Video – Skin Ripping
A little video we shot this morning while waiting (and waiting…) for it to finally snow in the Wasatch. This technique is a slo-mo variation on a racing strip and it takes about one and a half minutes. Out of habit, I like to strip my skins right when I get to the top of a climb just so that I’m all ready to go. After that, I can, and usually do, dink around for a while, but first things first.
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Category: 05 Uphill
What camera are you using? I have started using a “disposable” Flip Ultra. Not bad, but it’s a flash memory. So when you hit 120 minutes, you’re done.
I love stripping skins first thing after a tough climb. The tougher thing (for me) to remember is to drop the heel lifters.
This has prompted me to come up with a skiing acronym similar to BARK. So far I have Skins, Heels, Islands (of Safety), Terrain (trees, cliffband, runnels). But I would appreciate a G rated version since its only a few years off before I’m in the BC with my daughters.
y’all are crazy. i like stripping skins last because i don’t like slip sliding around while i’m doing everything else (don’t ask me what everything “else” is, i don’t know, but it all feels quite important).
That first skin removal technique, putting the ski behind you in the old racer quad stretch seems a bid awkward. I’m a real fan of doing both the way you did the second ski. Any benefit to going backwards like that, other than showing off flexibility?
And I agree with you about getting them off soon near the top s of things. At least here in the Sierra, ridge winds pummel the tops of ridges into sastrugi and icefields, and I feel way better just slamming edges into it than trying to use skins. I guess it’s all those years of alpine giving me a feel of security when I’m in familiar territory.
Ah, so good to see the master of training heels bends over a few times in the process of rippin’ the hide. Same with tele, but only to lock down the buckles on the boots. Agree, dealing with the skins right away is a good call. More than once I’ve been the last one up the skin track, but the first one making turns ‘cuz I didn’t waste time changing modes.
I also do the reverse at the bottom. That is, I like to put my skins on right away before skinning back up, or more likely, before relaxing a bit with a cup of hot joe and a snack.
Thanks for the video. Although I do prefer the comedy value of watching my friends falling all over themselves trying to rip skins.
For the last few years, I’ve been rotating the heelpiece to DH mode but not stepping down until AFTER I peel the skins. This gives me a nice fluid motion in removal (because I can push the ski straight out behind me) giving much more longevity to the plastic tail connectors. It feels more like removing the ski from the skin than jerking the skin from the ski.
Then once the skin is off, it’s a simple step into the heel and flick the toepiece down.
Cheers!