It has been a year since my first tour with the current version of Ascension climbing skins. The last pair of nylon skins from BD sported the tire tread pattern, Glidelite brand name, and lasted 5+ years before the glue went bad (serendipitously just one week after a rave review ) You can tell [...]
Archive for the ‘Climbing Skins’ Category
Review: Skin Glue Confessions
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Over the past three years I’ve had the opportunity to use two versions of BD Ascensions (Nylon), G3′s Alpinist (nylon), BCA’s Magic Carpet skins (nylon), GlideLite (nylon), Gecko (mohair), Clip-Skins (synthetic), Colltex (65/35 nylon/mohair), Pomoca (nylon), K2 (nylon), and La Sportiva (nylon). All were new within the last 3 years. Plus I’ve mixed in old [...]
TR: In-bounds, untracked at Sugar Bowl
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What are the results from the season opener? Fresh tracks, two face shots, a serendipitous meeting with friends, revelations with G3′s Onyx, some sweet tele turns with an attack of the nuns using the NTN Freedom binding, no trouble but an unexpected symptom with Ascension glue, the usual frosting with G3 Alpinists skins, and [...]
Review: Spark R&D resurrects Verts™
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So it was a revolutionary moment when Paul Ramer sent me a pair of his Assault Snowshoes – an oval shaped platter of stamped aluminum with cookie cutter edges. As usual I thought it was a kooky idea, but as with his Ramer Classic alpine touring bindings, their beauty was only visible after experiencing their performance.
First Look: Gecko Climbing Skins
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To the touch they appear mildly sticky, maybe half as sticky as “normal” glue, but when stuck to the base of your skis, especially when weighted, they hold as well as any other skin glue. The Gecko folks say it is a pressure sensitive adhesive so when you’re skinning, they hold tight and keep snow from creeping under.
Review: G3 Alpinist Climbing Skins
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You have to be pretty particular, or simply have skis that are too thick at the tip to not like G3′s Alpinist Climbing Skins out of the box. The tip and tail kit are impressive, as is their welded attachment to the skin itself. And then there is the reduced thread count, laid-back weave of [...]
Posted in Climbing Skins, Dostie, Craig, G3 
Tags: cammed tail hook, welded tail, welded tip 
6 Comments »Review: BCA Magic Carpet Climbing Skins
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After several years of simply hanging in there and offering the lowest priced climbing skin in the American market, BCA’s climbing skins were upgraded last season. They wouldn’t disclose who their new source was, but I can assure you that out of the box the new Magic Carpets are indeed an upgrade. How good of [...]
Review: Clip-Skins (look Ma’, no glue!)
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It is now year two for Clip Skins, the climbing skin that you can attach to your ski without glue. No glue to go bad over time, or get contaminated if you drop them in the dirt, or the need for Herculean strength to pull them apart after storing glue-to-glue, or the hassle of trying [...]
Posted in Climbing Skins, Clip Skins, Dostie, Craig Tags: glide, glueless, neanderthal, skinning 10 Comments »Review: Colltex Climbing Skins – 65/35 mixed
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First Impressions – April 2011 What struck me first was the deep blue hue. For 2011, that’s the color of Colltex’ 65/35 Mohair/Nylon mixed plush. More than that though it was nice to see a simple, solid-colored plush that wasn’t too bold, yet was distinctive. The next thing I was relieved to notice was that [...]
Review: Black Diamond’s Glidelite Skins
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After four years of comparing various climbing skins side by side it was time to settle on my fave pair. The choice was easy. Black Diamond’s Glidelite nylon climbing skins had excellent grip, decent glide, weren’t immune to icing but were less prone to it than G3’s Expedition skins, Colltex’ nylon skins, and especially Low-Fat [...]
