Wildhorn Pipeline Ski Goggles – Test and Review

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Updated April 9th, 2024

Are you in the market for a new pair of ski goggles? If so, you should definitely check out the Wildhorn Pipeline snow goggles. They are stylish with easy swap lenses and available for under $100, making them a great value for your money. We picked up a pair to try out and were impressed by their performance. Keep reading to find out more about the Wildhorn Pipeline goggles.

Wildhorn Pipeline ski Goggles Review and Test

I’ve been noticing more and more Wildhorn ski goggles in the lift lines here this past winter. We decided to get a set of Pipeline goggles to try out for ourselves. The Pipeline has cylindrical lenses and a combined magnet and latches easy swap lens system. They are a frameless cylindrical lens design following the latest mountain trends.

We purchased these goggles ourselves for review. As with all reviews, we’ll give you all the good and bad about them whether we paid for them or a vendor gave them to us.

Our review sample was the Stealth Ice Blue design with 15% VLT lens. We also picked up a yellow 46% VLT lens to try out in flat light conditions.

Price

Wildhorn Pipeline goggles retail for $99.99 and are available from Wildhorn and Amazon. They give you a microfiber bag for cleaning and storage but do not include an extra lens. Extra lenses run $34.99. A set of goggles with an extra lens will run you $134.98.

Lens color, size, and VLT selection

Pipeline goggles do not include a second lens which is a bit of a miss. If your goggle has an easy swap lens design, they should give you 2 lenses to take advantage of it. Pipeline lenses are available with a VLT range from 9% Jet Black to 82% clear with a lot of options in between. There are currently 11 lenses available.

Big field of view

The field of view and peripheral vision are very good. I compared the Pipeline to Oakley Fall Line goggles we have and they are really close in both vertical and side to side field of view. If you look at the lenses and frames, everything is very similar in size. They will let you see everything that is happening around you on the mountain.

Cylindrical lens shape

The Pipeline uses a cylindrical lens or flat lens. It has no curvature in the vertical direction. Cylindrical lenses have come back in style recently. This was obvious watching the 2022 Olympic Games where very few freestyle athletes had spherical or toric lens goggles on. There is no technological advantage of the cylindrical lens. They are cheaper to make and have a little more distortion towards the edges. They give you a leaner look. Spherical lenses can look a little bulgy.

Aurora lens technology

Wildhorn uses what it calls Aurora Lens Tech. This is a combination of fast changing lenses, anti-fog coating, 100% UV protection, and scratch resistant polycarbonate lenses. They do not do anything like blue color filtering or lens thinning to improve clarity like Smith ChromaPop or Oakley PRIZM. The lenses are fairly standard double layer polycarbonate.

The lenses perform well for their price. I do notice significantly more reflections and glare inside the goggle than I do on my Oakley Fall Line goggles. Those cost twice as much also. This is the one area where you can tell these aren’t high end snow goggles.

Flat Light Performance

For best results in flat light use one of the 40-50% VLT lenses such as amber or yellow. We tried out the yellow lens. We skied on a few dreary overcast Michigan ski days and had no trouble seeing the snow surface. The yellow lens doesn’t look as good as a fancy ChromaPop lens that still has a mirrored and colored exterior. It works just as well for seeing detail in the snow surface for a fraction of the cost of a ChromaPop lens.

UV Protection

The pipeline offer 100% UV400 protection which covers your eyes from harmful UV rays.

Anti Fog Performance

Wildhorn gave the Pipeline all the needed features for anti-fog performance. They have double pane lenses, triple layer face foam, lots of ventilation, and an anti-fog coating. We had no issues with fogging while using them so far.

Helmet Compatibility

These goggles work with almost any ski helmet available today. They have a normal top curvature that works with a minimal gap on most ski helmets. They fit best with the Wildhorn Highline helmet which has compatible goggle vents to help with defogging. We have tried them with helmets from Smith, Giro, and Outdoor Master and they all worked well.

OTG Compatible

The Wildhorn Pipeline is OTG compatible and can be worn over prescription glasses. I find they are a tight fit over my glasses and put a lot of pressure on my nose and side of my face. The frames do not have any relief notches on the sides which doesn’t help with pressure. I could wear them for an hour or 2 of skiing over my glasses in an emergency. I would not choose them to wear over glasses most of the time.

Swappable Lenses

The Pipeline has a similar lens swap system as we first saw on the Wildhorn Roca goggles. It is a combined magnet and latch system. The lens has 6 magnets around the top and bottom. It has a latch on each side. To change the lens you need to unlatch the 2 side latches and then pull the lens off. I can do it while the goggles are on my face on my helmet with bare hands or thin gloves. It’s more challenging with thick gloves or mittens on.

This system is better than the Smith I/O mag system which has latches that can’t be accessed while the goggle is on. I prefer pure magnet systems such as the Anon M4 or Outdoor Master Pro/Ultra XL/Vision XL goggles. If you are someone who just doesn’t trust magnets and wants something extra, these are a good pick.

The below video from Wildhorn shows how their lens swap system works. It starts about 54 seconds into the video. They demonstrate it with their Roca goggles. It works exactly the same way with the Pipelines.

The Verdict

If you’re in the market for a new pair of ski goggles, we highly recommend Wildhorn’s Pipeline Ski Goggles. They are comfortable to wear and look stylish and cool. They have good lenses and anti-fog performance. Their magnet and latch lens swap system is easy to use. Our only wish is that they would come with a second lens. If you want a set of stylish cylindrical lens goggles for under $100 check out the Wildhorn Pipeline snow goggles.

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