Climbing skin care and glue repair
Skin glue is a consumable that lasts roughly fifty to a hundred and fifty touring days depending on care. Dry skins at room temperature glue side exposed, never near heat, store on the supplied mesh, carry skin wax against glopping and two ski straps as a field fix, and reglue with a sheet or tube glue when tack is gone.
Skins fail at the glue, not at the plush, in almost every case. A pair that is dried, stored and waxed sensibly will outlast a pair thrown wet into a pack by a factor of two or three, and when the glue does finally go, reglueing is an evening at home rather than a new purchase.
The three things that kill glue
- Heat. A hot car, a radiator, a stove or a drying room set too warm. Heat turns tack into a mess that transfers onto everything and never fully recovers.
- Dirt. Pine needles, grit and dust from a tailgate transition. Every particle is a spot the glue no longer contacts the ski, and they accumulate.
- Being packed away wet. Water under the glue prevents contact, and repeated wet storage breaks the adhesive down.
Notice that none of those is skiing. Skins are damaged between tours far more than during them.
The routine after every tour
- Pull them apart while still at the car if you can. Peeling frozen glue apart the next day is where the damage happens.
- Dry at room temperature, glue side exposed to the air. Hang them or lay them flat. Never near a heat source.
- If the plush is soaked, dry that first. Fold the glue protected until the plush is merely damp, then open them out.
- Pick the debris off. Needles and grit come off easily while the glue is at room temperature and become permanent once they are pressed in.
- Store on the mesh or folded glue to glue. Whichever the manufacturer specifies for that glue. Never stuck to a bag or a bench.
Glopping, and the bar of wax that fixes it
Glopping is a thick pad of snow building up under the skin. The mechanism is meltwater soaking into the plush and then refreezing, which happens most in spring snow around freezing and when you move from cold shade into sun during a climb.
It is not a minor annoyance. A glopped skin can add a genuinely significant weight to each ski and it destroys glide completely, so a stride that should slide becomes a lift.
Skin wax is the fix. A bar rubbed along the plush costs a few dollars, weighs almost nothing, and should live in the lid of a touring pack all season. Apply it before a spring tour and reapply during the day when the conditions change. It is the highest value item per gram in a touring pack.
The field fix
A skin peeling off mid-climb is one of the most common tour-ending problems and one of the most easily prevented.
- Warm the glue. Fold the skin glue to glue and put it inside your jacket for five minutes. Cold glue is stiff glue and it will often recover enough tack for a lap.
- Clear the base. Scrape snow and ice off the ski with a scraper or a pole basket. Glue does not stick to a wet ski.
- Press it back on firmly along its whole length, working from the tip.
- Strap it. A ski strap around ski and skin near the middle, and a second if you have one. This works well enough to finish a tour.
- Carry two straps, always. They weigh nothing and they also splint a broken pole, carry skis on a pack and hold a ski together after a binding failure.
Keeping the glue warm on the hill
The single habit that prevents most glue failures during a day is carrying skins inside your jacket between laps rather than in a cold pack pocket. Warm glue is tacky glue, and a skin that goes back on warm sticks properly for the next climb.
Fold them glue to glue rather than onto the mesh for a mid-tour stow, because the mesh takes time to separate and time at a transition is time standing still getting cold. The skinning guide covers the rest of the transition routine.
Reglueing, step by step
When the glue has genuinely gone, meaning it no longer holds after warming and cleaning, it is time to reglue. This is a two-evening job and it costs a small fraction of new skins.
- Strip the old glue. Either with a plastic scraper and gentle heat, or with a purpose-made solvent. Work outdoors or in a well ventilated space and protect the surface you are working on.
- Clean the backing thoroughly. Any residue is a spot where the new glue will not bond. This step takes longer than you expect and it determines the result.
- Choose sheet or tube. Glue sheet is a transfer film that irons on and then peels away, which is cleaner and gives a very even layer. Tube glue is cheaper, better for patching a section, and easy to apply unevenly.
- Apply thinly and evenly. More glue is not better. A thick layer stays soft, squeezes out at the edges and picks up debris.
- Cure for the time specified, which is often overnight and sometimes longer. Rushing this is the most common way a reglue fails.
- Test before a tour, not at the trailhead. Stick them to a ski at home and pull them off.
The rest of the skin
Check the hardware at the same time. Tip loops perish and crack with UV exposure, tail clips bend and lose tension, and the tail attachment is where most mechanical failures happen. Both are usually replaceable as parts, which is much cheaper than a new pair.
The plush itself wears at the tip and tail first, where it is dragged over rocks in thin cover and stepped on at transitions. Worn plush stops gripping, and that is a genuine end of life rather than a maintenance item. Nylon lasts longest, mohair wears fastest, and a mix sits between the two, which the skin comparison covers in full.
Climbing skins
Black Diamond Ascension Nylon Climbing Skins, 163 cm
- Plush:
- 100 percent nylon
- Grip:
- Highest
- Glide:
- Lowest
Nylon grips better than anything else and forgives a badly set skin track, which is exactly what a new tourer needs while they are still learning to set one. Grip is the specification that keeps you upright on a steep traverse.
Best for: A first pair of skins, and steep or icy skin tracks.
What it costs you: Slow. Nylon glides poorly, absorbs more water and packs bulkier than mohair.
POMOCA Climb 2.0 Ready2Climb Skins, 100 mm
- Plush:
- Mohair and nylon mix
- Fit:
- Pre-cut Ready2Climb
- Glide:
- Good
A mohair and nylon mix is the honest compromise, and it is the one most experienced tourers land on. Pre-cut means the trimming is already done, which removes the single most-botched job in touring.
Best for: Most tourers, most of the time.
What it costs you: A mixed plush grips less than pure nylon on ice and glides less than pure mohair on the flat.
POMOCA Climb Pro Mohair Ready2Climb Skins, 100 mm
- Plush:
- Mohair
- Glide:
- Highest
- Grip:
- Lower than nylon
Mohair glides so much better than nylon that on rolling terrain you stop lifting your skis and start sliding them, and over a long day that is a genuine energy saving rather than a marginal one.
Best for: Long days, rolling approaches, and tourers who set a sensible skin track.
What it costs you: Wears faster, grips less on ice, and costs more per season. A poorly angled skin track will slip.
POMOCA Tour Pro Ready2Climb Skins, 100 mm x 180 to 189 cm
- Plush:
- Mohair mix
- Length:
- 180 to 189 cm
- Width:
- 100 mm
Sized for a long, wide freeride touring ski, which is where most skin buying goes wrong: a skin narrower than the ski tip leaves the shovel bare and the ski washes out on a firm sidehill.
Best for: Long wide skis, from about 180 cm up.
What it costs you: Expensive, and more skin means more weight and more bulk to fold.
Specifications are the manufacturer's published figures, not measurements we took. Sizes, prices and stock change constantly, so confirm on the retailer page before buying. We earn commissions from Backcountry and from qualifying Amazon purchases, and every link on this page is one or the other. Where a Backcountry button reads "shop the category" it opens a search for that category rather than that exact model, so it finds comparable gear alongside it.
Summer storage
- Clean and completely dry before they go away. A damp skin stored for six months is a ruined skin.
- On the mesh or folded glue to glue, as specified for that glue.
- Room temperature, indoors, out of sunlight. Not a garage that gets hot, not an attic, not a car.
- Check them in autumn, at home. Well before the first tour, so a reglue is an evening rather than a cancelled day.
- Check the tip loops and tail clips at the same time, because they perish quietly.
That is one part of an end of season routine that also covers skis, boots and outerwear, in the gear care and storage guide. For sizing a replacement pair, the skin size calculator works from tip width rather than waist, which is the error that leaves the shovel of the ski bare and the ski washing out on a firm traverse.
None of this is a safety subject on its own, and one caveat applies to everything on this site about touring: avalanche gear only works alongside formal training and never substitutes for an avalanche course, and the regional forecast must be checked before every tour. Start with the avalanche safety basics.
Frequently asked questions
How long does skin glue last?
Somewhere between fifty and a hundred and fifty days of touring depending on how you store and handle them, and the range is that wide because habits matter more than the product. Glue degrades from three things: heat, dirt, and being packed away wet. A pair dried after every tour, kept out of hot cars and stored on the supplied mesh will comfortably outlast a pair thrown wet into a pack and left in a warm garage. When the glue finally fails, reglueing is a straightforward home job costing a fraction of new skins, so a peeling skin is a maintenance item rather than a write-off.
How do I dry skins properly?
At room temperature, glue side exposed to the air, hanging or laid out flat, and never on a radiator, near a stove or in a hot car. Heat is what turns tack into a sticky mess and it destroys glue faster than anything else. If the plush is soaked, dry that side first with the glue folded protected, then expose the glue once the plush is merely damp. It should take a few hours. Once dry, store them on the supplied mesh sheet or folded glue to glue, whichever the manufacturer specifies, and never stuck to a plastic bag or a bench.
Why do my skins keep gathering snow underneath?
That is glopping, and it happens when meltwater in the plush refreezes, which is most common in spring snow near freezing and when you move from cold shade into sun. The pad of snow that builds up adds real weight to each ski and destroys glide entirely. The fix is skin wax, a bar rubbed onto the plush, which costs a few dollars and should live in the lid of a touring pack all season. Reapply during the day when conditions change. Mohair gloops less than nylon because the finer smoother pile holds less water, which is one more reason spring tourers favour it.
What do I do if a skin peels off mid-climb?
Wrap a ski strap around the ski and skin, one near the middle and a second if you have it, and continue. That is the field fix and it works well enough to finish a tour. Before that, try warming the glue inside your jacket for a few minutes and pressing it back on firmly, which often restores enough tack for a lap. Clear any snow and ice off the base first, because glue will not stick to a wet ski. A couple of ski straps weigh nothing and are the single most useful repair item in a touring pack.
How do I reglue a pair of skins?
Strip the old glue with a plastic scraper and a heat source at low temperature, or with a purpose-made glue solvent, working outdoors or in a ventilated space. Clean the backing thoroughly. Then apply either a glue sheet, which is a transfer film you iron on and then peel the backing from, or a tube of skin glue spread thinly and evenly and left to cure for the time the manufacturer specifies, which is often overnight. Sheet glue is cleaner and more consistent; tube glue is cheaper and better for patching a section. Either way, the preparation matters more than the product.
How should I store skins over the summer?
Clean, completely dry, at room temperature, on the mesh sheet they came with or folded glue to glue, out of sunlight and away from any heat source. A cupboard indoors is ideal and a garage that gets hot is not. Check them before the first tour of the following season rather than at the trailhead, because a pair that has lost tack over the summer is fixable in an evening at home and is a ruined day at the car. It is also the moment to check the tip loops and tail clips, which perish and bend.
How we choose: we compare published manufacturer specifications, published certification standards and verified owner reviews across retailers. We do not test equipment in person, and every figure quoted here is the manufacturer's published number unless we say otherwise. This is researched buying guidance and not professional instruction: binding release values are set by a certified technician on a calibrated jig, and avalanche terrain requires formal training and a current regional forecast that no article can replace.
