"dan" wrote in message
...
Yes, certainly- I was picturing an outing with the intention of gaining
altitude, in order to snowboard back down. But don't misunderstand- I
don't snowboard, so it isn't a situation I ever find myself in. I'm
certainly not about to snowshoe up, in order to swap gear and ski down!

-s-
But if you ski up, you still need to remove the skins, so do you have
someone else do it or take off your skis?

As other people have mentioned, with practice, you can remove skins without
taking off your skis (putting them on is a bit harder). In rolling terrain,
I will usually descend small slopes with the skins still on, sometimes
without even locking down my heels. Definetely covering the distance faster
on skis than on snowshoes. But thats all besides the point; whether you
stop to remove skins or not, you still aren't carrying a whole different set
of equipment on your back.

-s-