It is a perfect blue bird day, four inches of fresh blower powder on the ground, no other cars at the parking area and you are with a couple friends you have always wanted to ski with. Just awesome, boots on, packs on, dogs excited, climbing skins on, off you go headed for the top of the peak dreaming of some phenomenal turns! But, yes the great but. Suddenly you realize the skins are sliding off to the side of your ski base, they are no longer sticking…nightmare! This can’t be happening today, well the dream of those turns has just come to a disappointing end, time to go back to the car, ugh.
Back at home the realization sets in, first that there were signs this day was coming; skins not quite sticking like they used to, peeling off super easily at the top of a climb and then leaving little bits of glue on the ski base so the skis are grabby making it really tough to ski down. The frantic search for new skins starts immediately only to realize wow, skins are not cheap! And hopefully I can find the size I need nearby…because it is always best to shop locally.
Well there is actually a better alternative, much less expensive and way better than throwing away a nice pair of climbing skins. You can touch up or completely reglue your existing skins. This can be a messy and somewhat toxic job but if you are cautious it is worth the effort. Some shops will do it for you, we used to at the shop but have stopped doing this operation for that reason, one or two, no big deal, dozens…maybe not so good. So now we sell the glue and you can DIY.
So here it is. You will need a surface to work on, the ski upside down is good, some clamps to hold the skins in place, an iron or heat gun, a metal scraper, some newspaper and the new glue.
Flip the ski over on the bench, put the skin on it glue side up, clamp tip and tail down taught. If you just have spots on the skins missing glue it is very easy to add some glue to those open areas if you have the glue in a tube such as Black Diamond Gold Label, (very good product). Spread a little around following their instructions, working in a well ventilated area!
If you are doing a full reglue removing the old glue is the first step. Heat up your iron to medium heat, if this is your hot wax iron use that waxing temperature. Next I like to lay a sheet of newspaper or better yet magazine pages, they are a little thicker and stronger, on the glue surface. Then start at one end with the iron on the paper moving back and forth in small sections heating the glue. Ventilation, unless you like to huff glue! Then begin to lift the paper at the edge of the iron moving it along and lifting paper. The paper will remove some glue but while it is still hot use the metal scraper to scrape the skin clean. Work in small sections making sure you have good clean fabric remaining. This part takes the most time and effort but the outcome is worth it. Get em both nice and clean tip to tail and go get some fresh air. Get all that sticky paper of the floor so the dog won’t get stuck to it.
Glue time. There are two common types of glue. There are rolls you lay onto the skin and iron on. This is a pretty clean method which requires a bit of practice to get a nice final product. But the more common application is glue in a tube. I find this to be easier to control and possibly just a better type of glue. The tube also makes it easier to make small corrections where needed. Spread a nice thin layer working in small 8 to 10 inch sections. If your skins have that center nylon strip, do not put glue on that section. Hang them up over night before folding them. In the morning, fold each skin in half and then pull them apart, repeat a couple times to be sure your new glue job is staying nice and smooth. You just saved a wad of cash, hopefully only lost a few brain cells.
It stayed cold last night. I bet that four inches of fresh is still in really nice shape. Even better, those guys yesterday set a nice skin track to the top for you!
Let’s play