Glade Optics Adapt Ski Goggle – Test and Review

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Updated April 9th, 2024

I recently got a chance to check out the Glade Optics Adapt goggles. I saw a lot of advertising and mentions in Blister Gear and Outside Magazine and decided to check them out. I contacted the folks at Glade Optics and Curt Nichols hooked me up with some goggles to try out. The Adapt goggles have a photochromic lens and are great for a variety of conditions. If you ski somewhere the weather changes a lot or you just don’t like changing lenses, the Adapt could be for you. Keep reading to get the full review on the Glade Adapt Photochromic Ski Goggles.

Glade Optics Adapt Snow Goggle Review and Test

I picked up a blue lens sample of the Glade Optics Adapt goggle. The goggle has an oversize cylindrical lens and is available with 3 color options that all come with a white frame and white strap. There is a special Snowbrains edition with a red lens and black frame and strap. These goggles would be considered a medium to large fit size. They have fixed lenses so there is no lens change system to talk about.

Price

The Glade Adapt goggles retail for $129 for all versions. They are only available direct from Glade Optics. They include a black microfiber goggle bag that can be used for storing and cleaning the lens. This is less than half the cost of a good set of photochromic lens goggles from well known brands such as Julbo.

Lens

Let’s talk about the lens since that is the heart of any photochromic goggle. A photochromic lens gets lighter and darker as the light outside changes. The Adapt has a VLT range from 30-84%. At the 30% end the lens is perfect for partly cloudy day or a blue sky day in the trees. At the 84% range it’s great for night skiing or a really dark overcast day.

The lens doesn’t get as dark as a 10-20% lens. On a really bright day where there isn’t a cloud in sight, it works okay. I spent a few hours with them at Snowbasin on a sunny afternoon and thought the lens got dark enough and adapted well when it got cloudy or we skied into a shady area.

The lens gives you UV400+ for 100% UV protection. No one wants sunburn in their eyes from a day of skiing.

The lens is cylindrical shaped. It has a cool aggressive mirrored finish flat lens look. I have been impressed at how well the flat lenses from Glade work. Everyone talks about toric or spherical lens shape as being the way to go these days. Cylindrical lenses done right work great too. The clarity and focus are on par with most other high end ski goggles.

These goggles have fixed lenses that can’t be quickly swapped. Glade Optics sells Adapt lenses separately on their website in case you damage the lens. The lens is solidly attached to the frame. Please consult Glade as to how to replace the lens if for some reason you need to.

Frames

The frame is fairly rigid plastic. It is stiffer than most other goggle frames I have seen recently. It has triple layer face foam for maximum comfort. The fleece inner layer is soft and comfortable and felt good. The frame shape fit my face just fine. The stiff frame isn’t noticeable while wearing the goggles. The construction of the goggles looks and feels solid. I am sure they will hold up over time.

Field of view

The peripheral vision of the Adapt Goggles is on par with any other large frame goggle out there. It’s only slightly less than the Glade Mag Flights which have the best field of view I’ve ever looked through. Even though it has a cylindrical lens, it still gives you a view as good as any spherical or toric lens goggle.

Flat light performance

I had the opportunity to ski with these goggles on a very overcast wintery mix kind of sleeting, kind of snowing day. That is about the worst conditions possible for flat light. These goggles excel in flat light conditions. They have some blue light filtering in the lens. My friend wearing a bright blue jacket had a slightly purple appearance while wearing these. Blue light color filtering is the trick Smith Optics has used for years with their ChromaPop lens.

The Adapt goggles do a very good job of bringing out details in the snow and terrain. These were the best out of the 3 Glade Optics goggles I tried out for flat light performance.

Low light performance

I wore these goggles for a couple hours in the evening as the sun went down on a clear day. I always felt good about how well I could see the snow terrain. They worked well in both the areas of the mountain that were shadowed and dark and areas that were still getting evening sun. With regular goggle lenses, one of the 2 areas would have been either too dark to see well or too bright. The photochromic lens gets light enough to work well for night skiing too.

Bright light performance

Bright, clear blue skies are the one light condition that these goggles do not excel at but do alright. With a max darkness of VLT 30%, they aren’t as dark as a 10% VLT lens. This is most noticeable if you are on a chair lift that is going up directly into the sun. I have spent enough time skiing with them in cloudless conditions and thought performance was good enough.

If you are skiing in a wide open bowl on a bright blue sky day with no clouds you might want a 10% lens goggle. For a day where it’s sunny and you are skiing in and out of shady areas or it clouds up in the afternoon they work really well.

Anti-fog performance

The Adapt goggles stayed clear and fog free the whole time I worse them on the high humidty wintery mix day. That is the kind of day where there is a lot of water getting into the goggles and fogging becomes a problem. These goggles passed that day with flying colors.

They have all the anti fog features you would expect from any high end ski or snowboard goggle. These include dual pane lenses, two layer anti fog coating, moisture wicking foam, and lots of ventilation. They are ready to give you fog free performance for your day of skiing.

Ski Helmet compatibility and appearance

I tried the Adapts out with a couple of helmets for compatibility and appearance. The goggle strap has silicone beads so that they don’t slide on helmets. I tried the goggles out with the following helmets. Anon Echo MIPS, OutdoorMaster Diamond MIPS, and Giro Nine-C. The goggles have small to no gap with all the helmets I tried.

I like the look these goggles have with the white strap and frame and blue mirrored lens. The mirror effect on all 3 Glade Optics goggles I have really looks sharp.

OTG – Over The Glasses

The goggles will fit over my glasses. They have cutouts in the foam on the sides. They are a very tight fit on the sides and I don’t find them comfortable to wear over glasses. I could wear them for an hour or 2 in a pinch if I had to. OTG goggles are very dependent on the shape of your glasses and how they fit.

The Verdict

I really liked skiing with the Glade Optics Adapt goggles in flat light conditions. I really like the mirrored flat lens look they give you. The photochromic lens excels in flat light and works well in every other condition. If you ski somewhere that has a lot of cloudy, partly cloudy, and overcast days these goggles are a great option. They work really well for night skiing too. These goggles would make a welcome addition to anyone’s ski gear.

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