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An Unknown Snowpack
Big Happenings with STB

How to Make Your Skins Lighter and Faster | Sisters, OR United States | 12/23/08, by powderjunky

Cutting out the center of your skins for lighter, faster backcountry skiing
I have heard of people cutting out the middle of the skin to makes skins a little lighter and glide a little better. Just like a college coed, I was curious. So here is my first attempt. If anyone out there has done this too, we would love your feedback!


Demonstration on how to/how not to, cut the center out of your skins.

First and foremost: this is my first try, and I am not on expert on this. Follow my example at your own peril!� Second: use an old pair of skins to practice.

What You Need:
  • Skins
  • Exacto Knife/Razor blade
  • Marker
  • Ruler

Like a corporation with its employees, you need to determine how much to cut out. I divided the width of my skin by three (without a calculator- my first grade math teacher would be so proud! ) and figured I wanted at least an inch and a quarter remaining on each side. So I took out about an inch wide section from the center. I also didn't want to go beyond a foot from the tail or tip to keep the skin integrity and maintain some adhesiveness to the ski.

With the precision of a lipo-surgeon, I trimmed out the center as shown in the video. Make sure your cuts are precise and deliberate as a stray cut will definitely affect your skinning and possibly your fingers.

Overall it wasn't too bad, and if I had an actual work table, the process would have been a lot smoother. I am still a little skeptical about whether or not this will work in the snow and will write a follow up in a couple days.� Any suggestions, tips, or comments would be greatly appreciated!
An Unknown Snowpack
Big Happenings with STB


That's Our Opinion. What's Yours?

Telemonster wrote on 01/02/09 at 1:11:43 pm pst:

Looking forward to the follow up. Also, did you weigh your trimmings? I'm curious as to how many of those insignificant ounces you were able to save :-)


powderjunky wrote on 01/03/09 at 6:29:45 pm pst:

Here's the follow up:
Glide was definitely better. Uphill wasn't a problem, but could be on icy conditions.

The weight difference is like a fat person ordering a super sized number 1 value meal with a DIET coke, the intentions are there, but too minimal to make a difference. But maybe over a really long tour.

Storing these things is like dealing with a limp octopus. I probably wouldn't do this to any more of my skins, unless I was really bored!



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