Climbing skins vs kicker skins

[gimmesnow]

Hi all. Happy new year!

Question about climbing skins - I find my Eons suck at climbing even moderate terrain if the snow is hard/icy. Basically have to herringbone most of the time.

Any thoughts on using climbing skins on these? I find they work well on my AT gear (although have their corresponding annoyances like dirt and snow getting underneath.

I only see AT type skins online at most places, starting at 100mm widths. I think this is probably too wide, even if I cut them down significantly. The eon's profile is 83-62-70 I think? I do know that cutting a skin to fit the profile exactly i8s 'better' but I found doing that for my AT gear introduced dirt on parts of the skin that didn't have overlap when folded. I'd prefer to just get something just as wide as the narrowest part of the ski. I think.

What kind of skins do people use with nordic touring gear? Is it possible to find a skin that is say 60mm wide and then not have to cut anything? Any suggestions on brands?
What about kicker skins? Any use for these or not bother? Similarly - any suggestions on what would work with the Eon's?

Thanks!

[Montana St Alum]

I've seen kicker skins as narrow as 50mm. They work pretty well on skis I've used backcountry that are more alpine in nature, mounted with tely bindings.

[lilcliffy]

Number of options for the Eon (and they do suck at climbing unless the snow is warm wet and friable)-

We use BD kicker skins on th Eon for climbing on our local tours because they are easily taken off and put away on short vertical climbs.

We have these as well for extended climbing- they are excellent: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5048-442/ ... rdic-Skins

I grip wax my Eons and don't need climbing skins when the snow is cold and soft.

[fgd135]

I use full length skins on my nordic metal edged skis when I need to climb continuous grades, esp. in hard snow conditions. 50mm skins like those BD's are excellent for that situation. Kicker skins are great for lower angle rolling terrain in lieu of softer waxes, but if your skis have a firm wax pocket, imho, kicker skins might not be the best choice.

[jyw5]

skimo.co sometimes carries 50mm full length mohair skins which would be all you need. I can take those off without even taking the skis off. its great. but for the most part, unless you are skiing super steep mountains, you dont need anything more than 30-40mm for 62mm underfoot.

I also use full 62mm and 59mm pomoca mohair race pro 2.0 skins for my ft62 .... they are amazing and climb like a skimo racer. can climb almost straight up 1mile/1300ft vertical. but you need the compatible notch on the tip of your skis....and they are $170.

try these:

https://skimo.co/contour-mohair-skin-kit

the full length skins in my opinion are better quality than the black diamond kickers (I have those too...dont care for them ...the metal plate and strap are annoying and can trap alot of snow).

[Blackbeard Ben]

Add me to the list of those looking for kicker skins for Eons.

I have the waxable version, and I am ready to use klister (if I have to), but I wouldn't mind a kicker skin option.

The Madshus kicker skins look good except for the width - insufficient according to reports I've read.

The BD Nordic kicker skins (not the full length ones) look like a decent option, though I have read they are slow.

The Eons (mine at least) don't have a rear notch for full length skins - not that I want those anyway. We do too much yoyo-ing here on typical trails that full length skins probably don't make sense.

Are there any other kicker skin options? I just don't see many out there.

[paulzo]

Full width skins - often referred to as "wall-to-wall" - are really only needed for traversing on firm slopes, where only a bit of the edge of your skis are in contact with the snow, so you need skin right up to the edge. And even then, I have had good results with a skin that is full width at the narrowest part of the ski and not full width tip and tail - in my case I switched a pair of skins from one pair of skis to another, and the two skis were about the same waist but the new ones were significantly wider tip and tail. Still handles firm traverses just fine. Skins significantly narrower than the waist of the ski - like a 50mm skin on a 65 waist ski - will not do well in that situation, but should have plenty of traction going straight up a slope.