07 October 2024
When attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 8800m above sea level, there are a number of essential items a mountaineer must rely on. Crampons. A down suit. An ice axe. Eyewear.
So explained Kenton Cool, high-altitude climber and adventurer, who discussed the importance of eye protection in mountaineering at a digital press event hosted by the sports eyewear brand, evil eye.
Journalists from the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands logged on for a presentation of evil eye’s autumn/winter collection and upcoming launches. The brand, based in Austria, forms an arm of the Silhouette Group.
Protection, performance, and prescription
Sam Dekker, marketing and PR manager for Silhouette in Benelux, described the brand’s connection with athletes, working directly with sportspeople to design frames that meet their needs in training, competitions, or expeditions.
Emphasising the importance of eyewear, Dekker referenced sports medicine literature, in which various reviews have indicated the effectiveness of protective eyewear in preventing eye injuries in sports.
Research also suggests that one in four athletes do not see clearly enough, Dekker noted, and therefore cannot reach their full potential.
A survey by evil eye indicated that only 7% of eyewear users wear sports frames, with 46% wearing optical clear glasses, 14% in contact lenses, and 33% who wear nothing at all.
The company suggested 4% of spectacle wearers use sports glasses, and 3% use sport glasses with a prescription.
Dekker said: “We see this as a target group, as an opportunity that evil eye are fully connected with.”
Consumer survey: evil eye explores sports eyewear usage
7%
eyewear users wear sports frames
46%
wear optical clear spectacles
3%
eyewear users have sports glasses with a prescription
Designing for alpine sports
This autumn, evil eye is launching two new models, designed with the specific needs of athletes in mind.
The elate extreme high-altitude frame features a facemask to protect the nose and cheek area from UV rays, cold, and wind.
The facemask can be clipped to the frame at the nose bridge and temples, or removed to use the frames independently. A detachable headband can also be used to secure the goggles in place and is adjustable in three tilt positions.
The lenses can be fitted directly with a prescription and are available in an array of colours.
Daniel Saurug, head of design for evil eye, explained that the frames were co-developed with evil eye’s mountaineering ambassadors, including Kenton Cool, Alex Txikon, and Fabian Buhl.
“We noticed in the past that if people are wearing frames in really high-altitude conditions, they sometimes tape underneath the frames to protect the very sensitive skin in the cheek and nose area,” he explained.
This area is exposed to UV and the cold, and climbers often burn in these areas.
“We saw these self-made solutions and tried to integrate this idea into our product development with a solution that is more professional and practical,” he added.
As the frame can be adjusted in so many ways, Saurug suggested: “It is a frame that supports you through all of the journey – from running on gravel roads, to fighting a snowstorm on a peak. It is the one frame you need if you do expeditions.”
The next launch coming from evil eye was designed in collaboration with ski mountaineering athletes.
Evil eye are sponsoring the national ski mountaineering teams of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The sport, which sees athletes race through mountains on skis, will make its Olympic debut in the 2026 Milano Cortina games.
Saurug explained that, in sponsoring the teams, evil eye learnt that a key demand of the athletes was that the equipment had to be extremely light. As a result, the brand developed the peaklite goggle – weighing only 60g.
The frames feature specially designed ventilation chambers in the anatomically shaped foam, as well as openings in the filter lens to prevent fogging. An anti-fog coating has also been applied to the lenses.
The peaklite frame will be a gamechanger for athletes requiring vision correction, evil eye said, suggesting it is the first brand to have successfully integrated optical inserts directly into the filter lens using an adapter system.
This removes the need for additional clip-ins or a second lens, which the company suggests makes it ideal for ski touring and alpine skiing.
Both of the new frames will be available to optical practices from October.
Sports eyewear is for everyone
Dialling into the digital event from the Swiss Alps, Kenton Cool described his view from the window of paragliders, road cyclists, and snowcapped peaks.
“All these things are absolutely perfect for what evil eye do – be it helicopter pilot, paragliding, rock climbing, or mountaineering,” he said of the eyewear brand.
Cool, an ambassador for evil eye, discussed the need for protective eyewear when in the mountains, and shared some of his experience with the brand.
He began by emphasising that sports eyewear is for everyone – not only elite athletes.
“I don’t believe I’m an athlete. I’m an everyday person who happens to have a passion that is in the high mountains. When we talk about athletes I think it can generate a mindset of elitism,” he said, adding: “Everybody and anybody can wear evil eye eyewear.”
“The reason being is that caring for our eyes is absolutely paramount,” he continued.
Protective eyewear is particularly important in Cool’s career as a climber and guide. He said: “I’m an Everest guide. I go to these high mountains year-on-year and see the profound effects of UV on the eyes. When you don’t look after your eyes, you end up having significant problems which become a total inhibitor to what we want to do in the mountains.”
Caring for our eyes is absolutely paramount
Cool explained that he has been trialling evil eye’s elate extreme frame since spring – wearing them on Everest and through the summer when guiding in the Western Alps.
“These are going to blow your mind,” he said. “For use in the high mountains, or for running, these glasses are one-fits-all in many ways. They have one or two features I’ve never seen on a frame before, giving me all-round protection, not only for my eyes, but the parts of my face that would regularly get sunburned.”
The year ahead will be busy for Cool, who will make a record-breaking 19th ascent of Everest, guide trips in Argentina and Tanzania, and undertake ski guiding throughout Europe in February and March. In the summer, he will accompany a client in an attempt to climb Leila Peak in Pakistan. Packing evil eye goggles is already on his list.
“Protecting your eyes is the number one thing people forget about in the big mountains,” Cool said. He explained: “Evil eye continually develops new techniques and technology that makes our eyes safe in the mountains – an environment where UV is harsher than it is at sea level – and where damage to your eyes can not only mean a lack of a summit, but can put you in jeopardy.”
He added: “Protecting our eyes is as important as anything else we do on that mountain. In terms of the importance of equipment, eyewear is up there with my ice axe, crampons, and down suit.”
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