skin related question

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 Rick Asher 23 Oct 2018

I'm swapping a skin from a 178cm to ski to another 178cm ski however the waist on the original ski is 90mm and the skins were cut to fit.

My new ski is 98mm at the waist therefore when this skin is fitted, reveals a 4-5mm gap between the skin and ski edge on both sides.

I will be on the haute route, wil this be ok?

 kevin stephens 23 Oct 2018
In reply to Rick Asher:

I would not risk it, skins are most important at the edge and if traversing a steep slope will increase the risk of a slip and fall.  One option would be to slit the skins down the middle so each side is up to the edge with a gap in the middle.  The best solution would be to buy new skins to fit the new skis, the old skins will be useful if keeping the 90mm skis or also help to sell them.  Are the new skis Whitedot R.98s?

Post edited at 12:28
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 OwenM 23 Oct 2018
In reply to kevin stephens:

You don't want the skin to go right up to the edge of your ski, they should be cut 4 - 5 mm from the edge. They should be fine.

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OP Rick Asher 23 Oct 2018
In reply to kevin stephens:

they're K2 hard sides. I skied last year on a pair of K2 sideshows and enjoyed the traditional style and therefore replaced them with a similar but fatter ski

 HammondR 23 Oct 2018
In reply to OwenM:

Don't think anyone has suggested that the skin should go to the edge of the ski. Kevin was correct to say that skins are most important at the edge. 

Fitted correcly skins should end where the ptex base ends, just revealing the steel edge and a hint of the base; about 2mm from the very edge of the ski. 

4/5mm from the edge is horrible. After buying some new skis a couple of years ago I cheaped out (Yorkshireman) and used older skins which were 4/5mm from the edges. Even with ski crampons I had a slippery slidey epic on the Col du Passon. I thought I had forgotten how to skin. Bought new skins that evening which restored everything to normal. 

MarkJH 23 Oct 2018
In reply to Rick Asher:

 

> I will be on the haute route, wil this be ok?

 

It will depend on the snow conditions.  In soft/ medium snow you won't notice any difference.  If you are trying to skin across a slope on hard packed or icy snow, you will have very little skin in contact with the snow and you will find that your skis are shooting out behind you or slipping sideways down the slope when crossing slight undulations or steepenings.  Tiring, and potentially dangerous.

Ideally, you want only the metal edges to be uncovered when fitting your skins.  I have made the mistake of thinking that I could get away with a slightly undersized skin when changing skis.  Never again!   Midway through a multi-day ski tour is not the place to find out that your skins are not up to the job (in my opinion).

 blurty 23 Oct 2018
In reply to Rick Asher:

As said above, leave the steel edges and 1 or 2mm pebax exposed only. 

 

 kevin stephens 23 Oct 2018
In reply to Rick Asher:

Nice! As a matter of interest which bindings did you go for?

OP Rick Asher 24 Oct 2018
In reply to kevin stephens:

went for the new marker alpinist 12's and added a brake (340g).

Decided to keep my touring setup fairly light as I've also got a pair of K2 sidestashes 108mm with marker barons fitted for powder days off the lift

In reply to Rick Asher:

I wouldn’t risk that. I’ve had clients with a varying amount of gap along their edge (2-5mm), person cutting them either inexperienced or drunk, and they’ve slipped (inconsequentially) across hard pack traverses. 

 top cat 06 Dec 2018
In reply to kevin stephens:

FFS, how on earth did we ever survive the HR  when we had 60mms skins to do everything / used on all our skis.

I know marketing is a powerful force but really.........

Believe it or not you are not going to die , or even have a hard time with skins that aren't full width.  In fact, on most ascents you will go faster with less effort .

Most of the HR can be done on kicker skins!

 

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