Ski goggles for glasses wearers: what actually works

Everyday glasses worn under a Smith Reason OTG ski goggle, three-quarter view
My glasses under a Smith Reason OTG. This is the answer every shop recommends

You wear glasses and you want to ski. The answer you will find at every retailer is OTG, "over the glasses": a ski goggle worn over your glasses. I skied that way for several seasons. This page is about what happens when you do, when it starts, what the usual tips do about it, and what I do instead today. It is not a review of OTG goggles. If you want to buy one, every shop in the search results sells them. This is the part the shop pages leave out.

On this page

What OTG means

OTG stands for "over the glasses". An OTG goggle differs from a normal one in three ways: the frame is deeper so a pair of glasses fits inside, the foam at the temples has channels cut out for the arms to pass through, and it is often the larger size in a range. Retailers label it "OTG", "fits over glasses" or "for glasses wearers". All three mean the same thing: your glasses go inside.

That is all the label promises. It does not promise that the glasses are still comfortable after half an hour, that they do not fog, or that you see as sharply through them as you do without a goggle on top. Those are the three things that matter on the hill, and they are what the rest of this page is about.

Glasses resting on the foam of an OTG ski goggle, the frame wider than the opening
Glasses resting on the foam of an OTG goggle: the frame is wider than the opening

What happens after half an hour

I will describe it in the order you notice it. None of the four problems is the fault of any particular goggle. They happen because one frame is being pushed inside another frame, and that is true of every OTG goggle I have worn.

1. The arms at your ears. The channels let the arms through, but the opening at the front of the goggle is never as wide as a normal glasses frame. Rest your glasses on the foam of an OTG goggle and the frame overhangs on both sides. So the goggle pushes the arms inward, and the arms press on the bone beside your ear, exactly where the arm tip meets the skin. That is the first thing that hurts, and it shows up after about thirty minutes.

Profile of glasses under an OTG ski goggle, the temple arm pressing on the bone beside the ear
The arm runs through the channel and presses on the bone beside the ear

2. The nose. The goggle presses the glasses into your face. Now the nose pads of your glasses carry not just the glasses but the strap tension and the goggle foam behind them. Every point where the glasses touch you becomes a pressure point, and the nose is the second one.

Everyday glasses under a 100% Strata 2 goggle, close front, the goggle nose piece pressing the glasses onto the bridge of the nose
The nose pads of the glasses pushed into the nose, here under a 100% Strata 2

3. Loosening the strap does not help. The natural reflex is to loosen the goggle. The glasses sit lighter, but the goggle starts to move on your face. Air gets past the foam at the top edge, your eyes water, and on a fast run the whole thing shifts. You have traded a pressure problem for a seal problem. Somewhere between the two there is a setting that works for a full day, and I have never found it in any goggle.

OTG ski goggle with the strap loosened, tilting away from the face while the glasses stay put
Strap loosened: the goggle tilts away from the face, the glasses stay where they are

4. Fogging. Your glasses now sit in a closed space of warm, damp air with no ventilation of their own. The goggle has vents and a double lens against fog; the glasses inside it have neither. Their coating, anti-reflective or anti-fog, is made for open air, not for the space behind a goggle lens. Once they fog they stay fogged until you take the goggle off, and then the goggle fogs. At the lift, at a stop, on the walk up to the hut: every time you stand still for a moment, it starts.

Everyday glasses fogged up inside a 100% Strata 2 goggle
Everyday glasses under a goggle, fogged within minutes, here under a 100% Strata 2. Their coating is made for open air, not for the space behind the lens

Then there is the helmet. Almost everyone skis in a helmet now, and the helmet is the third frame in the same place. Helmet shell, goggle strap and glasses arm share the same two centimetres above your ear. Whatever pressure the goggle does not supply, the helmet rim does.

And at higher prescriptions, a fifth problem you do not feel but see. Your glasses were fitted at a certain distance from your eye. Under a goggle they sit further forward, because the foam will not let them closer, and a lens that sits further from the eye acts slightly differently from one at its fitted position. At low prescriptions this is nothing. From about ±4 and with any progressive it is the difference between sharp and "something is not right". The optics behind that are in the high prescription guide.

Everyday glasses worn under a Smith Reason OTG ski goggle, front view
Glasses under the Reason OTG, from the front
Profile of everyday glasses worn under a 100% Strata 2 motocross goggle
The same squeeze on a motocross goggle: the arm under the strap, the frame pushed into the nose

The alternative that has none of these problems is further down. If you want to see it now:

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What the usual tips actually buy you

Every buying guide on this subject gives the same five pieces of advice. I have tried all of them. Here is what each one actually buys you.

"Get an OTG model, one size up." Buys room. The glasses fit inside, and that is the precondition for everything else. It does not buy relief from pressure: the opening is still narrower than the frame, the arms still get pushed inward, only a little less. And the bigger goggle sits worse on a narrower face, which brings you back to the strap.

Glasses held above an OTG ski goggle, the frame wider than the foam opening
The opening is never as wide as the frame, even on an OTG model
Inside view of glasses seated in an OTG ski goggle, the arms through the temple channels
The arms pass through the channels and get bent outward on the way; the frame front still has to fit inside the foam

"Glasses with thin, straight arms." The best of the five, because it goes at the pressure point. Thin metal arms with no ear hook press less than thick acetate arms. The catch: the glasses you own are the glasses you own. A second pair for skiing, with lenses in your prescription, costs about as much as an insert, and it fogs just the same.

"Anti-fog spray or a cloth." Buys minutes. These work as long as the film is intact, and in the damp, closed air behind a goggle lens that is shorter than on the hill without a goggle. After the first wipe the effect is gone. I have not found a coating or a spray that lasts a ski day under a goggle.

"A well ventilated goggle, or one with a fan." Helps the goggle lens, which rarely fogs anyway. The glasses behind it sit in the same air as before, closer to your face, where the moisture comes from. A fan moves air at the lens, not at your glasses.

"A helmet for glasses wearers." A helmet with a recess for the arms removes one of the three pressure points, the helmet rim. The other two, the goggle opening and the nose, stay. If you stick with OTG, this is the tip that helps most. It does not solve the problem.

And contact lenses. The only tip that removes all four problems at once, because the glasses disappear. If you tolerate them, at altitude, in cold and in wind too, you will ski well in them; if not, you need the next option.

Where OTG is still enough

I am not saying nobody should ski this way. There is one case where I would still do it myself: two ski days a year, a rented goggle, glasses that are small anyway with thin arms, and a low prescription with no cylinder. Then OTG costs nothing, the glasses are already there, and the half hour of pain is forgotten by the afternoon. That is a real case, and the shop pages in the search results serve it.

Anything beyond that, more days, your own goggle, a normal pair of glasses, astigmatism, progressives, a higher prescription, and the four problems above are there every day. In my experience one of them takes over the day before the morning is out.

What I do instead

I take the glasses out and put an insert with my lenses behind the goggle lens. The prescription insert for ski goggles is a small frame, 16 g with lenses, that holds itself against the inside of the goggle lens. Against the four problems above, in the same order: it has no arms, so nothing presses at the ear; it does not touch the nose; the strap stays at normal tension because nothing under it hurts; and it sits in the ventilated air of the goggle, so it fogs far less than glasses do. It has seated in every goggle I have tried, and the list is in the fit table.

100% Strata 2 MX goggle worn with the prescription insert fitted
The insert in a 100% Strata 2: nothing at the ears, nothing on the nose, and the goggle keeps its own lens
The V3 goggle prescription insert held up, hole ladder visible in the bridge
The insert on its own, 16 g with lenses: no arms, nothing to press at the ear or on the nose. The hole ladder in the bridge sets the height

Whether the insert is the right one of the three options for your numbers, glasses under the goggle, contacts or insert, what it costs, and why it has to adjust in height and depth, is on the Prescription ski goggles: the three options page, with a table that starts at your prescription. One row of it sends you back to contacts.

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If you already own an OTG goggle

Then it is not wasted. An OTG goggle is a normal goggle with more room, and the insert seats in it like in any other; the Smith Reason OTG in the photos is on the fit table as tested. Glasses out, insert in, and the channels in the foam do not get in the way. You keep the goggle you like and lose the four problems.

Smith Reason OTG ski goggle worn with the prescription insert fitted instead of glasses
The Reason OTG with the insert instead of glasses

And yes, it is all the same for snowboard goggles. A snowboard goggle is a ski goggle with different marketing; the problems under the lens are the same, and the insert seats the same way.

Not sure what is right for you? Send me a photo of your prescription and your goggle model, and I will tell you what I would do before you order anything.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can you wear glasses under ski goggles?
Yes, with an OTG goggle, which is built deeper and has channels for the arms. It works in the sense that the glasses fit inside. After about half an hour the arms press at your ears and the nose pads into your nose, and the glasses fog in the closed air behind the lens. The alternatives are contact lenses or a prescription insert behind the goggle lens.

What does OTG mean on ski goggles?
"Over the glasses". The frame is deeper, the foam has channels cut out for the arms, and it is usually the larger size in a range. "Fits over glasses" and "for glasses wearers" mean the same thing.

What are the best ski goggles for glasses wearers?
Any goggle your insert fits, which is nearly all of them. With a prescription insert behind the lens you no longer need an OTG model and can choose a goggle by lens, field of view and helmet fit like everyone else. If you stay with glasses under the goggle: an OTG model big enough that the frame does not touch the opening, and a helmet with a recess for the arms.

Do all glasses fit under OTG goggles?
No. Wide frames and thick acetate arms often do not fit at all, or press straight away. Small frames with thin, straight metal arms fit best. Even those only fit; they do not become comfortable.

My glasses fog under my ski goggles. What helps?
Short term, an anti-fog treatment on the glasses, which lasts a few minutes. Long term, only taking the glasses out of the goggle: contact lenses, or an insert that sits in the ventilated air of the goggle and fogs far less.

How do a ski helmet and glasses work together?
Helmet rim, goggle strap and glasses arm share the same spot above your ear. A "helmet for glasses wearers" has a recess there and removes one of the three pressure points. With an insert instead of glasses the arm is gone entirely, and any helmet fits.

Does the insert fit an OTG goggle too?
Yes. The Smith Reason OTG on this page is tested with it, and the channels in the foam do not get in the way. An OTG goggle you already own stays useful. The full list is in the fit table.

Still have a question? Send me your prescription and your goggle model.

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