Whether you are a snowboarder or a skier, there is no doubt you need to protect your eyes. You are on a journey to misery if you risk these sports without getting the right goggles first.

Without goggles, you are not only at risk from such things as ice particles, snow, twigs and other debris flying into your face at speed, there are also other considerations such as UV rays and the sun's glare that may affect your vision. This could obviously be potentially hazardous to your health! So what should you be looking for in a pair of skiing or snowboarding goggles to avoid all this?

Fogging can be a big problem with skiing and snowboarding goggles. Especially if you are a newbie skier (basically because you fall over more and breath heavier!). To help avoid fogging, go for multiple lenses. The lenses should be well vented which will allow fresh air to circulate inside the goggles.

As with sunglasses, goggles should have a minimum of 95% UV protection although most of the recognisable brands such as Oakley, Spy, Electric are 100% so you will be well protected on that front.

Other considerations include that the style you choose affords good peripheral vision. Your goggles must also be comfortable and a snug fit across your facial contours. Good, adjustable and padded straps will also help with this. Not only should the straps be padded, so should the inside of your ski or snowboarding goggles. This will help to prevent serious injury should you land badly. If you wear prescription glasses, either get prescription goggles made up or, a cheaper option is just to make sure the goggles fit securely over your glasses and everything feels comfortable.

Your next consideration is the colour of the lens. If you are fashion conscious and already have an outfit and helmet in mind, then this will play a part in your decision. The decision about the colour of your ski or snowboarding goggles, must be made on the basis of the conditions you would normally expect to ski or snowboard under. Although you may find there is often some dispute about which colour is best for a certain condition, some companies name their colours differently as well which doesn't help. Our suggestions are that in darker conditions clear or yellow lenses are useful. If it is a low to medium light, try a rose tint and if a moderate light, amber, gold or yellow as these will filter out the blue light. To improve the contrast in bright conditions, silver and green are a good choice but on a lovely sunny and bright day, straight-forward black lenses won't distort the colours although you try a blue lens.

Finally, although most of the reputable makes of ski and snowboarding goggles will be fine, if the goggles don't work well with your helmet, then simply change of one them! Choose your ski and snowboarding goggles wisely and enjoy your sport for longer!