GLADE OPTICS ANNOUNCES THAT SNOW MELTS

Hey, Michael here. I'm the product guy here at Glade.

I was on the porch putting the summer wax on my skis when the realization struck. It was a fairly innocuous sunny Saturday afternoon... one of those days that annually served as our unofficial transition from mountain town winter, to mountain town summer. Away with the skis, the poles, boots, bibs and with tears in my eyes… away with my Glade goggles.

As I was spit shining my sample LTD Black Adapts (IYKYK and wow, those sold fast this year) for the last time before tucking them safely away in their microfiber bag and EVA case (hot tip for proper storage/care), I caught my reflection in the black mirrored lens. There I was, watching myself put away my favorite piece of gear (I am aware of my bias). I thought of just how many of you were currently doing the same thing. “Away with my trusty Glades. See you in the Fall.” I imagined you all carefully… emotionally… storing yours away with the same care, but I snapped out of it fairly quickly as Curt was hollering that the waxing iron was hot and waiting... I quickly put my Adapts away, snagged a beer, and headed toward the impromptu tuning table, aka: my kitchen table pulled out onto the patio.

In a moment, the usual stoke of the impending warm weather that would unveil ribbons of singletrack, lazy floats down the river, and long hikes through the woods… seemed well… sad. Actually, it just seemed… Glade-less… which if you are me… is sad.

Wait, didn’t you have the Prospect Sunglasses?

Of course we had the Prospect! Heck the Prospect won Backpacker’s Best Eyewear of 2021 right around this same time, but that was just our start. Wait. Hold your thoughts and let me get back to this serious story.

As I waxed, sipped, scraped, and sipped, I thought about what we’ve learned through goggles, the space in the snowsports industry that we’ve created, and the community of snow sliders that have aligned with our mission… I didn’t want to pack all that proverbial bag of stoke, allowing it to sit dormant like a seasonal Chamber of Secrets. You know, if the Chamber of Secrets was a good thing.  

In the mountains we do our best to maximize our days. It’s a mix and match game up here; trail run, MTB, SUP, fish, hike, and patio pubbing… oh and work. There is always work. Pick three and you have yourself a proper day. For the next six months we’d typically bounce between eyewear depending on what the day held. You know what I am talking about. You’ve got your MTB sunglasses, your date-night sunglasses, your beach sunglasses, etc. Seemingly every sunglass out there is purpose built… we just couldn’t figure out what that purpose was and how it helped us.