School me on Skins

[ScottB]

I finally got my new Contour 100% Mohair skins cut for my 108mm Zero G touring skis. I bought these as a better gliding alternative to my BD Glidelight Mix skins (140mm size). The BD's are black and grey, the Contor's orange. I cut the contors, and SKIMo cut the BD's for me. I trimmed the BD's at the tip end and they came out a little ragged, will try again with the contour cutting tool that works quite well. I will be testing them very soon, one on each ski to see what I can feel as a difference. I will say after waxing and breaking in the BD's I am liking them more and more because of their excellent grip. Will wax the contors and give them a try.

Contour - Hybrid Pure Universal 115 mm, 100% mohair

 

[Slim]

One tip I picked up from Wildsnow, is wiping your cutting tool with soapy water. Really helps prevent it from gumming up with glue and hair, and helps keep a clean cut.
Works great for scissors to (if using to trim to length)

I then use an electric soldering iron or similar to sear the edges, to help prevent backing threads from unraveling.

 

[Noodler]

One tip I picked up from Wildsnow, is wiping your cutting tool with soapy water. Really helps prevent it from gumming up with glue and hair, and helps keep a clean cut.
Works great for scissors to (if using to trim to length)

I then use an electric soldering iron or similar to sear the edges, to help prevent backing threads from unraveling.

Well I had my first foray into cutting skins with the Pomoca Climb Pro S-Glide skins. I wish I would have remembered some of these tips (like the soapy water) when I did the job. They came out OK, but on the first one I did end up getting some of the "fuzz" from the cutting job onto the skin glue. I forgot about the tip to use the skin scraps to "de-fuzz" the cut edge and prevent that from happening.

The other challenge is that buying a skin width that is quite close to the width of the ski actually worked against me. There was so little overlap of the skin that it made it difficult for the skin cutting tool to get a good hold of the skin well while cutting. The soapy water may have helped here, but oh well. Lesson learned for the next time...

I think I'm going to try my first inbounds tour on Sunday. Wish me luck!

 

[Ken_R]

Well I had my first foray into cutting skins with the Pomoca Climb Pro S-Glide skins. I wish I would have remembered some of these tips (like the soapy water) when I did the job. They came out OK, but on the first one I did end up getting some of the "fuzz" from the cutting job onto the skin glue. I forgot about the tip to use the skin scraps to "de-fuzz" the cut edge and prevent that from happening.

The other challenge is that buying a skin width that is quite close to the width of the ski actually worked against me. There was so little overlap of the skin that it made it difficult for the skin cutting tool to get a good hold of the skin well while cutting. The soapy water may have helped here, but oh well. Lesson learned for the next time...

I think I'm going to try my first inbounds tour on Sunday. Wish me luck!

Go to LL for that, its much nicer. At Abasin the initial pitch is just brutal.

 

[Noodler]

Go to LL for that, its much nicer. At Abasin the initial pitch is just brutal.

Reading the A-Basin uphill policy, I thought you were only relegated to sticking to the left side of High Noon during operating hours. Are you not allowed to cut across the slope at an easier angle during the non-operating hours?

 

[Ken_R]

Reading the A-Basin uphill policy, I thought you were only relegated to sticking to the left side of High Noon during operating hours. Are you not allowed to cut across the slope at an easier angle during the non-operating hours?

Not really, one is suppose to stay close to the trees. There is not a skintrack per se since its all groomed but the pitch is steep so its hard to get stuff dialed mid climb. At LL its all pretty mellow so its easier to stop and adjust things if needed. A-Basin gets mellow as you approach BML and also past it on the way to the summit.

 

[pais alto]

Get out on your skins at the local hill for the full moon. Thank me later.

 

[Slim]

@pais alto we had a super bright moon here last night, I should hav3 done that!

 

[ScottB]

just curious, when skinning a tight twisty trail with short downs mixed into the up, what do you do? I almost retightened my top strap and clicked out of walk mode for the down. It turned around trees half way down. I decided to side step down until I could straight shot bomb the rest. It was about 50 feet long and went right back up afterwards. The drag from the skins makes the down more tricky, although it does keep your speed in check.

 

[Slim]

just curious, when skinning a tight twisty trail with short downs mixed into the up, what do you do? I almost retightened my top strap and clicked out of walk mode for the down. It turned around trees half way down. I decided to side step down until I could straight shot bomb the rest. It was about 50 feet long and went right back up afterwards. The drag from the skins makes the down more tricky, although it does keep your speed in check.

Personally, I snowplow, hockey stop, grab trees or do whatever else needed to control speed before a tight turn.
Between the skins and the walk mode, I don't trust my turning skills at even moderate speed (and on packed trails, I pick up plenty of speed, even with skins on).

What you say: sidestep, then straight line, sounds great, I would do that if possible,

But, I am neither skilled nor brave, so hardly the best person to listen too, haha!

 

[pais alto]

@pais alto we had a super bright moon here last night, I should hav3 done that!

It’ll be bright tonite too.

@ScottB, I either avoid trails like that ( ) or take it like a man and try to enjoy the sufferfest. Whatever it takes to get by.

 

[Mothertucker]

Tonight should be a simultaneous moonrise/sunset, with a full moon. Looking East on March 11, 2017.

@ScottB, just keep a tight grip on your poles. In the scenario you described, I did not and one pole basket caught and pulled from my hand, leaving the pole standing defiantly at the top of the downslope. Not efficient.

 

[ScottB]

I finished cutting my new skins, Contour - Hybrid Pure Universal 115 mm, 100% mohair, and decided to give them a quick try this past Sunday at Loon Mtn in NH. The snow was slightly warm (40F) packed powder, groomed but pretty fresh. I skied down a green trail a ways and then skinned back up to the top. Wanted to see if the 100% mohair had better glide than my Black Diamond Mohair/nylon mix skin. I put one skin on each ski, the Contour is the orange one. The BD's are 2 years old, have been waxed and sprayed with silicon (which may not be a good thing to do). The Contours were brand new, but I did rub some liquid wax on them before use.

Basically I could not tell the difference between them, they felt the same to me. That surprised me, but I do think skins have to break in and the Contours were "virgin". Both had equal grip as well. Neither were gliding well, I think the snow type makes a difference on glide. Both were able to slide with minimal force once I unweighted them and slid the ski along the snow surface. I tried going down hill just a bit at one spot, and neither wanted to slide much at all. Again a tie.

I assume the glide will get better on the 100% mohair skin, time will tell, and if the grip stays the same then I will say the Contour is the preferred skin. I have some liquid skin was coming, so maybe that will make a difference. For now, both skins work reasonably well and maybe I will see more of a difference in different snow conditions. The mohair mix skin did glide a lot better in colder, dryer. looser snow a couple of weekends ago.

 

[Noodler]

Can't find a definitive answer for this question: should brand new skins be waxed before first use? The Pomoca skins supposedly have a special treatment to enhance their glide and prevent snow globbing. I was planning on not touching them until I started to notice a problem. I'm heading out Tuesday morning for my first lap(s).

 

[ScottB]

Same as skis, wax em if you want them to glide well. No reason not to wax them. As far as I know it does not reduce the grip. I didn't know about waxing them till my second season, and the grip did not change after waxing, but the glide sure improved.

 

[Yo Momma]

The Nordic companies now make lots of "Skincare" products for XC as well as BC.... Lotion anyone????

EASY SKIN CARE HF REFILL

With Easy Skin Care, icing is a thing of the past for skin skis and touring ski skins. The fluorinated liquid wax reduces icing of the skin in changing conditions between moist and dry snow. Without fatty hydrocarbon solvents. This means...

www.fischersports.com

EASY SKIN CARE COLD NF

The Easy Skin Care Cold NF is a non-fluorinated liquid wax developed specifically formulated for skin skis and touring skins to reduce icing in changing conditions. Suitable in cold snow conditions with air temperatures from 4° to 23°F...

www.fischersports.com

EASY SKIN CARE COLD HF

The Easy Skin Care Cold HF is a high fluorinated liquid wax specifically formulated for skin skis and touring skins to reduce icing in changing conditions. Suitable in cold snow conditions with air temperatures from 4° to 23°F (-20° to...

www.fischersports.com

 

[Primoz]

Can't find a definitive answer for this question: should brand new skins be waxed before first use? The Pomoca skins supposedly have a special treatment to enhance their glide and prevent snow globbing. I was planning on not touching them until I started to notice a problem. I'm heading out Tuesday morning for my first lap(s).

I never bother. Out of box they glide well and never have issues with sticking snow. At least all Pomoco skins I have ever been using. After a while you can see there's slightly less glide and you start to pick snow on certain conditions. Then it's time to wax.

 

[Noodler]

I never bother. Out of box they glide well and never have issues with sticking snow. At least all Pomoco skins I have ever been using. After a while you can see there's slightly less glide and you start to pick snow on certain conditions. Then it's time to wax.

Thanks for the advice. I toured today without waxing the new Pomocas. I was expecting to have more glide from them. They gripped incredibly well; never slipped even once and had to deal with some fairly steep ascents. I think I'm going to wax them before my next uphill on Friday; all in the name of science just to see if I notice a significant difference. After all, I'm the consummate ski gear tester...

 

[Noodler]

So I really struggled with folding the skins today (especially in the wind at the top). What's the secret? I've watched multiple videos, practiced in my house, but I really sucked at dealing with folding the skins. I just couldn't get them to align well and they kept going glue-on-glue all crooked.

 

[pais alto]

So I really struggled with folding the skins today (especially in the wind at the top). What's the secret? I've watched multiple videos, practiced in my house, but I really sucked at dealing with folding the skins. I just couldn't get them to align well and they kept going glue-on-glue all crooked.

I do it like this video. In the wind, I don’t worry too much about a perfect glue-on-glue match. If it’s close I just stuff them in my pack and re-do it to match better when I’m down out of the wind.