The Petzl Meteor 2019 helmet is for climbing, mountaineering and ski touring. It is lightweight and low profile, with great ventilation. The Meteor is the first CE-certified ski touring helmet and has integration points for ski goggles or visors.
The design provides reinforced protection to the top and all around the head.
Features include:
- Weight: 240 g
- Low-profile design achieved using In-Mold construction with an expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam liner injected inside a lightweight polycarbonate shell
- Large vents for boosted air flow
- Sleek look
- All-round head protection
- Front of helmet is specifically designed for integration of ski goggles
- Rear elastic band is compatible with ski goggle headbands
- Semi-rigid headband can be adjusted easily, even with gloves on
- Two clips in front with a rear elastic band for securing a headlamp to the helmet
- Compatible with VIZION and SKREEN eye shields
- Small/medium and medium/large sizes
- Three colourways: Grey, violet and orange.
- 3 year guarantee
- Price £75
- See Petzl for stockists.
NOTE: This helmet does not meet the requirements of the EN 1077 standard for alpine skiing helmets.
On test: Petzl Meteor 2019 helmet
I made good use of the Petzl Meteor 2019 helmet while on a ski touring trip in Norway. When you are ski touring for long days it makes sense to have lightweight kit. The lighter the pack, the easier it is to ascend and ski downhill.
However, I don’t like to scrimp on safety, so while I want a lightweight pack I am also aware that I need the various bits and pieces of essential kit for ski touring.
Petzl sell some great safety products that are robust yet lightweight. These include the Meteor helmet, Ride ice axe and Leopard boot crampons.
The Petzl Meteor 2019 is brilliantly lightweight yet also scores well on head safety. I was delighted to read that this version of the Petzl Meteor helmet has “enhanced protection” with both top and side protection.
Petzl realise that impacts can affect the front, rear and side of the head as well as the top, so they have improved the level of protection that the Meteor helmet provides.
It is a unisex helmet and I found the size S/M was a good fit. There is a good amount of adjustment to allow for different head sizes and also I sometimes wore a buff underneath and sometimes didn’t.
Picking up the helmet for the first time I found it surprisingly lightweight. I worried it would not offer enough protection if I fell while ski touring but it comes with a CE certification, which means it has had to pass various rigorous tests for safety.
When skinning uphill I do not always wear a helmet so on these occasions I clipped it on to the back of my Salomon X Alp 30 rucksack. I could not tell if it was attached or not when carrying the pack because it’s so light.
When I did choose to wear it, perhaps because I was aware of potential avalanche dangers (although we mostly steered clear), I found the helmet had a lot of air flow. In fact, ventilation is amazing. I took my in-resort POC ski helmet with me on holiday as well and I found it to be far too warm for skinning up.
Wearing the Petzl Meteor helmet was also wonderful when skiing downhill. It felt so lightweight that I was not aware I was wearing a helmet yet it made me feel safe.
My ski goggles fit neatly into the design shape of the helmet. A useful elastic clip at the back helped to keep the strap in place. Without this, the goggle strap might ride up the smooth outside of the helmet’s surface.
There is also an option of adding a visor for shielding/protecting the eyes. This can be bought from Petzl.
I found the Petzl Meteor chin strap easy to clip and unclip – and adjustment is very straightforward. I managed this with my thin insulated gloves still on.
I have a pony tail and I found I could pop it through the plastic and web strapping at the back of the helmet for the best comfort.
The look of the helmet is good in someways, although a little geeky in others!
It’s a nice design (I have the white and violet colourway) for a climbing style helmet. Although, I confess I do prefer the look of my POC helmet in terms of trendiness. The POC is a lot heavier though so I’ll take the geekier look for the weight savings.
The helmet is versatile, too, because it can be used for climbing and mountaineering, too.
I think that £75 for an advanced, CE-certified helmet that can be used for a couple of different sports is pretty good value.