ProView – Pret Effect Goggles Review

Being primarily a backcountry skier and mountain guide, goggles aren’t traditionally seen as a “necessary” tool for everyday touring out of bounds. They can be bulky, stuffy, and the lens light transmission often leaves something to be desired. In the Colorado mountains, we tend to get enough bluebird days that I have certainly found myself leaving the goggles at home to save a bit of space in the pack.

With a mindset that leaves little room for irksome qualities in a pair to keep a place in the pack, I set out to find some reasons to change my habits with the Pret Effect goggles. We didn’t have a banner start to winter in Colorado or Montana, where I primarily tested these goggles, but one thing we never miss out on is a wide range of weather conditions to test out gear in the alpine.

Our first part of the winter didn’t deliver the goods like we all would’ve hoped, but as I found, Pret definitely delivered with these!

Fit/Comfort

I’ve always found it a headache (pun intended) to change the fit with goggles, groaning audibly while shivering at ridgeline trying to make a gloved adjustment in the wind. The dual strap adjustment system on the Effects makes it easy to have the goggles on your face while quickly fine-tuning the snugness with both hands.

The Effect goggles feel comfortable on your face with either a helmet or a winter hat on your head. Pret boasts a plush feeling, triple-layered foam lining that wicks moisture and the design of the frame tucks it into a helmet’s curves without leaving space in awkward places. The only thing I found challenging was optimizing the position of the nose with a helmet on. For reference, the MD/L size goggles felt a tad oversized with my MD size helmet. 

Features

The first thing that stood out to me when I put these on at the top of a run was just how much clarity the Lucent Photochromic lens offers. Being able to have perfect definition in variable off-piste terrain can be a huge risk-management tool while skiing in the alpine, and I have never experienced a lens that offers so much clarity. 

The variable light-transmission works seamlessly in changing conditions, and makes it so you can feel confident in leaving the dedicated storm lens at home unless you’re certain you won’t be seeing the sun. When I did bring the low-light lens out to play, it offered plenty of benefit in increasing definition just that much more to ensure you aren’t in for an unexpected endo when you lose light and tree cover. The color profile and mirror coating even saved me from a potential yard sale in Rocky Mountain National Park this month when low-tide conditions left a barely-visible ice patch at the bottom of the Banana Bowls.

When I did try out changing the lens in the field, it was the fastest and cleanest swap I’ve ever had. The pull tab gives you just the right amount of leverage to release the lens from the frame, and the powerful magnets literally pull the new lens out of your hand, always making a seamless connection without the need to micro-adjust or fiddle with the frame. Bomber.

Quality/Durability

Whether I’m out ski guiding for the day, or teaching an avalanche education course, working in the field always leads to me having to replace gear often. When I’m trying to refit a client’s skins, or teaching layering in a snowpit, it gives me less time to take care of my own equipment or transition from skinning to skiing. I found myself cringing the past couple of months at some of the rough treatment I gave these goggles, sometimes needing to shove them uncovered into the side of my pack or bend them into a jacket pocket. The lenses have stayed unmarred, and the frame is as good as new. 

Weight/Packability

The Effect goggles are an edge-to-edge stylized goggle, so as you might imagine, they have a larger mask design. Fortunately, this doesn’t translate to a weight penalty, however, and at around 156g, they are a modest frontrunner for a magnet-featured goggle. Interestingly enough, I also preferred the more obtuse-angled curvature of the frame. They fit in a jacket pocket or against the sidewall of my pack better than the more acute, smaller goggles I’ve used in the past.

The Final Word

These goggles are a functional all-around frontrunner in every category. But where they truly shine is the optical clarity they offer in all visibility conditions, and the ease of lens change, with their SnapMag system.

The Pret Effect would work great for anyone who primarily skis inbounds, but I truly believe that avid backcountry recreationalists will find this to be a goldilocks goggle.

I will be taking these goggles with me for work or play for the remainder of this season, and many to come. Not only do they look and feel great on my face, but they are one of the few tools I would trust to increase my safety margin on higher hazard, glaciated skiing conditions. 

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