Almost all ski and snowboard gear has adapted to the growth in backcountry or freeride skiing, so why not snow goggles? Much like sunglasses tend to fog when you ride your bike slowly uphill, snow goggles start to fog the minute you stop moving fast. We all know that pulling sunglasses a bit away from your face usually solves the problem, so why can’t you do this with goggles? Well now you can.
New for 2015, Julbo introduces the Aerospace Goggle that will officially be unveiled at Outdoor Retailer next month. Built for both uphill and downhill adventures, the Aerospace is the pet project of Clèment Bonnet–Mathieu, a dedicated backcountry skier and a 14 year veteran of the Julbo design team. Clèment sought to create a pair of snow goggles with the ability to resist fogging no matter the effort you are putting out–a goggle that is both aesthetically pleasing, but also properly functions whether skinning up, boot packing, hiking, or descending.
The perfect all-in-one goggle was achieved with the help of a mechanical movement system called SuperFlow that allows the goggle’s lens to move a centimeter away from the frame and then snap easily back into place when you are ready to head downhill. No uphill fogging and no compromises on the downhill. All you have to do is pull out the lens when you are skinning or hiking, then snap back into place when you are ready to ride.
Newcomer Abominable Labs took a different approach to the problem with their innovative F-BOM snow goggles. Instead of increasing air flow, the company added an ultra-thin, transparent, conductive film sandwiched between the inner and outer lens in the goggle. To stop fog, F-BOM sends a current through the lens to heat it up to just above dew point, inhibiting the formation of water molecules.
Either way, fog-free goggles can’t be beat. Available in Julbo’s high performance photochromic lenses, the Aerospace retails for $220.00.