i look baked

[Lynx]

new job.... standing outside for 4 hours on a mountain top, it can be nice (aside from the not skiing part), but my eyes have been red and irritated since i started. I was asked two days ago if i was a member of "the green team."

do eyes get sunburned? cause mine are pretty fried.

are there any certain kind of sunglass lenses that work better than others when you're gonna be outside in the snow for long periods of time??? I thought mine were pretty good, but i donno.

[Viva]

Hey Lynx. No, eyes do not get sunburned, per se, but brightness and UV radiation can cause permanent damage. Your best bet is to invest in some high quality sun glasses that have lens formulated for bright conditions and a pair for less bright conditions when you still need UV protection. I love my Briko glasses, BTW. My latest pair comes with three sets of lens, each for different conditions. Pricey, though.

What glasses are you using now? Polarizer lens can be pretty effective.

Because this is a medical issue, I say go to an optometrist shop that sells eye wear and ask. They ought to know what you need and will order it if it's something not normally stocked. Stay away from mall stores that only sell glasses or sporting goods stores because chances are that they don't know squat.

Whatever happens, please don't risk your vision for this job.

Good luck!

Edit: Here we go: http://www.sporteyes.com/skiing.htm

[schuss]

you might also try carrying around some clear eyes or visine, as probably the sun and wind dry them out something fierce.

[phUnk]

Eyes do get sunburned, if by sunburned you mean "pissed off from being out in the sun for a long time."

I've gotten red horizontal "bloodshot" stripes across my eyeballs from going BC with no sunglasses on & squinting the whole time.

Why not just where goggles & push them up on your hat when you shoot?

Or, perhaps just stick your snowboard into the snow to use it as a sun shade?

[Spamhelmet]

Or you can look like a total geezer and get a pair of theese...



Especially if you attach the extra nosepiece to prevent your nogging to fry up...

Sad part ís that those kind of glasses are actually the best working pieces if you spend lot of time in the glaciers. Especially spring/summertimes.

[365wp]

Back when I was driving boats in Maine, I picked up a pair of Vaurnets...great lenses. Some manufacturers (like Vaurnet) have little icons for skiing/water/etc. to let you know which lenses are appropriate for which activities.

[Spats]

Most sunglasses let a lot of light in the sides and bottom. This makes a much bigger difference than the type of lens, since pretty much any lens will block UV. You have a few choices:

1) Wear your goggles.
2) Wear glacier glasses (Spamhelmet 's picture).
3) Find a pair of wraparounds that fits your face very closely (doesn't work as well as 1 or 2).

Polarized lenses don't make any real difference in snow, though they're great for driving or water sports.

I wear the high-end Briko goggles with the photochromic lenses: they're rose in flat light but get darker (almost purple) in intense sunlight. I never wear anything else.

[Will]

Originally posted by Lynx
do eyes get sunburned? cause mine are pretty fried.

Actually, yes. It's called 'snow blindness'. Caused by spending too much time w/out glasses in a highly reflective environment (snow/glacier), especially at altitude. Apparently it hurts like a bitch, like sandpaper on your eyes - also, you can't see.

see here

here

and here.

It's caused by UVB rays. So ya needs glasses that will block those fuckers. A good pair of glacier glasses will make you look like the master of dorkdom, but will do the trick.

A nice pair of ski goggles should also be fine, check the label.

I think regular glass corrective lenses might block some UV rays - after all, it's harder to get a sunburn through a window. And I suspect that my contacts might block some UV rays as well - at least the box they come in seems to make some such claim.

[Lynx]

muchos gracias for the info guys, even phunk who continues to harass me for snowboarding when, oddly enough, i don't snowboard jerkface

i tried some heavier visine treatment last night and this morning, which made my eyes feel better but i still look baked and after being outside again all day, my eyes hurt again. one of those links explained the eye will spontaneously heal in 24 to 48 hours, but it doesn't look like my eyes will get a reprieve at least until thurs.

sometimes i do wear my goggles but it can get hot up there, so i usually wear the sunglasses which are dragons with dark orange lenses. otherwise the goggles i wear when i'm shooting are smiths with a rose lens thats mirrored on the outside.

i had some glacier glasses when i was little, i guess when they were cool for everyone in the 80s. mine were hot pink.

[mtbakerskier]

dude, Re, just get some dark smiths with the sepia lense they work good, or ideally get used to wearing mirrod gogles when it is warm, you can still shoot / drink beer with em on, and geta fatty goggle tan, something every chick looks hotter in. As for looking baked, isnt it a requirement to be when working for a ski area lol

[L7]

I was thinking about this today and I just don't get any problems despite lots of long full sunny days spent at 8 and 9,000 feet. If you're in Colorado you may be higher but I think the snow reflection is more the problem. I wear smiths with the Gold light 55 I think. That means they block 55 % visible light which is still pretty bright. I like them because they are bright enough that I still see fine if it clouds and light goes flat or in the shadows. Any lens HAS to block 100% UVA and UVB rays. Quality eyewear pretty much all does.

The worst thing you can do is wear a dark lens that doesn't block all of the A and B rays. The dark causes your pupils to dilate since they react to visible light and that lets even more of the bad stuff in. I wear the glasses as much as I can (most of the time) and they're pretty close to my face but I can still see bright around the outside of them. Don't think that really gets right into my eye though. I find shooting with glasses on hard but propping them on your head to shoot quick is easier then dealing with goggles I think.

Don't mess around in the mountains and on snow. Good eyewear is critical and worth the investment.

[Lynx]

Originally posted by mtbakerskier
As for looking baked, isnt it a requirement to be when working for a ski area lol

you're right, i fit right in, heh

i guess i really just left my goggles/sunglasses up on top of my head too long for a couple days, probly when i was facing north thinking something stupid like, oh it's not as bad since the sun is behind me, and am paying the extended consequences.

let my stupidity be a lesson to you all! yaR

[TomK]

Lynx, Here's some options for glacier glasses to block out the side glare. The side shields help a lot, so if you're surrent sunglasses don't have them...

http://shopping.msn.com/marketplace....871&catId=1859

[tuffy109]

darkest tan/worst burn ever - watching the kirkwood comp a few years ago with the sun sitting right above the peak. i almost dropped out a few times that night because of it.