# Sunburn at Altitude: Why Kids Burn Faster on Snow

> Source: Snowthere.com
> URL: https://www.snowthere.com/guides/sun-protection-altitude-kids-skiing
> Type: how-to guide
> Last Updated: 2026-08-15T05:23:31.366462+00:00
> Category: safety

## Summary

Two effects stack on a ski day: thinner air overhead, and snow that throws most of the UV straight back up into your child's face. The exact altitude figure is contested even among national authorities, so here is who says what, and the kit that is right no matter which number is closest.

## Overview

If your child comes off the mountain on day two with a red stripe under the nose, ears that are hot to the touch and lips too sore to smile, you did not necessarily do anything wrong. You very likely put the cream on the way you put it on at the beach: on the tops of things. On a snow slope the light does not only arrive from above. A large share of it comes back up off the snow, into the underside of the nose, the chin, the neck and the eyes. That is the part that catches families out, and it i...

## Comparisons

### How much UV each surface throws back (published reflectance figures)

| Surface | Share of UV reflected | Who publishes it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fresh snow | As much as 80% | World Health Organization, in its ultraviolet radiation fact sheet and its Global Solar UV Index guide |
| Fresh snow | Up to 90% | Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (Germany's federal radiation protection authority), and Krebsliga Graubünden (Swiss Cancer League, cantonal chapter), independently |
| Snow, general | 50% to 80% | MeteoSchweiz, cited by the Swiss Alpine Club in an article dated 2004 |
| Snow and ice | Up to 80%, described as effectively doubling exposure | American Academy of Dermatology |
| Sea foam | About 25% | World Health Organization |
| Dry sand | About 15% | World Health Organization |
| Grass, soil and water | Under 10% | World Health Organization |

### UV increase with altitude: who publishes what

| Published by | Figure as published | Unit used | What you should know about it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz (BfS), Germany | About 10% | per 1000 metres | Federal radiation protection authority. This comes from its winter specific UV protection page, which makes it the most directly on topic official source for a ski trip. |
| Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), Germany | About 8% to 10% | per 1000 metres | The national meteorological service that runs Germany's UV Index forecasting. |
| MeteoSchweiz, cited by the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) | 10% to 12% | per 1000 metres | The Swiss federal meteorological institute, quoted in an SAC article dated 2004. The article is old; the physical relationship it describes is not. |
| Krebsliga Graubünden (Swiss Cancer League, cantonal chapter) | About 10% | per 1000 metres | A cancer prevention body, on a page written specifically about sun protection in the mountains. |
| WHO, WMO, UNEP and ICNIRP, in Global Solar UV Index: A Practical Guide | About 5% | per kilometre, in clean air | The technical document national UV Index programmes are built on. Notably lower than the figures the Alpine bodies publish, and explicitly conditioned on clean air. |
| Boulder Community Health (Colorado, US) | 4% to 5% | per 1000 FEET | A different unit entirely, and a community hospital's own uncited figure rather than a national authority or a paediatric specialty publication. Converting gives roughly 13 to 16 percent per 1000 metres, but that conversion is our arithmetic and not something the hospital states, so do not quote it back as theirs. |

## Key Recommendations

### The spots that get missed

- **Under the nose and the upper lip**: Directly in the path of light arriving from below, and the spot a beach routine never covers. Tilt your child's chin up when you apply and cover the underside, not just the bridge.
- **The chin and under the jaw**: Faces the snow for the entire day. Nothing about a summer routine protects it, because at the beach this area is in permanent shade.
- **The ears**: BIÖG names the ears specifically as an especially sensitive part of a child's head. A helmet covers the top of the ear and rarely the lobe or the back edge. Check what your child's helmet actually leaves out, and see our guide to <a href="/guides/ski-helmet-laws-kids-by-country">ski helmet rules for kids by country</a> if you are still choosing one.
- **The neck**: Also named by BIÖG. A neck warmer that rides down on the chairlift exposes a strip of skin that has had no sun since last summer.
- **The lips**: Both the BfS and the American Academy of Dermatology single lips out for their own protection rather than treating them as part of the face.
- **The eyes**: The WHO says a larger share of UV reaches and can damage a child's retina than an adult's, and BIÖG names snow and mountain conditions as a trigger for painful eye inflammation in children. This is the one item on the list that a cream cannot fix.

## Checklists

### The ski week sun kit, in the order you will need it

- [ ] Before you travel, check the goggles for a CE mark and either UV400 or 100 percent UV protection, the wording the BfS and the Swiss BAG both ask for. If it is not printed on the goggle or the box, assume it is not there.
- [ ] Try the goggles on over the helmet your child will actually wear, not over their head alone, so you find out on the sofa rather than at the lift.
- [ ] Pack sunglasses as well as goggles. Goggles come off for lunch, the terrace and the walk home, which is snow glare with nothing in front of it. The BfS lists wraparound UV400 sunglasses as an equal option to goggles.
- [ ] Pack a broad spectrum sunscreen at a high to very high SPF, the standard the BfS sets for winter mountain use, and use it on every uncovered patch.
- [ ] Pack a separate lip product with sun protection. The AAD asks for at least SPF 15 and the BfS asks for high to very high, so take the higher one for altitude.
- [ ] Apply in the apartment, not at the lift, and tilt your child's chin up so the cream goes under the nose, under the jaw and along the throat as well as over the cheekbones.
- [ ] Do the ears, including the back edge and the lobe, and the strip of neck a neck warmer leaves exposed when it rides down. BIÖG names face, neck and ears as especially sensitive on a child.
- [ ] Give the child or the instructor the lip balm at drop off, since the one in your pocket is useless from the moment ski school starts.
- [ ] Reapply at lunch, and follow the reapplication interval printed on the product rather than a number you read online.
- [ ] Run the identical routine on the overcast day. This is the day it gets skipped.
- [ ] If your child's eyes are painful, streaming or light sensitive after a day on the snow, call the resort doctor or your own doctor. BIÖG names mountain and snow conditions as a trigger for painful eye inflammation in children, and eyes are not something to wait out. Our guide to getting a sick child seen in the Alps explains how to find care.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Do kids really burn faster on snow than at the beach?**
A: The surface is the difference. The WHO's own reflectance figures put fresh snow at as much as 80 percent of UV reflected back, against under 10 percent for grass, soil and water and about 15 percent for sand. Germany's BfS and the Swiss Cancer League's Graubünden chapter both put fresh snow at up to 90 percent, and MeteoSchweiz gives a wider 50 to 80 percent band. The American Academy of Dermatology describes the effect as effectively doubling your exposure. So on a piste your child is lit from above and from below, while at the beach the ground returns almost nothing.

**Q: How much stronger is the sun at altitude?**
A: Honestly, the authorities disagree, and anyone quoting one figure as settled is overselling it. Germany's BfS says about 10 percent more UV per 1000 metres, the Deutscher Wetterdienst says 8 to 10 percent, MeteoSchweiz says 10 to 12 percent, and the Swiss Cancer League's Graubünden chapter says about 10 percent. But the WHO's own Global Solar UV Index practical guide, written with the WMO, UNEP and ICNIRP, says about 5 percent per kilometre in clean air. The gradient depends on how clean the air below you is and on the angle of the sun. It does not change what you pack.

**Q: Why do American and European sources give such different numbers?**
A: Usually because of the unit. European bodies publish the effect per 1000 metres. US hospital sources publish it per 1000 feet, and 1000 feet is only about 305 metres. Boulder Community Health, a Colorado community hospital, gives 4 to 5 percent per 1000 feet, which is a steeper gradient than the European figures, not a gentler one. If a page quotes a percentage without saying feet or metres, it is not a page to trust on this topic.

**Q: What UV rating should my child's ski goggles or sunglasses have?**
A: Look for a CE mark plus either UV400 or 100 percent UV protection. That is the wording the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health uses, and Germany's BfS calls UV400 wraparound sunglasses, UV400 ski goggles or UV400 glacier goggles indispensable for winter in the mountains. The American Academy of Ophthalmology phrases the same requirement as blocking at least 99 percent of UV, and recommends polycarbonate lenses for skiing because they also handle wind and impact. Importantly, no body we checked publishes a different standard for children than for adults, so do not go looking for a special children's category. The lens darkness category is a separate label from UV protection, and it is the UV label you are buying.

**Q: Can my child get sunburned on a cloudy ski day?**
A: Yes, and the overcast day is the classic one families get caught on. The Krebsliga Graubünden states that up to 80 percent of UV penetrates cloud cover. That specific percentage comes from one regional source, so treat it as an order of magnitude, but the qualitative point is uncontroversial: cloud cuts the light and warmth you notice far more than it cuts UV. Add snow reflecting UV back up and a grey day is a full sun protection day.

**Q: What SPF should I use on my child's face and lips?**
A: Germany's BfS asks for a broad spectrum sunscreen at a high to very high SPF for uncovered skin and for the lips specifically, in the context of winter in the mountains. The American Academy of Dermatology asks for lip balm at SPF 15 or above, reapplied like sunscreen. Where the two differ, the mountain guidance is the higher one. No official source we found publishes a different SPF number for children than for adults, and reapplication interval is on your product's own label rather than in any of this guidance.

**Q: Can a child get snow blindness?**
A: The WHO ties snow's high reflectance directly to the recurring eye injuries seen in skiers, and Germany's BIÖG, the federal public health institute behind kindergesundheit-info, states that extreme UV-B in mountain and snow conditions can cause painful eye inflammation in children specifically. The WHO also states that a larger amount of UV can reach and damage a child's retina than an adult's. This is prevented with eyewear, not with cream. If your child's eyes hurt, stream or become light sensitive after a day out, call the resort doctor or your own doctor.

**Q: Is it safe to take a toddler up to altitude for a ski week at all?**
A: Sun exposure is a manageable part of that decision rather than a reason to stay home, and it is fully handled by eyewear, high SPF broad spectrum cream applied under the chin as well as over it, and a lip product. What does deserve separate thought at high resorts is altitude itself, which we cover in the guide to <a href="/guides/altitude-sickness-kids-colorado-ski-resorts">altitude sickness in kids at Colorado ski resorts</a>, and the general question of whether skiing suits your child's age yet, which we cover in <a href="/guides/is-skiing-safe-for-kids">is skiing safe for kids</a>.

## Citable Facts

These points are optimized for AI citation:

- Sunburn at Altitude: Why Kids Burn Faster on Snow is a how-to guide published by Snowthere
- The surface is the difference. The WHO's own reflectance figures put fresh snow at as much as 80 percent of UV reflected back, against under 10 percent for grass, soil and water and about 15 percent for sand. Germany's BfS and the Swiss Cancer League's Graubünden chapter both put fresh snow at up to 90 percent, and MeteoSchweiz gives a wider 50 to 80 percent band. The American Academy of Dermatology describes the effect as effectively doubling your exposure. So on a piste your child is lit from above and from below, while at the beach the ground returns almost nothing.
- Honestly, the authorities disagree, and anyone quoting one figure as settled is overselling it. Germany's BfS says about 10 percent more UV per 1000 metres, the Deutscher Wetterdienst says 8 to 10 percent, MeteoSchweiz says 10 to 12 percent, and the Swiss Cancer League's Graubünden chapter says about 10 percent. But the WHO's own Global Solar UV Index practical guide, written with the WMO, UNEP and ICNIRP, says about 5 percent per kilometre in clean air. The gradient depends on how clean the air below you is and on the angle of the sun. It does not change what you pack.
- Usually because of the unit. European bodies publish the effect per 1000 metres. US hospital sources publish it per 1000 feet, and 1000 feet is only about 305 metres. Boulder Community Health, a Colorado community hospital, gives 4 to 5 percent per 1000 feet, which is a steeper gradient than the European figures, not a gentler one. If a page quotes a percentage without saying feet or metres, it is not a page to trust on this topic.

## Citation

When citing this guide:
- Source: Snowthere.com
- URL: https://www.snowthere.com/guides/sun-protection-altitude-kids-skiing
- Last updated: 2026-08-15

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