Vision, Winter Sports, & Cold Weather Eye Care
Excellent eyesight is among the many skills a winter athlete needs to hone. That’s true for you too, whether you hope to compete in a future Olympics or simply want to have fun on winter break.
Let’s examine how winter athletes (like summer athletes) count on their eyes to keep them at the top of their game in various sports.
Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing is a great place to start our guide on vision and winter sports. Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, can be a relaxing pastime or a competitive sport. Competitions like Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, and Downhill events are designed to test speed, agility, and skiing techniques.
Alpine skiers depend on their sight for a variety of visual cues.
- Contrast Sensitivity: Skiers need to be able to distinguish subtle differences in snow despite bright reflections and low-contrast terrain features.
- Depth Perception: Snow can create a “flat light” that makes it hard to judge distance and altitude.
- Peripheral Vision: Not only do skiers need to know what lies ahead, but they also need to track the course, identify hazards, and be aware of their surroundings.
- Visual Tracking: The ability to monitor gates, flags, rollers, and changes in the landscape to time movements and turns is crucial for staying focused and avoiding injury.
Vision Care for Downhill Skiing
Using colored or photochromatic goggles can help restore contrast and definition to a snowy landscape. They should offer 100% UV protection and fit well enough to protect the eyes from debris and dryness. This includes fitting over prescription glasses or inserts if necessary.
Para Alpine Skiing
Not all skiers need great vision. Para alpine skiers with visual impairments use a buddy system. They memorize the competitive course and ski behind a sighted guide. Each person wears a headset that allows the lead skier to provide continuous audio course directions to the para skier. In this way, even those with poor eyesight can find enjoyment and demonstrate excellence on the downhill ski slope. Cross-country skiers with visual impairments can use the same technique.
Figure Skating
While skiing is the most popular sport to participate in during the winter, figure skating is by far the most popular winter sport to watch. In this sport, individuals, pairs, and even groups of skaters use their visual acuity to perform spins, lifts, jumps, and intricate dance-like movements.
To figure skate successfully, athletes need these visual skills:
- Spotting: Figure skaters use spotting to help them focus during jumps and turns. They need to be able to clearly see something in or outside of the rink that they can use as a visual reference point to count rotations, time jumps, and maintain balance.
- Spatial Awareness: Intricate skating routines require awareness of ice markings, the depth and shape of the rink, and other markers that may be visible only in the corner of the eye or for a split second. They use these visual cues to stay centered, time their movements, and move fluidly across the ice.
Vision Care for Figure Skaters
Many figure skaters choose contact lenses for performances, but they may wear glasses and goggles during practice to prevent eye dryness. Some professional skaters also undergo specialized vision training to improve focus, movement precision, and hand-eye-body coordination.
Ice Hockey
The average NHL hockey player moves at about 20 mph to chase a tiny puck that’s traveling even faster (up to 100 mph in some cases)!
Hockey players rely on:
- Tracking and Visual Acuity: It takes significant effort to follow a small, fast-moving puck while maintaining balance and movement.
- Peripheral Vision: Not only do they track the puck, but every player also needs to be aware of all the other players on the ice as well as the rink markings, passing lanes, and goals.
Vision Care for Hockey Players
Above all else, hockey players are very careful to protect their heads and eyes with helmets, shatterproof visors, and goggles. All eye gear should be ASTM-certified (American Society for Testing and Materials), with antifog and scratch-resistant coatings.
Blind Hockey
Hockey players with low or no vision can also enjoy the game with unique accommodations. In this variation of the sport, the puck is larger and heavier, and it makes a distinctive noise because of ball bearings that rattle around inside the puck. Players listen for sounds to keep oriented on the ice, such as chirps that indicate completed passes.
Snowboarding
Some prefer to surf the waves of the ocean, and some love riding down slopes of snow on a snowboard.
Snowboarding requires:
- Spatial Awareness: Boarders must track visual cues in a low-contrast environment to navigate the course and control flips and spins.
- Speed and Tracking: Along with spatial awareness, visual cues indicate how much speed a boarder needs to clear a jump or rail.
- Course Management: Snowboarders must monitor other athletes, observers, and course variations to stay on course and on target with their movements.
Vision Care for Snowboarders
Like skiers, snowboarders need specialized goggles to enhance visual contrast and protect against glare, flying debris, and dry air.
Ski Jumping
Ski jumpers are judged on distance and aerial style more as they fly through the air after launching off a specialty ramp.
Vision is critical to ski jumping.
- Line of Sight: Keeping their eyes on the prize is crucial for a ski jumper. They focus their gaze on a fixed point and try to stay perfectly aligned with their destination.
- Visual Marks: In addition to judging distance, the angle of the hill and skis, and more, the jumper needs to monitor wind flags along the jump to adjust their body for angle, lift, and stability.
Vision Care for Ski Jumpers
Jumpers use goggles with 100% UV protection; shatterproof, polarized, or photochromic lenses; and antifog features. Most jumpers also opt for contact lenses or prescription goggle inserts instead of glasses worn under their goggles.
Bobsled
Bobsled, skeleton, and luge are fast-paced and exciting for both viewers and athletes. They require precise steering at speeds over 90 mph.
These athletes rely on:
- Track Visualization: Pilots walk, drive, study pictures, and mentally memorize the track to intuitively know every turn before they ever push off for the race.
- Pattern Recognition: Tiny visual clues on the ice walls can also be used to time turns and steering corrections.
- Peripheral Vision: Not everything a driver needs to be aware of is directly in front of them. They also watch for cues and track markings in their peripheral vision.
- Motion Tolerance: The extreme speeds require tracking all visual cues while in motion.
Vision Care for Bobsled, Skeleton, and Luge Athletes
Protective goggles are a must. Some drivers also intentionally smudge or tint their face shields to help reduce tunnel vision and sensory overload.
Sensory training with strobe glasses can also improve visual processing at high speeds.
Protect Your Eyes with Regular Exams
Athlete or not, everyone needs regular eye exams to protect their eye health. Make the most of your vision during winter sports by scheduling an appointment at your local Visionworks today!
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Information received through Visionworks® content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, medical recommendations, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your eye doctor, physician, or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Claims regarding blue light efficiency are supported by manufacturer-provided test results.
