Raise your hand if you’ve ever “blown a skin” in a skimo race. Yep, me too. It can be maddening. You’re most of the way up a climb, and all of a sudden, you have no grip. You look back and there’s $150 of colorful mohair flapping off the bottom of your ski like a big F-you from the skimo gods. But you know what? It doesn’t have to be like that. The best racers almost never blow skins. Sure, some of that is skinning technique and flawless kickturns, but MOST of the secret is what we call “Skin Hygiene”, or how you take care of your skins!
Here are 7 tips to keep your skins firmly stuck to the bottom of your skis:
- Make sure they’re the right length. Skins that are too long will fall off because there isn’t enough pressure on the tail of the ski, and every slip just peels the back bit off an inch at a time. Race skins should be cut halfway between the heel piece and the tail of the ski.
- If your skins aren’t even super sticky on a warm day, re-glue them. Sometimes you need a full tip-to-tail re-glue, sometimes you just need a touch-up on the tail. We recommend using the Pomoca skin glue, it’s great.
- Have a warmup pair. The more time a skin spends wet and cold without an overnight warm and dry cycle, the more likely it is to fail. So don’t use your race skins to warm up!
- When you transition, don’t let the skins touch the snow. Two prime ways to muck this up: 1) Having to step back down mid-rip. Ever ripped the front half, set your foot down, and then yanked the second half off? Yep, those skins now probably have a big snowy patch on the glue! 2) Dragging the tail through the snow, either at the end of the rip, or as you’re bringing the skin in front of you to fold it. Keep it high and dry!
- Put the skins INSIDE your jacket or suit, not in your backpack or external pockets. Skins need HEAT in order to recover from the cold, and the best way to get them heated mid-ski is to get them as close to your body as possible. Note: Wear a shirt under your suit, glue will stick to skin and especially chest hair. To quote my favorite 40-year-old-Virgin: “This is not a good look for me!!”
- Alternate skins on EVERY climb. It doesn’t matter if you don’t think they’re about to fail, you need to get skins warm for a whole climb before you use them again.
- If you get a large patch of snow on the bottom of your skin, wipe the snow off BEFORE you put it in your suit or jacket. A little snow on the edges is fine, but a big patch, especially close to the tail is a recipe for disaster.
As I mentioned above, there is some technique involved in keeping your skins from failing, but if you follow the 7 steps above, you should be able to avoid most issues!
What are your tips or tricks to prevent skins from failing? Email us, Info@SummitEnduranceAcademy.com and let us know!
