Climbing skins do a lot of work & cared for properly will last many seasons. At SMBC we've had 25 sets for 4 years that have done a lot of climbing & they're looking good to go uphill plenty more. We often hear tales of skin glue failure but more often than not it's from poor skin care. These ski lifting devices aren't cheap so here's a few skin care & storage tips to think about before you pack your skins away for the off season or if your lucky enough for only a few months.
Storage
Before you store them stick them to your skis & wash them down. This is important because your skins pick up a lot of dirt from the snow surface particularly in the spring.
Dry completely out of the sun
Use your skin savers for long term storage
Store skins in temps sub 17°C
Under no circumstances should you store in the roof, it's just too warm/hot!
Store in a dry, cool spot out of the sunlight.
A wine cellar is ideal
Some folks store in the freezer or fridge! If in the freezer it's best to bring the temp back up before pulling them apart.
We store ours in foam Broccoli boxes under the house.
Now next time you need to use them they will be good to go!
You can see in this video the glue on the skin is still tacky & therefore won’t stick to your skI bases so the glue is still okay. If the glue is sticking to your bases it has lost it’s composition & won’t reconstitute. It's time for a re glue or new skins but more importantly consider how you are storing them both short & long term!
Contact SMBC via our CONTACTS page for 20% off new skins.
Here's our tip for Short Term Field Storage. Leave your skin savers at home & fold them glue side together back onto themselves. Note we have the halfway point marked.
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