Goggles — Lens Tints, VLT, and Choosing for Variable Light

Goggles are easy to underestimate until your first flat-light day, when the snow turns into a blank white void and you cannot read the terrain in front of you. Good goggles protect your eyes and, just as importantly, let you actually see the slope. The key to choosing is a single number: VLT.

What VLT Means

VLT stands for Visible Light Transmission — the percentage of light a lens lets through. A low VLT lens is dark and suits bright sun; a high VLT lens is light and brightens up dull, overcast, or snowy conditions. Match the lens to the light and everything snaps into focus.

Lens Tints by Condition

• Bright sun (low VLT, around 5 to 20 percent). Dark tints like grey or mirrored lenses cut glare on blue-sky days.
• Variable or partly cloudy (mid VLT, around 20 to 40 percent). Rose, amber, and pink tints boost contrast across mixed light.
• Flat light and snowfall (high VLT, around 40 percent and up). Yellow and clear lenses brighten the scene and reveal bumps in dull conditions.

What to Buy as a Beginner

1. Start with a mid-VLT, all-conditions lens in a rose or amber tint — the most versatile single choice.
2. Consider an interchangeable-lens set so you can swap between a sunny and a flat-light lens as the weather turns.
3. Check the fit with your helmet — there should be no gap between goggle and helmet, and the goggle should sit comfortably on your face.

With goggles that match the light, you can read the terrain even on grey days. Use Bonvo's 3D maps to study a run's shape before you ride it, so you know what is coming even when the light is flat.