| General |
At altitude the effect of the sun on your skin and eyes can be highly dangerous.
Always use effective protection.
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| Important facts |
Choosing sunglasses:
- Ensure that sunglasses comply with Standard EN 1836:1997 (goggles Standard EN 174:1996).
- Lenses should provide 100% UV protection and high protection against infrared and
bluelight.
- The immediate effect of an impact to unprotected or poorly protected eyes could cause momentary or prolonged blindness. Polycarbonate lenses are the strongest lenses you can buy. Polycarbonate can flex in
response to impact, even to the point of being bent permanently without breaking. They are 20 times more impact resistant than glass and shatterproof. They are also very lightweight making them an excellent choice for many sports (3 times lighter than glass & extremely comfortable to
wear).
- Choose optically correct lenses - they provide clear, sharp vision
which provides extra comfort.
- Lens colours effect what we see so it is important to choose the right lens for the right light condition. eg mirrored for very sunny conditions, cinnamon or yellow for dull/overcast.
- Choose durable, lightweight wraparound frames which block light from all
sides - particularly effective for skiing/snowboarding & sailing where
reflective glare can cause problems.
- The right frames are those which offer comfort, safety (and style!).
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Make sure you are wearing adequate UV protection at all times.
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| Sunglasses |
Over the last decade people have become more aware of the potential damage
the sun can cause to the skin. The fact that the eye, an even more important
part of the body, is also vulnerable is less well known. Studies show that
long hours in the sun without protection increases the chance of eye
problems, such as cataracts, sunburn to the eyelids, skin cancer around the
eyes and muscular degeneration (a leading cause of vision loss in later
years).
The risk of damaging your eyes is much greater in the snow than in
any other outdoors environment - most snow resorts are way above sea level,
a mile or two and as we rise in altitude and the atmosphere thins there is
significantly less filtration of radiation in the atmosphere.
Due to the reflective nature of snow, up to 85% of the Ultraviolet radiation can be
reflected off its surface, resulting in an effective UV dose that is over 4
times that at sea level.
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Always use high quality sunglasses on the slopes.
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