Sweet Protection, the industry leader in high-performance helmets and goggles, announced today that it has collaborated with Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in the development and testing of a special edition of the company’s popular Durden RIG® Reflect Goggle featuring a new RIG® Quartz lens.

Durden RIG Reflect Goggle featuring a new RIG Quartz lens. Courtesy of Sweet Protection

A limited production run of this special edition of the Durden RIG® Reflect Goggle will be available exclusively at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort’s Teton Village Sports and via the Sweet Protection website beginning Dec. 4.

“We wanted to develop a new low-light lens that performed beyond even our standards. Relationships with our top alpine race athletes and key personnel at Jackson Hole helped us to tune our proprietary RIG® lens technology for optical demands in the most difficult conditions: those experienced at Jackson Hole and on downhill courses across the global ski racing calendar,” said Casey Garrity, Sweet Protection’s Marketing Manager for North America. “It was a natural fit to collaborate with the team at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and test this on their mountain, and on days when visibility is difficult … the same days we all want to ski or ride at our best.”

The custom Jackson Hole Durden RIG® Reflect Goggle combines a retro-inspired frame with a modern fit, all while providing a maximum field of vision in a sleek, low-profile expression. It includes Sweet Protection’s unique proprietary RIG® lens technology, and this special edition will include the RIG® Quartz lens, designed specifically to surpass even the best offerings in low-light and storm day lenses.

Sweet Protection product testers took the special edition Durden RIG® Reflect Goggle with the RIG® Quartz lens to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and found that it was an ideal fit for the wide variety of weather conditions a Wyoming winter can impose on skiers and riders, as well as for the wide variety of terrain and light conditions on Rendezvous Mountain.

In addition to being tested and designed with employees at JHMR, the Sweet Protection product designers relied on a collection of Norwegian Alpine Race athletes for feedback on color and contrast in the lens. If it’s good enough for the poor light conditions in Norway at top speeds, it’s good enough for the world.

“Jackson Hole Mountain Resort was thrilled to partner with the team at Sweet Protection to help develop and test this special edition of the Durden with the RIG® Quartz lens, which is perfect for skiers and riders on our mountain,” said Andrew Way, Vice President of Marketing at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. “Visitors to JMHR can ride all the way from the top of our aerial tram to the valley floor in one run, a descent of more than 4,000 vertical feet with light conditions that can change dramatically. This goggle is designed to handle those changes, no matter how difficult.”

Additionally, riders and skiers who already own Sweet Protection goggles can purchase the RIG® Quartz lens as a replacement lens for all models of Sweet Protection goggles. Future iterations of Sweet’s models will offer this lens as the primary lens, or as the secondary lens in ‘Bonus Lens Included’ models beginning this season. The new RIG® Quartz lens will be available in all of Sweet Protection’s goggles for the Winter 2023/24 season.

“Sweet Protection is an industry leader, and our visitors love their gear, we see the Sweet Protection logo every day somewhere at our resort,” Way added. “We have always been proud to offer their high-quality goggles, helmets, and apparel, and the collaboration on this project was just the latest step in a relationship that continues to evolve and benefit both sides.”

About Sweet Protection

Based out of the small village of Trysil, in the midst of the Norwegian wilderness and close to the mountains, the Sweet Protection crew has been developing helmets, eyewear, protection gear and technical clothing since 2000. The multi-award-winning team of designers, skilled technicians and the amazing team of riders have pushed the envelope of what’s possible with functional equipment.