X-Skins Knackered after less 70km!!!

[lowangle al]

I would also think that leaving them on for the down will wear them out faster, especially in crusty or icy conditions.

[lowangle al]

I would also think that leaving them on for the down will wear them out faster, especially in crusty or icy conditions.

[Crayefish]

Did you trim the skins to your heel? If they are wearing out behind your heel, that is the primary glide zone of your ski and you don't want any them there anyway.

Yeah this.
Also, you should wax your skins. Give them a good rubbing with a glide wax. Some go against the grain, i only go with.
Additionally are you doing long distances going downhill?

Thanks for the responses everyone.

As mentioned in the OP, I waxed the skins with Coltex skin and ski wax.

I'm not sure about trimming the skins because I'll be pulk hauling, so really I don't want to loose too much grip.

The downhills I did were only a few vertical metres (think rolling Norwegian forests) so not like I was doing proper runs downhill with them or anything. Obviously I don't want to be removing them and refitting for short downhills if I am hauling!

[Crayefish]

I have got 600-900km out of Mohairs on three pairs, keeping them on all the time even in springtime. Spring snow definitely wears them down quicker, on powder there is essentially no wear when just touring.

But the first pair I messed up on the first day, snowplowed down an icy slope. On very abrasive snow you will lose hair if you go down fast enough or brake enough.

I have not trimmed my skins this far, but I can extend life of some of the more worn down ones by doing this. And maybe for better glide I will anyways do it on new skins

I think you could also try the newer Mix-skins. The yellow ones had bad glue on many pairs I tried. The new ones are light blue and have way better glue. These could take a bit more wear aswell.

One thing I suspect although am not at all convinced of, is the skis do not have enough camber for you, given if snow conditions were ok. It has taken me 400+km to notice any significant wear and that was on too short and low camber Ouslands... I would think even a short Gamme should have the camber to negate this way better

I was thinking that maybe the warm snow had something to do with it. Or maybe the few snowploughs I had to do. But still concerning that they could potentially wear out so quickly on my expedition. Didn't have that problem before with BD kicker skins!

They're 210cm Gammes and I'm 100kg. Can't really get much more camber unless I go for Amundsens.

Might indeed be worth looking at the mix skins. Or one mohair pair and one mix pair (I also have nylon climbing skins). I don't want to go full nylon as even a few cms of glide adds up to a lot of savings over two weeks.

[tkarhu]

@Crayefish The last 3 inches of x-skins are outside wax pocket. The spots next to wax pocket are pressure areas, where most of skier weight hits. A skin over glide area pressure zones naturally has a lot of wear.

I am 82 kg on 200 cm Gammes, and checked the wax pockets with that setup. You should have similar wax pocket length with your weight and 210 cm Gammes.

[wabene]

For example the mohair mix Transition Skins that Madshus sells for my M62'S come cut already well short of my heel. I've used them to haul a heavily ladened 9 foot toboggan over a big steep hill to a frequented cabin and had plenty of grip. The Fisher Easy Skin on my SB98'S also comes cut short of the heel, is also mohair mix and has similar grip allowing mass quantities of beer to be transported to said cabin. The Åsnes X-Skin is the only of the three that comes longer. That I have for my Gamme and trimmed just short of my heel. I'm skeptical that any skin at or behind the heel provides any additional grip. I'm sure that any skin there impedes glide and would see much wear. I see no reason for a kicker skin to be past the heel. If you need more grip that what is provided it is time for a full length skin. Of course if you are hauling a mohair mix skin is preferred to a straight mohair skin.

[JohnSKepler]

I'm not sure about trimming the skins because I'll be pulk hauling, so really I don't want to loose too much grip.

I just went through this with recommendations from this group. I was hesitant for the same reasons but went ahead with the recommendation. Found that grip was unchanged but glide improved… 50% or so. For what you’re doing you should consider, if you haven’t, waxing tip to tail with Swix Polar V05. That plus Xskins is almost like full length skins, provided you don’t get below 10°F at which point you’ll begin to stick more than you’ll like.

And what do you have to lose if the end of the skin is already done?

As a data point, for temperature reasons I recently stripped the tip to tail Polar and went with a Toko blue glide wax. Glide is, I would estimate, 10% to 15% better but grip with either kick wax or an Xskin is down 25% to 40% depending on conditions. On the flip side, Tele turns are more precise and descent speed is increased.

Tradeoffs and what’s important to you?

[lilcliffy]

They're 210cm Gammes and I'm 100kg. Can't really get much more camber unless I go for Amundsens.

Just a note here↑ The Amundsen BC is not more cambered than the Gamme 54.

Even the Fram- which is supposedly stiffer and has a more effective wax/traction pocket is not a highly-cambered ski-
Check out this video review- specifically a good view of the camber starting at 1:12:


Can you post a photo of the worn skin with them on the ski base- with your boot in the binding- showing the skin in relation to the heel of your boot?

[Crayefish]

I'm not sure about trimming the skins because I'll be pulk hauling, so really I don't want to loose too much grip.

I just went through this with recommendations from this group. I was hesitant for the same reasons but went ahead with the recommendation. Found that grip was unchanged but glide improved… 50% or so. For what you’re doing you should consider, if you haven’t, waxing tip to tail with Swix Polar V05. That plus Xskins is almost like full length skins, provided you don’t get below 10°F at which point you’ll begin to stick more than you’ll like.

And what do you have to lose if the end of the skin is already done?

As a data point, for temperature reasons I recently stripped the tip to tail Polar and went with a Toko blue glide wax. Glide is, I would estimate, 10% to 15% better but grip with either kick wax or an Xskin is down 25% to 40% depending on conditions. On the flip side, Tele turns are more precise and descent speed is increased.

Tradeoffs and what’s important to you?

True, nothing to loose by trimming this pair of skins! I didn't really notice a loss of grip (but that's not to say there wasn't any) with the rears being worn, but they did start snowing up rapidly and then I lost all glide completely.

Temperatures will likely be below 10 f. I'm expecting, based on last time, daytime temps between -15 and -25 c, which is 5 to -13 f.

To allow reapplication, I'm just brining that ski/skin wax stick, which was recommended by the expedition outfitter. (I haven't been able to get hold of him yet about this).

[Crayefish]

Can you post a photo of the worn skin with them on the ski base- with your boot in the binding- showing the skin in relation to the heel of your boot?

I'm now in the middle east for a month so unfortunately can't. Attached is the only helpful pic I have where you can just make out the back of the binding on the right ski. I have size 48 boots (14 US?) so big feet.

I've just ordered a set of mix hair X-skins to go with these. Guess I'll use them for the first part of the trip (where there's more uphill) and then have the trimmer mohair in reserve for the end where its slightly more down and with a lighter pulk.