Lightest BC ski skins

I dunno about light but I like my G3 skins and I believe Black Diamond now makes a "light(er)" pair of skins. Actually "light skins" seems to me to be an oxymoron but then everything is relative. They are a PITA but a necessary evil. Be sure to buy glue and some anti-icing spray. You will need them. 'Nuf sed.

Also I'd recommend trimming your skins to eactly the shape of your skis for max traction. That means buying skins almost as wide as your ski shovels, as a reference point.

BTW, Save your skin's backing material so you can put it on them and then wrap them around your waist (Yep!) to keep them warm and ready to easily put on your skis. Cold skins are hell to put on. And skins stuck back-to-back are not fun to separate. The little extra weight of the skins' shipping backing is well worth it, come time to apply them.

Eric

I think Dynafit skins are the lightest available, as full skins go. Not sure they're available in any form but cut to fit Dynafit skis.

I prefer full-on BD Ascensions. Heavy and bulky, but tough and really good traction.

You should check out this company:

https://www.climbingskinsdirect.com/

You might want to ask these skiers:

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=61051&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

jarlybart operates a BC skiing shop in Oregon, he posts an email and is extremely helpful.

Might want to check this thread as well:

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=58828&start=0

I have had great results in the PNW with Ascension's old mohair skins, so I lean toward BD, but I will be checking out climbingskinsdirect now that I need new skins.

> They are a PITA but a necessary evil.
For touring, I prefer waxless – ie fishscales. Soooo much easier, for touring.

Cheers

You might try "kickers" which are basically half length skins (you could always reduce the size of your skins, but kickers are designed to cover only half the ski, so they attach from the middle). I own a pair of Black Diamond kickers. I also have waxless skis. Sometimes, the fish scales aren't enough, though.

Not to steal this thread, but years ago I ran across a very interesting invention. It consisted of metal rods, similar to ski brakes. They attached to the top of the ski, just above the binding. They had a hinge on them and a metal rod connected to one of the hinge pieces. With the hinge open (flat against the ski) the rod stuck up in the air. When you closed the hinge, the rod stuck into the snow (obviously, the rod was off the side of the ski). I may not be doing a great job describing it, but hopefully you get the idea. Basically, they were much easier to use than skins (simply close the latch). The rod was angled, so that you could slide backwards, but not forwards. This seemed like a great idea — I've looked for it recently, but haven't found it. This might be something for you tinkerers to explore.