My First Ever Skinning Experience

[Snowflake2420]

Side note, has anyone mastered the ripping skins with skis on? Any tips?

I've seen people do it, I've attempted it with middling success but ends up being enough work I just take my skis off. I'm certainly lacking in the flexibility department along with small limbs haha.

 

[ScottB]

I learned everything I know about skinning from YouTube and @Analisa. Those are my sources for when I get ready to try it. I am in no hurry at this point.

 

[markojp]

Are you sure about that being bad?
Warm glue is stickier, yes. Pulling warm skins apart(without cheat sheets) might pull (some)glue off the skin, but pulling it off a ski? Especially, even if you put it on in a warm house, by the time you rip the skin, both it and the base will be just as cold as if you had applied them in the parking lot.

Plus, it’s recommend you store the skins somewhere cool, not hot, so I store mine in my shop, which in winter is less than 50F. Even if I apply them in a 68F room, the glue will still be ~50F.

Never had trouble with this either.

 

[Analisa]

@SkiFiore Funny you mention it - I was waiting for some newbies at a women's touring event I was hosting and decided to give it a try since I was getting cold. I think a history of college cheerleading & a side hustle teaching yoga put me at a bit of an advantage.

I think your body has to have a few things: a combination of shoulder flexibility & hip flexibility and balance - not just in a "I can stand on one foot" sort of sense, but the ability to counterbalance each motion (like, when you kick your foot back, the hips/lower torso tip forward). Where do you seem to be getting stuck? Flat spots are key. I also popped out of my ski on my standing foot for the first side to make sure I didn't wreck myself before trying the other side normally.

Some people also cross their foot over in front of their standing leg instead of reaching back behind.

I don't think it saves a crazy amount of time, especially if it's tough to transition your heel piece into ski mode with them on, or if you always store them in your pack instead of popping them in your jacket. As long as you "transition with purpose," most people can get into downhill mode relatively quickly.

 

[jmeb]

@SkiFiore -- I do the rip skin with skis on all the time unless I'm actively taking a sit-down break at the top. Personally I find it a good bit quicker, and just plain more efficient. This is especially true in Colorado where we tend to ski a lot of laps in smaller terrain mid-winter due to avalanche hazards on bigger slopes.

Reasons I like ripping with skins on:
- faster. Means more time for skiing, more time for taking photos/eating/drinking while other partners transition, less time standing on top of the ridge in the wind.
- easier on softer snow. I don't have to stomp down an area so that I can take my ski off without sinking knee or hip deep into snow.
- no worry about ice in toe sockets. Anytime you get snow in your toe sockets, you need to swing your ski back and forth with them in to clear them out to ensure they don't pre-release due to icing. If you never come out of your toe piece from touring, this ain't a thing you have to worry about.
- you look cool. Subjective, and likely negated with the stuff-a-fluff look of skiing with skins in your jacket.

My method:
- Find most level spot possible. Even on a slope its not too bad as long as you can kick in a good level spot for your skis. Not advised for transitions on 30 degree pitches of firm.
- Switch heels into "ski" mode and step in. This is super easy with Vipecs. WIth rotation based heels it requires a kneeling motion and then a quick switch. Unless you have speed turns which you can rotate with your pole tip.
- Pole in one hand, swing leg across in front, grab tail of skin and rip. There are lots of variations on this -- for instance if you have dynafit skins with the attachment at the tip. Or some people shove the tip of the ski into the ground behind them, grab tail, and rip as the pull the ski tip back out of the snow.
- Skin into jacket.
- Repeat on opposite side.
- Boots into ski mode.
- Ski off.

FWIW -- I'm not particularly flexible or agile. I don't do yoga. And I'm notorious for falling over in lift lines and on green runs. I have noticed it easier on skis without a super long tip (my -10cm mounted 186s are noticeably harder than my -8 mounted 181s.) It's also easier with slightly less sticky skins or skins with a "rip strip" in the middle.

 

[Mister Mann]

Side note, has anyone mastered the ripping skins with skis on? Any tips?

I've seen people do it, I've attempted it with middling success but ends up being enough work I just take my skis off. I'm certainly lacking in the flexibility department along with small limbs haha.

I did it the last time I was out (really, my first time skinning up, at a lift-serviced hill). I was able to do it, but felt somewhat awkward. Once I reached the clip on the tail, it was fairly easy after that.

 

[karlo]

What I learned:

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This is, to my relief, what I learned my first time skinning, actually, after my first time skinning, that blister bandages exist and they work.