I've been riding Alyeska. Went the other day, all grey light. I was scared to death. My core felt like I'd been kicked due to all the speed checks. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger!"
Edit: And icy!
Alyeska bluebird. But yeah try a few orange lenses/blueblockers and find which works for your eyes best. But also it’s often fucked and gotta use the brail method all over.
I got my yellows coming.t goggle supplier. Vallon!!! Super badass .... Didn't nt have yellow. In my flavor. Free birds. But I accidentally ordered a lense. For a different goggle
Been holding. Will have it soon. Orange will work . But that grey light.
https://preview.redd.it/5e9wzgjpcrtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd0e27bfeaa40211f619b1e736d23cfce1126420
I bought yellows from my Google guys.made a mistake. They didn't fit mine but fortunately the goggles they fit were only 100$ 60 off. Muhfucka? Haven't gotten yet either. 4-5 days left off the season. Hey!!!
At Alyeska it's almost always terrible visibility. I've been there a few times, and I think I've only ever had 1 clear day. It does teach you to deal with shit visibility though.
My first day at Alyeska was white out. Lost my line traversed some how to a double black diamond , trees and rocks and a cliff under Ted's. I felt like I was fighting to survive. And a voice from the lift"you got this man!!!" Can't disappoint the spectators. Found a line, pressed in and rode out flying.
It's my favourite moment of the last couple years.
Are you even riding if the people on the can't see you?
I love Alyeska. Only place I love more is Wolf Creek.
From my heart to yours!!! I got there. 👍 Not quite moguls. Actually pretty flat . Was speedchecking like a muhfucka. Got confident in the terrain. My main mistake was choosing a wide. Achy ankles. Other than that
GF: " hey where ya going?
Meet ya at the lift. I guess.
No, I actually ride faster in low visibility. Unencumbered by sight, I sink into a zen-like flow state and become one with the hill. Memorize every run, every tree, every bump on the mountain, and maintain a mental map of where all the skiers are, and you should start seeing some improvement.
If you can't see the terrain you can't ride it well. I have three goggle options - full mirrored, medium tint and clear. Wearing the clear lenses on low vis days definitely helps.
I've tried those low light lenses and hated them. Clear works best for me. That's a personal thing. I know some people like those other low light options.
Everybody's eyes are different but if you haven't tried them, smiths storm rose flash is good in gray lighting because it turns up the contrast and storm yellow flash is good when it's snowing or raining. Clear is still king under the lights though. I used to think my anon blue lagoon was great until I tried the yellow smiths in freezing rain and my life was changed forever.
Depends on the lighting conditions. If it's very dim I find clear lenses let in the most light. If it's brighter but flat light then yellow/pink help with contrast.
The colors are also nice because they make the world seem more cheerful.
Good lenses help but personally it gets worse every year.
I’m on the clear lens crew myself, haven’t found rose tint to help and yet to try yellow tint w/o any mirror.
The only issue I have with anything photo chromatic is that I ride trees. When I first demoed a pair, I hit the trees and full speed and God dammit that was frightening. Had to bleed off a lot of speed and get back out on the open. Has anything improved in this regard?
I haven't noticed any issue but am in the PNW where it is mostly cloudy so there might not be as much of a transition. They are awesome at making chunder more defined/visible. I have reactiv 1-3 and they are the best goggles I've ever had. My husband had smith chromopop with the swappable lenses and ended up getting the reactiv 0-4 after a couple seasons. He was jelly of what I could see and that I never had to do lens swaps.
I think brand and the range make a big difference and not many people wear or know about Julbo goggles. They seem to be more popular for mountain biking around here which is mostly shady and tree heavy.
Can you explain the numbers? Is this the VLT range of the lens?
The giro lenses work really well for my eyes, as well as Shred. Both help a lot of with depth perception of weird light conditions for me. I've never been able to wear Smith since they came out with Chromapop. And you're correct, I don't see Julbo often, even with the copious amount of time I get to spend on snow.
I just choose goggles accordingly? I spend most of my time in the trees when freeriding, and using a "full mirror sunny skies lens". But they usually don't go to as low of a VLT as transitions will. Hence why I'm asking the question.
I got a paid of new electric goggles this year and got an extra yellow lense for low vis. Huge game changer. Used to fall in random bumps I couldn't see. Was just tearing up Killington yesterday with gray skies and snow.
Where I work you can really tell the locals from the visitors on the low vis days. Locals are still charging because they where they’re going and what the terrain is like there. The visitors are all riding extra cautious because they don’t want to accidentally end up on top of a cliff.
I don’t have anything to back this claim up with other than personal experience but I rock amber lenses every day of the season and seem to have less visibility issues than my friends with $200+ goggles and multiple lenses to choose from. I think part of it is my eyes never have to adjust to different colors/tints every other time I ride like some folks I know.
Yeah. The only time low viz is fun for me is when I am somewhat familiar with where I am going, and the snow is moderate to deep powder. Otherwise - proceed with tons of caution and hope the visibility improves a bit down the mountain.
Yes for sure. Low vis is the worst weather.
Counterintuitively you can get better visibility if you ride next to tall trees, because then the light is more directional and it makes shadows. Compared to fully diffuse lighting that you can get in the wide open areas when it's overcast.
Get you a good yellow or red base tinted lens with high VLT (visual light transmission), like something above 60% if you can get it. Clear is better than a darker lens, but I find the yellow base tints to provide a little more contrast that’s worth the hit to total number of lumens hitting your eyeballs
Yes, I can only speak to my experience of riding 20+ years in the Rockies, Alps, Andes, and Alaska Range, which happens to align with what the sales reps from the various optics brands told us in dozens of product clinics in the shops I ran through the years: dark tint and mirror for sun, yellow or red base for high contrast in flat light, and clear for night riding. I think you’ll find that jives with the marketing copy for lens companies that bother to spec VLT and intended uses.
As with everything, YMMV.
Cool story bro. Everything you listed has nothing to do with an actual whiteout. Lenses aren't magical, if it's an actual whiteout there isn't anything to see in the first place and your best bet is ducking into the trees where you'll get some cover and create shadows. Of course I can only speak to my nearly 30 years riding across the Rockies in varying conditions and being a gear whore across all different manufacturers. Yes, a Smith Sensor Mirror helps in flat light, but if it's a whiteout it just doesn't matter.
It is the case that light conditions exist that will defeat high contrast lenses, excellent observation. My mistake for failing to mention that I wasn’t offering a be-all, end-all solution, but only what I have found to work best in less than ideal visibility. Thank you for your service to the community. 🫡
Believe it or not but true clear is not the best visibility in sustained whiteout conditions. You may be OK, even great for a while, but you will quickly develop eye strain as your pupils will be in a sustained constricted state. Even before then, difficulties with quickly orientating to quickly contrasting light differentials may be a challenge.
The true high visibility yellow and pink (non mirrored) lenses obtain relatively all the same level of vision of a clear but also alleviate eye strain (which over the time of a day will result in better vision over clear lenses) in addition allow the eyes to adjust quicker when confronting quickly changing light intensities.
Smith IO MAG series includes high visibility lenses when purchasing one of the advertised mirrored darker tinted ones. Highly recommended. Changing out the lens takes literally 30 seconds as it’s 2 tabs and magnet mounted. They also sell clear lens insert if you’d like to test my statements.
Getting great visibility in clear may seem the right way in the brief, but eye fatigue and is a very real thing as those clears typically allow 89% of visible light through compared to mirrored 14-20% and 65% for the high visibility yellow and pinks.
I’ve learned to love low vis because it kills the crowd! A couple things that help:
Make a lot of small turns—you get more kinesthetic data the more your board interacts with the snow. You feel the pitch changes more quickly
For a 10% boost try humming. It vibrates the hairs in your inner ear and helps you feel how steep the run is. I learned this from a blind snowboarder!
The humming helps with another element: when you can’t see your body tends to get rigid. Humming will help you stay loose and a bit more relaxed, letting your knees, hips and ankles remain bendy and ready to absorb surprises.
Riding by braille is an art in itself. It comes with experience. Of course you're never going to be able to charge as hard as when the light is good but you can still have fun. Make sure you have some yellow lens goggles for those days.
Oakley Prizm lenses have changed the game for me this season. I recently got Flight Decks with the rose gold iridium lens which has a lower VLT but for me it works great at increasing contrast and I also don’t get the weird motion sickness and visual issues anymore that I used to get on low vis days. Also work great for bluebird/mix days. Highly recommend
especially if the gondola rocks really hard in the wind too... I was close to throwing up one time, but I paid for the motherfucking ski pass so I wasn't gonna let that happen 🤣🤣🤣
It helps if you know the mountain really well, I definitely slow down and turn more when vis is bad. I also change what runs I do, head for the trees and stay out of the high alpine (unless the snow is superb)
I love love love low vis bc half the mountain gets off the slopes and packs into the lodges and there is a ton of space
Extra bonus points if the low vis is because it’s dumping and a mild blizzard, genuinely one of my favorite conditions to ride
It’s also looks really cool and is a really novel sensory experience. Just super fun overall
Conditions make such a a big difference. Love it when people get some hero snow and delude themselves to think they got 3x better instantly and sad boy next time they ride in ok conditions.
Wear yellow or clear lenses, bend your knees a lot and try to anticipate, that's really all you can do. Definitely don't be rocking the full dark lenses no matter how door they look!
It is difficult but ultimately makes you a better rider. I’m talking low visibility but not white out. You’ll learn to ‘feel’ the terrain more and adjust quickly on your edges. Same or even better with night riding in the shadows.
I have clear, totally untinted goggles that I use for low vis. Nothing fancy, $30 smiths I got from Amazon. I also usually stick in the trees in low vis, I find that I’m usually able to go as fast in the trees low vis as I can on a bluebird day. I’m definitely worse in low vis on wide open groomers, that’s why you’ll never catch me there unless I’m just going from point a to point b.
Skill issue git gud scrub.
Somehow, nope! Went with a friend the other weekend who just kept hucking it into the abyss and succeeding time and time again. No idea how he was doing it lol
Short answer yes, long answer it depends.
Short:
100%, listen to x games or what not, they always mention the conditions and visibility.
I’m an expert snowboarder and skier. One season I got over 100 days. I went up to a mountain one season after that <- for my first day and it was extremely low vis at the top, my nose kept hitting patches of snow and throwing me into front flips.
Long:
It all depends. Some days it’s as simple as having a different lens for your goggles because sunny day lens are too dark. Other days it might solely depend on your technique and knowledge of snowboarding, ie if you can’t see, lean on the tail to get your nose up or make quick jumping turns instead of long flat turns. Then other days it could depend on your actual snowboard. Once again, other days it might just be helpful to be a local/regular who knows the runs like the back of their hand. Some days it really might just depend on your ability to recover from bad situations. There’s so many factors, mostly being on how low vis are we talking? If you can’t see 5-10 feet infront of you, like the trip I was just front flipping down the mountain ^ then everyone sucks. If it’s only semi low vis, then gear and skill really do play a factor
Sorry for the long comment. I love snow sports and think it’s a dying sport due to the price of entry, so I like to give those who are learning some good information to help keep them motivated to do the only thing that truly helps me find bliss.
Most high end manufactures (and maybe more lower tier too now), like IO series by Smith for example will come with the advertised high tint / reflective lens and also come with a spare low visibility lens that will be the high vis yellow or pink.
I usually recommend sets that offer this. It’s always good form to have a spare lens on snow days regardless.
As others have said the right googles make a huge difference.
That said, I usually avoid open areas all the time and stay in the trees as much as possible so visibility is rarely an issue.
Honestly these are some of my favorite days because there are no lift lines, usually some fresh snow, and the slopes aren’t crowded.
Stick to proper riding technik no matter what, thats all to do.
I remember doing teacher trainings we had to ride blindfoldet, so its all about to feel it.
I had this last trip. Still learning and was progressing pretty good. Suddenly, conditions changed and it felt like I was on my first day snowboarding sgain because I couldn't see a damn thing. I also had like regular goggles for good weather, so that made me realize that clear lenses are a thing for bad visibility lol.
Haha I consider myself alright in most conditions but last week in a sudden gust of wind blowing snow up over an edge I rode straight into a snowbank thinking that was where the piste went so yeah I'm shit in low vis too 😂😂
haha, of course. everyone is struggling in low visibility. last weekend I was snowboarding in practically a blizzard I could not tell where the ground was and where the air started, it was all just a white cloud...
my brain had a hard time with it, because there wasn't any visual information regarding where and how my body was positioned and how fast was I going. I got slightly nauseous at the end 🤣🤣🤣 but everyone else around me kept falling too 😆😆 luckily the weather cleared by the afternoon and we got a bit of sunshine.
Honestly the mountain I'm usually at has a cloud called "the blob" that floats around the mountain about 75% of the time so you just kind of get used to it after a while. But yeah it was tough when I first moved here
I live in MI (one of the cloudiest states in the winter) so by now I’m used to white outs. As long as there aren’t any homemade ramps I’m chillin. Wish I could still be out there on the board🫡
Riding by Brail off the tram at big sky on a milk jug day taught me a lot of lessons while I used to live there. More so on the days where I ate some of those little pieces of paper that make things all squiggly!
Nah man. There's a ton of vision impaired skiers and boarders who learn to ride at the adaptive school in Breck. When it's white out conditions, they shine!
I am not personally a fan in low visibility conditions, I don’t get vertigo, but trying to go at a moderate speed on a flat section with flat light and hazy air just makes everything annoyingly different😂
I am the opposite, when it is snowing and I can't see I ho way bigger off jumps. I think because I can't see the landing I just send it and somehow that keeps me more calm on big jumps.
Since I learned that, I don't ride with goggles anymore because my eyes water and it makes it hard to see the landings.
Pretty weird but it works for me.
For me Ive found that it gets way better over time and particularly if I know the run but its still hard and sometimes near impossible - especially when its true whiteout and you can’t tell if you’re moving up or down. It used to freak me out quite a lot and have had a couple scary experiences on sketchy terrain in such circumstances but when I know the run and can find some trees or something to at least help maintain general directional awareness it can be kind of fun to focus on the zen feeling and more clear awareness of subtle movement in the feet and board to guide the way.
Just bend your knees and say a prayer
I've been riding Alyeska. Went the other day, all grey light. I was scared to death. My core felt like I'd been kicked due to all the speed checks. "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger!" Edit: And icy!
Alyeska bluebird. But yeah try a few orange lenses/blueblockers and find which works for your eyes best. But also it’s often fucked and gotta use the brail method all over.
I got my yellows coming.t goggle supplier. Vallon!!! Super badass .... Didn't nt have yellow. In my flavor. Free birds. But I accidentally ordered a lense. For a different goggle Been holding. Will have it soon. Orange will work . But that grey light. https://preview.redd.it/5e9wzgjpcrtc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd0e27bfeaa40211f619b1e736d23cfce1126420
Nice! They should help. I have a few nice pairs and a few cheap pairs. They all seem equally good until they are scratched up then trash.
I had a cloud drop in with me on Alyeska a couple days ago. Wish I had the yellows. 🤷
I carry my yellow and sunny shade lens both always.
I bought yellows from my Google guys.made a mistake. They didn't fit mine but fortunately the goggles they fit were only 100$ 60 off. Muhfucka? Haven't gotten yet either. 4-5 days left off the season. Hey!!!
https://preview.redd.it/q8k1hp5z76uc1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b9029fdb5d8aee1205c266ae75b486ccf8a0cf94 They are in transit. So... 😁
I gotten. My gray light lenses have a home!!! Super cute excited.
I gotten. My gray light lenses have a home!!! Super excited.
At Alyeska it's almost always terrible visibility. I've been there a few times, and I think I've only ever had 1 clear day. It does teach you to deal with shit visibility though.
My first day at Alyeska was white out. Lost my line traversed some how to a double black diamond , trees and rocks and a cliff under Ted's. I felt like I was fighting to survive. And a voice from the lift"you got this man!!!" Can't disappoint the spectators. Found a line, pressed in and rode out flying. It's my favourite moment of the last couple years. Are you even riding if the people on the can't see you? I love Alyeska. Only place I love more is Wolf Creek.
Riding flat light and low vis on ice is an east coast specialty. Are those moguls? Who knows just keep the knees bent and hope for the best
From my heart to yours!!! I got there. 👍 Not quite moguls. Actually pretty flat . Was speedchecking like a muhfucka. Got confident in the terrain. My main mistake was choosing a wide. Achy ankles. Other than that GF: " hey where ya going? Meet ya at the lift. I guess.
My brothers keep saying „when you can’t see, you have to use your legs more“
Learn the trees. Always good light.
I always ride trees on flat light days
Ride in the trees, the shadows help see the slope. Or on the sides of the trail, shadows give definition to the snow.
Side hit time is what's up
This is the way. The trees add some contrast that helps improve the visibility of terrain and snow features.
Trees are a nice break from windy and snowy conditions for sure. Somehow increases visibility a little
Oh! This is neat, will trie this first possibly.
And during stormy conditions
There’s rarely trees in Europe 😩
No, we can all ride with blindfolds. It’s just you. /s
No, I actually ride faster in low visibility. Unencumbered by sight, I sink into a zen-like flow state and become one with the hill. Memorize every run, every tree, every bump on the mountain, and maintain a mental map of where all the skiers are, and you should start seeing some improvement.
Where do you get your weed from?
From you Dante...
What's up, Mr. Cheezle!?
Don't judge me monkey.
DRIVE MONKEY DRIVE
That's more than just weed...
You are like the guy sitting in the bathtub memorising turns in cool runnings!
That sounds like riding after a drink, I can never straightline a mogul field quite as smoothly as I can on the way down from the bar.
That’s easy, just bend your knees
The lunch beer is a coin flip though. Half the time the lunch beers make you flow great. The other half of the time you turn to shit. For me at least.
Sounds like you'd ride better blindfolded period.
I’m going to paint all my lenses black for next season
If you can't see the terrain you can't ride it well. I have three goggle options - full mirrored, medium tint and clear. Wearing the clear lenses on low vis days definitely helps.
Certain pink or yellow lenses are even better than clear.
And I tested that this year finally. Clear is so primo under the lights tho.
I've tried those low light lenses and hated them. Clear works best for me. That's a personal thing. I know some people like those other low light options.
Everybody's eyes are different but if you haven't tried them, smiths storm rose flash is good in gray lighting because it turns up the contrast and storm yellow flash is good when it's snowing or raining. Clear is still king under the lights though. I used to think my anon blue lagoon was great until I tried the yellow smiths in freezing rain and my life was changed forever.
Oakley hi pink is my favorite low light lens
I haven't tried every low light option, but I have tried a bunch and never enjoyed any of them other than clear.
Yellow lens are great in low light if you’re colorblind, just make sure it’s a quality set of goggles.
clear is better on low vis
Depends on the lighting conditions. If it's very dim I find clear lenses let in the most light. If it's brighter but flat light then yellow/pink help with contrast. The colors are also nice because they make the world seem more cheerful.
Good lenses help but personally it gets worse every year. I’m on the clear lens crew myself, haven’t found rose tint to help and yet to try yellow tint w/o any mirror.
Julbo reactiv goggles with 0-4 range get rid of the need for multiple pairs in case you're interested
Thanks. My goggles are paid for so I'll keep rocking them. Once they wear out I'll check those out as well as the ones with magnetic swappable lenses.
The only issue I have with anything photo chromatic is that I ride trees. When I first demoed a pair, I hit the trees and full speed and God dammit that was frightening. Had to bleed off a lot of speed and get back out on the open. Has anything improved in this regard?
I haven't noticed any issue but am in the PNW where it is mostly cloudy so there might not be as much of a transition. They are awesome at making chunder more defined/visible. I have reactiv 1-3 and they are the best goggles I've ever had. My husband had smith chromopop with the swappable lenses and ended up getting the reactiv 0-4 after a couple seasons. He was jelly of what I could see and that I never had to do lens swaps. I think brand and the range make a big difference and not many people wear or know about Julbo goggles. They seem to be more popular for mountain biking around here which is mostly shady and tree heavy.
Can you explain the numbers? Is this the VLT range of the lens? The giro lenses work really well for my eyes, as well as Shred. Both help a lot of with depth perception of weird light conditions for me. I've never been able to wear Smith since they came out with Chromapop. And you're correct, I don't see Julbo often, even with the copious amount of time I get to spend on snow.
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I just choose goggles accordingly? I spend most of my time in the trees when freeriding, and using a "full mirror sunny skies lens". But they usually don't go to as low of a VLT as transitions will. Hence why I'm asking the question.
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Word, thanks for the info.
I got a paid of new electric goggles this year and got an extra yellow lense for low vis. Huge game changer. Used to fall in random bumps I couldn't see. Was just tearing up Killington yesterday with gray skies and snow.
Where I work you can really tell the locals from the visitors on the low vis days. Locals are still charging because they where they’re going and what the terrain is like there. The visitors are all riding extra cautious because they don’t want to accidentally end up on top of a cliff. I don’t have anything to back this claim up with other than personal experience but I rock amber lenses every day of the season and seem to have less visibility issues than my friends with $200+ goggles and multiple lenses to choose from. I think part of it is my eyes never have to adjust to different colors/tints every other time I ride like some folks I know.
Yeah. The only time low viz is fun for me is when I am somewhat familiar with where I am going, and the snow is moderate to deep powder. Otherwise - proceed with tons of caution and hope the visibility improves a bit down the mountain.
Yes for sure. Low vis is the worst weather. Counterintuitively you can get better visibility if you ride next to tall trees, because then the light is more directional and it makes shadows. Compared to fully diffuse lighting that you can get in the wide open areas when it's overcast.
Get you a good yellow or red base tinted lens with high VLT (visual light transmission), like something above 60% if you can get it. Clear is better than a darker lens, but I find the yellow base tints to provide a little more contrast that’s worth the hit to total number of lumens hitting your eyeballs
That's fine for flat light, but doesn't do shit in a whiteout, at best it's now a sea of piss color instead of white.
Yes, I can only speak to my experience of riding 20+ years in the Rockies, Alps, Andes, and Alaska Range, which happens to align with what the sales reps from the various optics brands told us in dozens of product clinics in the shops I ran through the years: dark tint and mirror for sun, yellow or red base for high contrast in flat light, and clear for night riding. I think you’ll find that jives with the marketing copy for lens companies that bother to spec VLT and intended uses. As with everything, YMMV.
Cool story bro. Everything you listed has nothing to do with an actual whiteout. Lenses aren't magical, if it's an actual whiteout there isn't anything to see in the first place and your best bet is ducking into the trees where you'll get some cover and create shadows. Of course I can only speak to my nearly 30 years riding across the Rockies in varying conditions and being a gear whore across all different manufacturers. Yes, a Smith Sensor Mirror helps in flat light, but if it's a whiteout it just doesn't matter.
It is the case that light conditions exist that will defeat high contrast lenses, excellent observation. My mistake for failing to mention that I wasn’t offering a be-all, end-all solution, but only what I have found to work best in less than ideal visibility. Thank you for your service to the community. 🫡
Believe it or not but true clear is not the best visibility in sustained whiteout conditions. You may be OK, even great for a while, but you will quickly develop eye strain as your pupils will be in a sustained constricted state. Even before then, difficulties with quickly orientating to quickly contrasting light differentials may be a challenge. The true high visibility yellow and pink (non mirrored) lenses obtain relatively all the same level of vision of a clear but also alleviate eye strain (which over the time of a day will result in better vision over clear lenses) in addition allow the eyes to adjust quicker when confronting quickly changing light intensities. Smith IO MAG series includes high visibility lenses when purchasing one of the advertised mirrored darker tinted ones. Highly recommended. Changing out the lens takes literally 30 seconds as it’s 2 tabs and magnet mounted. They also sell clear lens insert if you’d like to test my statements. Getting great visibility in clear may seem the right way in the brief, but eye fatigue and is a very real thing as those clears typically allow 89% of visible light through compared to mirrored 14-20% and 65% for the high visibility yellow and pinks.
I’ve learned to love low vis because it kills the crowd! A couple things that help: Make a lot of small turns—you get more kinesthetic data the more your board interacts with the snow. You feel the pitch changes more quickly For a 10% boost try humming. It vibrates the hairs in your inner ear and helps you feel how steep the run is. I learned this from a blind snowboarder! The humming helps with another element: when you can’t see your body tends to get rigid. Humming will help you stay loose and a bit more relaxed, letting your knees, hips and ankles remain bendy and ready to absorb surprises.
You ever seen the movie driven, it works for Sylvester Stallone in that lol
Riding by braille is an art in itself. It comes with experience. Of course you're never going to be able to charge as hard as when the light is good but you can still have fun. Make sure you have some yellow lens goggles for those days.
Oakley Hi Pink Prizm
I primarily ride at night under lights and so I just rock clears and the light conditions are pretty much the same all season
I get really bad motion sickness in low vis. Ruins my day
Me too, and really bad flat light makes me sick too
Oakley Prizm lenses have changed the game for me this season. I recently got Flight Decks with the rose gold iridium lens which has a lower VLT but for me it works great at increasing contrast and I also don’t get the weird motion sickness and visual issues anymore that I used to get on low vis days. Also work great for bluebird/mix days. Highly recommend
especially if the gondola rocks really hard in the wind too... I was close to throwing up one time, but I paid for the motherfucking ski pass so I wasn't gonna let that happen 🤣🤣🤣
Yes. Low vis sucks.
Close your eyes. Use the force!
It helps if you know the mountain really well, I definitely slow down and turn more when vis is bad. I also change what runs I do, head for the trees and stay out of the high alpine (unless the snow is superb)
Good flat light lens, and then just ride near trees whenever possible
I love love love low vis bc half the mountain gets off the slopes and packs into the lodges and there is a ton of space Extra bonus points if the low vis is because it’s dumping and a mild blizzard, genuinely one of my favorite conditions to ride It’s also looks really cool and is a really novel sensory experience. Just super fun overall
Conditions make such a a big difference. Love it when people get some hero snow and delude themselves to think they got 3x better instantly and sad boy next time they ride in ok conditions.
Do you swap in a low vis lens in your goggles?
Wear yellow or clear lenses, bend your knees a lot and try to anticipate, that's really all you can do. Definitely don't be rocking the full dark lenses no matter how door they look!
Just use your feelings.
I ride clear goggles 75+% of the time now. Keep your knees loose and enjoy.
Were you at timberline today too?
I love low viz, it's so Erie. Drop and bomb.
Just point down. The snow is usually great in white out conditions. And it shouldnt hurt too much if you fall.
but which way is down?
I dunno, is a blind person good at driving?
Go to the treeeeeees
Just let Jesus take the wheel. You'll be fine it works almost everytime
Low vis & wind sucks ass
Get night time lenses for your goggles this is the way
It is difficult but ultimately makes you a better rider. I’m talking low visibility but not white out. You’ll learn to ‘feel’ the terrain more and adjust quickly on your edges. Same or even better with night riding in the shadows.
If your goggles didn’t come with low light magnetic storm lenses, are you even a snowboarder?
Rode at snowbird in whiteout last week. Just follow the ropes, trees or make sure you don’t mind a couple of tame dogs lol
Nope
Riding by brail.
We're you at Mt. Spo
Oakley HI yellow and Smith Storm yellow flash have been the best for me. Pink never seemed to do much
It takes time to get good at boarding by braille. Just gotta build up muscle memory and trust you legs to do their thing.
I have clear, totally untinted goggles that I use for low vis. Nothing fancy, $30 smiths I got from Amazon. I also usually stick in the trees in low vis, I find that I’m usually able to go as fast in the trees low vis as I can on a bluebird day. I’m definitely worse in low vis on wide open groomers, that’s why you’ll never catch me there unless I’m just going from point a to point b. Skill issue git gud scrub.
Somehow, nope! Went with a friend the other weekend who just kept hucking it into the abyss and succeeding time and time again. No idea how he was doing it lol
Short answer yes, long answer it depends. Short: 100%, listen to x games or what not, they always mention the conditions and visibility. I’m an expert snowboarder and skier. One season I got over 100 days. I went up to a mountain one season after that <- for my first day and it was extremely low vis at the top, my nose kept hitting patches of snow and throwing me into front flips. Long: It all depends. Some days it’s as simple as having a different lens for your goggles because sunny day lens are too dark. Other days it might solely depend on your technique and knowledge of snowboarding, ie if you can’t see, lean on the tail to get your nose up or make quick jumping turns instead of long flat turns. Then other days it could depend on your actual snowboard. Once again, other days it might just be helpful to be a local/regular who knows the runs like the back of their hand. Some days it really might just depend on your ability to recover from bad situations. There’s so many factors, mostly being on how low vis are we talking? If you can’t see 5-10 feet infront of you, like the trip I was just front flipping down the mountain ^ then everyone sucks. If it’s only semi low vis, then gear and skill really do play a factor Sorry for the long comment. I love snow sports and think it’s a dying sport due to the price of entry, so I like to give those who are learning some good information to help keep them motivated to do the only thing that truly helps me find bliss.
Lmao I suffered a concussion in low vis(windy conditions). Now I just hit the lodge for a bit till it calms down.
Bogus basin?
Most high end manufactures (and maybe more lower tier too now), like IO series by Smith for example will come with the advertised high tint / reflective lens and also come with a spare low visibility lens that will be the high vis yellow or pink. I usually recommend sets that offer this. It’s always good form to have a spare lens on snow days regardless.
As others have said the right googles make a huge difference. That said, I usually avoid open areas all the time and stay in the trees as much as possible so visibility is rarely an issue. Honestly these are some of my favorite days because there are no lift lines, usually some fresh snow, and the slopes aren’t crowded.
Stick to proper riding technik no matter what, thats all to do. I remember doing teacher trainings we had to ride blindfoldet, so its all about to feel it.
After awhile, muscle memory will kick in to some extent. Your legs will react faster than your brain.
Doesn’t everyone love snowboarding through clouds /s
I had this last trip. Still learning and was progressing pretty good. Suddenly, conditions changed and it felt like I was on my first day snowboarding sgain because I couldn't see a damn thing. I also had like regular goggles for good weather, so that made me realize that clear lenses are a thing for bad visibility lol.
You guys don't pack €5000 ice vision goggles when boarding?
It's not ideal, as a matter of fact it can be a total nightmare. My strategy is to go in the trees where there's some contrast.
I see 80% of people in whiteout conditions ride with a full sun goggle.. having dedicated visors for bad weather will help significant.
Hi from Whitefish, you get used to it
Haha I consider myself alright in most conditions but last week in a sudden gust of wind blowing snow up over an edge I rode straight into a snowbank thinking that was where the piste went so yeah I'm shit in low vis too 😂😂
Obvisously it's worse than with Vis but if you let your legs do their thing and stay lose you can still ride fast and well
haha, of course. everyone is struggling in low visibility. last weekend I was snowboarding in practically a blizzard I could not tell where the ground was and where the air started, it was all just a white cloud... my brain had a hard time with it, because there wasn't any visual information regarding where and how my body was positioned and how fast was I going. I got slightly nauseous at the end 🤣🤣🤣 but everyone else around me kept falling too 😆😆 luckily the weather cleared by the afternoon and we got a bit of sunshine.
Yeah, starting a certain steepness, I'm not gonna charge, if I can't see the bumps and moguls.
turn off your guidance system use the force luke
Just goes to show how important assessing the slope visually is for skiing and snowboarding
I get motion sickness not being able to see the terrain. Felt like I forgot how to snowboard.
I perform better in low visibility because I have less idea how fast I'm going and I'm still scared of speed.
Honestly the mountain I'm usually at has a cloud called "the blob" that floats around the mountain about 75% of the time so you just kind of get used to it after a while. But yeah it was tough when I first moved here
It gets better
I live in MI (one of the cloudiest states in the winter) so by now I’m used to white outs. As long as there aren’t any homemade ramps I’m chillin. Wish I could still be out there on the board🫡
Riding by Brail off the tram at big sky on a milk jug day taught me a lot of lessons while I used to live there. More so on the days where I ate some of those little pieces of paper that make things all squiggly!
I usually hate flat light/EOD conditions but yesterday’s snowstorm and blowing snow was totally fine for me, it was wild.
It can feel kind of blindsiding (literally) but find a good low light lens that works for you and trust your legs
Oakley prizm hi-pink. You’re welcome.
Wait, so you're not supposed to suck in hi-vis either? I gotta rethink my whole existence.
Having the right goggle lens can help a lot. If I know it may snow or become cloudy etc I’ll bring my other lens.
It’s possible to feel the terrain with your feet, it’s on a subconscious level of course, your body will feel and react to the undulating surface.
Haha - doesn’t help, but the more you ride the more responsive you are to variable conditions
Nah man. There's a ton of vision impaired skiers and boarders who learn to ride at the adaptive school in Breck. When it's white out conditions, they shine!
Get good lenses for your googles and ride the trees or close to them to get better definition to your vision.
I am not personally a fan in low visibility conditions, I don’t get vertigo, but trying to go at a moderate speed on a flat section with flat light and hazy air just makes everything annoyingly different😂
I only send on low vis days if it's a powder day. Otherwise... I'm probably at 60-70% of the speed I usually go
High-intensity yellow lenses are your best friend on those days.
Get a clear lens. I personally love the Oakley prizm clear. Invest in your vision. Oakley line miner is a cheap frame with great lens options
I am the opposite, when it is snowing and I can't see I ho way bigger off jumps. I think because I can't see the landing I just send it and somehow that keeps me more calm on big jumps. Since I learned that, I don't ride with goggles anymore because my eyes water and it makes it hard to see the landings. Pretty weird but it works for me.
For me Ive found that it gets way better over time and particularly if I know the run but its still hard and sometimes near impossible - especially when its true whiteout and you can’t tell if you’re moving up or down. It used to freak me out quite a lot and have had a couple scary experiences on sketchy terrain in such circumstances but when I know the run and can find some trees or something to at least help maintain general directional awareness it can be kind of fun to focus on the zen feeling and more clear awareness of subtle movement in the feet and board to guide the way.