounds under it.

A quick google suggests that's a hotel in/near Canazei. Not an area I'm hugely familiar with, but the piste map looks full of red runs.

For a beginner, Corvara or Colfosco are excellent places to stay: the beginner slopes at Colfosco are excellent, and you've got easy access to miles of blue runs on the Pralongia plateau.  La Villa would also be a good place to stay, again because of the easy access to the Pralongia plateau.  There are also enough reds to keep more advanced skiiers entertained, and the odd black scattered around.

Our annual family trip is nearly always to Corvara, quite simply because nowhere has been as good in terms of accommodating all the requirements of a mixed ability group. I learned to ski on the Pralngia plateau, and so have several other people that have been part of our varying group over the years.

And it's stunningly beautiful, and the food's splendid.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Really appreciate it. Blokes I’m going with are Black and off-piste skiers so I’ll probably spend v. little time skiing with them. Knowing I can get to blue runs easily will be a big plus. I’m keen on doing some photography so the scenery sounds like a bonus too.

Not well unfortunately. I do know Colfosco and Pralongia quite well though, which are relatively nearby (if you have a car). Would recommend Colfosco for a first day. I had my first day on the Pralongia plateau, which was not as plateau-y as I wanted! It was fine though.

I'll second Becky E that it's incredibly beautiful, think it's probably the best scenery of anywhere I've ever been.

Thanks. That’s great advice.

That’s what my daughter did all winter. More air going round so minimal steaming of glasses.

If you can’t put contacts on, I believe it’s the best solution for you.

If they're looking for blacks & off piste, they'll probably be looking across the other side of the Sella massif.... which takes you away from the lovely blues!  Hope you manage to find a suitable compromise locations.

Me too. Thanks