In the world of winter sports, the right gear is not just about comfort; it’s about protection and maybe a little bit of style too. Obermeyer’s Mer De Glace Sunglasses have quickly become a top pick for skiers and snowboarders seeking both style and superior eye protection. Specifically, for backcountry skiers who face unpredictable terrain and variable lighting conditions, these sunglasses offer unparalleled protection and clarity. They also look great on a sun deck at an apres ski party. So, let’s take a look at the features that make these sunglasses standout.

Mer De Glace Sunglasses Features:

• Exceptional UV Protection: High altitudes and reflective snow surfaces increase the risk of UV exposure. The Mer De Glace Sunglasses from Obermeyer offer complete protection against UVA and UVB rays, safeguarding your eyes from potential snow blindness and long-term damage.
• Durable Design for Mountain Adventures: Understanding the ruggedness required for mountain sports, Obermeyer has designed these sunglasses with a robust frame. This ensures they can withstand the inevitable falls and rough handling associated with skiing and snowboarding.
• Comfort Meets Functionality: Tailored for active users, the Mer De Glace Sunglasses promise a secure and comfortable fit, essential for those high-speed descents and challenging mountain terrain.
• Sleek and Stylish: Obermeyer has not compromised on style. The chic and modern design of these sunglasses ensures that you look as good as you feel while on the slopes. AS the old saying goes, “You’ve got to look good, to ski good.”

Obermeyer’s Legacy in Skiing: Dating back to 1947, Obermeyer, founded by Klaus Obermeyer in Aspen, Colorado, has been a pioneer in the ski industry. Klaus’s innovative spirit led to the creation of the first down ski parka, revolutionizing ski apparel. Obermeyer’s dedication to quality, functionality, and style is evident in every product, including the Mer De Glace Sunglasses, which embody the company’s ethos of high-performance gear for the outdoor enthusiast.

For skiers and snowboarders particularly those heading into the backcountry, the Mer De Glace Sunglasses by Obermeyer are a stellar choice. They offer unparalleled UV protection, glare reduction, durability, comfort, and style. These sunglasses are more than an accessory; they’re a testament to Obermeyer’s enduring legacy of innovation and quality in winter sports gear. Equip yourself with Mer De Glace Sunglasses and enjoy a fusion of safety and style on your winter adventures.

When you think of Costa sunglasses, you probably think of casting flies for Bonefish off the Bahamas or blue water trophy fishing on a 60-foot Viking. The Sunglass Company has made a strong name for itself as premium eyewear for anglers in boaters. But these premium sunglasses also perform well in mountain environments from dawn patrol to apres ski.

Costa has built a reputation for making some of the best lenses in the business. So whether you’re bending rods or sucking down some cold ones on a sundeck in Colorado, these lenses give you the proper protection and comfort you’re are looking for. Costa offers a variety of lens options, each designed for specific activities and environments. For skiing, their 580P and 580G lenses are the most popular. These lenses are polarized, which means they reduce glare and enhance contrast, making it easier to see the terrain ahead. They also have 100% UV protection, so you can rock them all day without worrying about damaging your eyes.

Granted, the company does not make true alpine shades for ski touring or mountaineering like the POC Devour (our pick for best backcountry ski sunglasses), but Costa is still worth a closer inspection due to their high-quality build. 

Our pick is the Switchfoot Rectangular Sunglasses. They are a bit more stylish than some of their other pairs, and they sit nicely on the face.

So if you’re looking for a high-quality pair of sunglasses for skiing, you can’t go wrong with Costa. Their polarized lenses, durable frames, and comfortable fit make them a great choice for any skier, and their commitment to sustainability is an added bonus.

Any mountain dweller will tell you that having a good pair of shades is invaluable. But as the old adage says, “It’s all about having the right tool for the job.”

Let me introduce you to POC’s Devour Glacial, a pair of shades I now consider essential.

Sure, I have a few pairs of Pit Vipers and a sweet pair of SCOTT Pro Shields in my toolbox, but the Devour Glacial’s are THE pair of shades I go to for when I’m heading out into the backcountry.

The advantage of the Devour Glacial is that they give you the protection and coverage of a goggle with the airy light feel of sunglasses. This means you can skin up and ski down without worrying about fogging or your face sweating.

But wait, there is more! The clarity of these beauties is off the charts. POC’s Clarity lens technology controls the color spectrum while on snow or in bright conditions giving your eyes the protection they need in high alpine environments. And to me, that seals the deal.

It’s great to have cool-looking shades that fit your face well, but if the lens doesn’t give you the protection you need and the clarity you want, then what’s the point?

We are ‘unofficially’ naming POC’s Devour Glacial’s as the best sunglasses for backcountry ski touring.

The first ski stopper, the first ski down jacket, those iconic old school mirrored sunglasses…Klaus Obermeyer’s list of innovations is impressive. This video is a clear cut marketing tool but its executed so well I just had to share. Incredible dude, incredible company. Heads up, they reissued those classic Rallye Sunglasses. Mad expensive at $500 but hot damn are they slick. As a self-proclaimed expert on cool shades I can certify these are fresh as they get  BUY HERE:

RALLYE SUNGLASSES:

As we celebrate Obermeyer’s 75 years, the Rallye is our latest celebration of timeless design, quality, and craft. These shades could’ve been spotted on a t-bar in the 1960s, but we made them by hand in the French Alps for today. Handcrafted products inspired by evergreen style made by artists in the Alps for your upcoming ski season. This is a product that we think will make a crater when it drops! We built these sunglasses as a nod to our past for the world to enjoy today.

The Rallye sunglasses use handcrafted, Italian-made acetate. The cotton-based acetate is mixed with acids and polymers to produce lightweight frames that are comfortable during long sessions of use. The frames also feature premier durability, holding their shape through years of continued use.

Creating sunglasses this way is a labor of love—over 700 minutes of craftsmanship and 300 unique steps go into each Rallye frame, made by hand in France where eyewear has been at the forefront of quality for over a century.

The lenses are manufactured in Calvados, France, through a process that begins with organic materials like sand and ash. This mixture is heated, melted, and hardened into a mountain-ready glass. The lenses are then painstakingly polished to achieve the highest possible level of clarity for the user. The result is a distortion-free, scratch-resistant lens that is both ruggedly durable and infinitely recyclable.

Like all Obermeyer products, the Rallye sunglasses are truly made to last a lifetime.

Tired of buying new shades whose lenses boast subpar clarity and get scratched to hell within the first week? So are we, and so is Shred Optics.

Related: Watch Out GoPro… These POV Sunglasses Have Gamechanger Potential

So instead of using the same old material for the same old sunglasses, Ted Ligety and his coufounder, Carlo Salmini are starting fresh with new lenses, new frames, and a whole new outlook on the sunglasses industry.

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By ditching CR-39 or polycarbonate lenses that currently dominate the market, Shred has crafted a pair of sunglasses with unrivaled clarity for the price point. Employing top-flite urethane lenses, Shred’s new shades offer the clearest perspective we’ve seen outside of high quality glass lenses (*glass lenses typically weigh twice as much as their plastic counterparts). But what tiny fraction of clarity they lack compared to glass, they more than make up for in durability and weight.

“Rather than embracing the status quo, we moved beyond it. In lieu of CR-39 or polycarbonate lenses, we use liquid-cast urethane lenses of the highest optical grade, which also offer the best impact resistance and durability. By liquid casting our lenses in glass molds, we ensure they’re free of distortion. In addition to offering crystal clear vision, urethane lenses are exceptionally light and provide excellent scratch and shatter resistance.” 

When looking for a pair of shades for the upcoming season, it’s hard to go wrong with the Belushki. That is unless you’re like me and have a monster head. If that’s the case, Shred’s Stomp and Provocateur offer larger frame sizes.

After trying the Belushki we noticed three things…

1. These are the clearest non glass lenses we’ve ever looked through
2. These are the lightest glasses we’ve ever put on our noggin
3. The frame is amazingly flexible/durable. 

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Find out more here: SHRED Sunglasses — A Better Way to See the World

Between wrangling babes at après and demanding respect and authority, Pit Viper’s customers have long desired a polarized power lacking in their favorite shades.

Related: The Pit Viper Training Seminar Number 2

Fortunately, Pit Viper founder Chuck Mumford realized that many of these people (mostly fishermen and women) were lacking both respect and authority. By providing polarized shades, he’s hoping to remedy this angler aberration.

“Red, White, Blue and Polarized. If Betsy Ross was designing sunglasses and not the American flag, she would have created these.” – Pit Viper

Pit Viper Polarized Stats

• # of people who requested polarized shades – 2.3 million
• Increase in fish you claim to have caught – 189%
• Babies conceived because of polarized Pit Vipers – 40,000

Find the funniest release page of all time here: Polarized Pit Vipers

If you are looking for that Arctic explorer look go no further than Dragon’s MountaineerX.  Let’s hope hipsters don’t catch on to this rugged nostalgia….let them wear sealskin mitts and union suits.

In the fickle world that is sunglass fashion, it’s easy to get lost in the hipster BS of Ray-Bans, bright colors, and shades that are flare rather than a functioning piece of eyewear. It’s nice to see Smith Optics continuing to meld the worlds of style and functionality. The Gibson is one of their latest offerings to do just that. The retro styled sunglass comes with polarized lenses to protect your eyes on the slope or when you’re rippin’ lip out on the river. The Gibson comes with the durability that you’ve come to expect from Smith Optics, and the warranty program to boot. So, instead of buying into the hipster, I-hate-my-dad look, get  yourself some real glasses- your eyes and friends will thank you.

Any boy that has watched a Bond flick has dreamed of living the life of 007. Unfortunately, this product will not make you smooth with the ladies, or skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but it will allow you to record footage through what looks to be a normal pair of sunglasses.    The Active-i Sunglass’s video recorder is discretely placed between the polarized lenses on the bridge of the nose.  It just takes two buttons and the glass will capture what you see with a 640*480 VGA resolution.

With a full charge you will be able to live out your new spy life for up to two hours.  About thirty minutes less if the LCD screen is used to review the footage or to see what is being recorded.  This little star trek looking device plugs into the arm of the glasses and wraps around so it can be viewed through the left eye.

With another button there is also a possibility to take still photos.  The information is stored on an internal 2GB memory and there is also space for and additional 16GB micro SD card.  Using the cords provided, it is very easy to hook up to the TV or computer.

The Active-i Sunglass is a very fun product that can provide many hours of entertainment, but it is not ideal those looking to capture the grade-A footage.   The video recorded is not HD and the auto focus can take some time to adjust.  This makes it very difficult for action sports.  Although, it is pretty funny what you can catch when others are oblivious to the camera.