Climbing Skins for Twin Tips

I had a great time skinning in the Jay Peak BC last week.



I've done some skinning in the past, in Colorado, and in the Adirondacks, but it's been too long. I really like the uphill.

The skins I've got are straight and narrow and won't work on the Pilgrims:



I'm thinking I'd like to own a pair that works.

The skins I used at Jay were riverc0il's (thank you!) and worked well, but they weren't designed for Twin Tips.

The tails actually held on fine, but the tips of the Pilgrims are so ROUNDED that the loop wasn't big enough for a secure hold.

A few thoughts:

- The issue is not so much that your skis are twin tips, more that you have a fat tip. Better than a fat lip, I suppose.

- The skins above do not address your tip issue, rather they solve a lesser issue at the tail that can also be cured with a Dremel tool or by getting skins without a tail clip (eg. Black Diamond STD models). Serious skinners will argue that the tail clip-less skins are less secure but for the short hikes I do, they work fine.

- Check out the skin section (???) at the Black Diamond web site. Lots of good info there and their customer service people are top-notch. The tip loop on BD skins is adjustable, so perhaps a BD loop can be made wide enough to fit your skis.

- I have the BD "Glidelite Mohair Mix STD" and they seem to work fine on my twin tip Sick Birds.

- Try contacting Icelantic. They make the skis, maybe they'll have a suggestion.

And remember, pet hair is the new enemy.

I should have noted this backchannel... the skins I let you borrow are my "skinny ski" pair. My normal skins (trimmed to 94 underfoot) have a much wider tip attachment (wider by about 1" I would estimate). That might have helped keep them more secure. If I had a twin though, I might go with the G3 tip attachment. Having skinned on both, I prefer the BD for easy skin removal and tail clip preference. But the G3 is still a fine skin. Just preference really. And there is always CSD for the cheap option but I have no experience with them.

My friend John has gotten his skins from CSD for the last two wide pairs of skis and is very happy with them. I'm still using an old skinny pair of G3 skins that I split length wise this year to better work with my Verdicts. Splitting the skins worked OK, but not great. I will be picking up some new ones before next season. As far as the tip loop's, they can be made very easily out of coat hangers and duct tape. Make them the size you need and fold the skin through them and back on itself.

The G3 tail connection system worked fine for the Verdict's upturned tail.

Wanted to keep this here so I know where to find it:

Harv- Get the G3 trimmer no matter what skin you get. Heck of a lot easier and accurate than the "slide the skin over" methodology. Take a look at WildSnow's timely post on the topic from today.