Climbing skins for the Wasatch

Got a deal on some used Voile Mountain Surfs at the UAC benefit
gear swap. Great powder ski. Also got a deal on some brand new
purple Ascension/BD skins at the same swap. They're almost wide
enough for the Surfs. HOWEVER, they have the same problem that
the purple nylon Ascension skins have always had in the Wasatch,
namely that they don't grip our snow very well. For that reason
I have always preferred the black Ascension mohair skins, since
they have longer softer hairs that work a lot better here.

So today I went into Kirkhams to buy some mohair skins for the
Surfs, and guess what - BD killed that product two years ago!
BD says to look around on the net, maybe I can find something.
According to the gear review at telemarktips.com, there is no
significant difference between the BD and G3 skins. Some
googling turned up mohair/nyoln Coll Tex skins on a UK web site.
There were also some BCA skins that for some reason looked
to me a lot like the BD and G3 skins, but yellow.

I won't bore you with the places I've been in the last week,
but suffice it to say that I'm getting really bummed out
about the low angle of attack I can get up the hill. Does
anybody have a line on a skin that works as well around here
as the old black mohair Ascensions did?

TIA -- Walt

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On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:26:10 -0700, Walt Haas wrote:

yada yada Does anybody have a line on a skin that works as
well around here as the old black mohair Ascensions did?

More googling took me to http://www.life-link.com/skins.htm
These claim to be a mohair blend. Has anybody tried them in
comparison to the BD and G3 nylon skins?

TIA -- Walt
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Walt Haas wrote:
I won't bore you with the places I've been in the last week,
but suffice it to say that I'm getting really bummed out
about the low angle of attack I can get up the hill. Does
anybody have a line on a skin that works as well around here
as the old black mohair Ascensions did?

Wow Walt..long time no see. Don't have much to offer in mohair skins,
but if you're patching out with the nylon Ascensions, you need to
chill out a little. ; You're not waxing them a bunch or spraying them
with something are you? I noticed very little difference between the
mohair and nylon except in glide and lifetime, but I may not skin as
steep as you do.

Send me an email and let's head up sometime. I'm pretty much restricted
to upper BCC. You can break trail.

-klaus

On Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:26:10 -0700, Walt Haas wrote:

Got a deal on some used Voile Mountain Surfs at the UAC benefit gear swap.
Great powder ski. Also got a deal on some brand new purple Ascension/BD
skins at the same swap. They're almost wide enough for the Surfs.
HOWEVER, they have the same problem that the purple nylon Ascension skins
have always had in the Wasatch, namely that they don't grip our snow very
well.

Charlie Butler at Wasatch Touring talked me into the belief that
the only problem was that my new purple nylon Ascensions didn't
cover the bottom of the ski completely. So Charlie lightened
my wallet about $150 for bigger skins. I wrestled with the
cutting and trimming last night and made a couple laps on
Bill's Hill this morning. Charlie was right, they climb a
lot better than the others - which however only cost me $30.
I'm now debating whether I enjoy the improvement $110 worth.

Those Surfs are incredible in 5% powder!

-- Walt
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It's worth it. You can't be a gear who** without paying for more than a
massage! g