Since the dawn of climbing skins, skier-kind have been faced with a relatively unique problem; how do you keep your skins in place? In order to get decent adhesion during brutally cold temperatures, skins have historically used a rather “sticky” adhesive. The problem? Getting them off during transitions often proves to be a better (and more full body) workout than your skin up. With the introduction of the Alpinist skin, Kohla may have come up with the perfect balance. Featuring Smart Glue, these skins have been tested work down to a bone-chilling -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) AND are a breeze to rip off, helping facilitate faster transitions that involve less cursing. If you find yourself on the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, the waterproof backing and fluorocarbon impregnation will keep moisture away from the glue so you can keep your skins attached to your bases while gliding on with ease. The 100% mohair construction is extremely packable and quite literally won’t hold you back on long approaches, while still retaining enough grip to confidently skin up those steep climbs. Being made in Austria, these skins are constructed with the highest-grade materials and feature a laser-cut finish for extra-crisp edges. The Alpinist skin from Kohla is an efficient, fast gliding skin for general touring and well-above-average fun.
100% Mohair plush glides quickly and efficiently.
Rubber backing makes the skin waterproof without chemicals.
Smart Glue is easy to manage, no matter the temperature.
A customizable tip mechanism can adapt to skis with various attachment systems.
Stainless Steel tip attachment is 85mm wide to accommodate most ski tips.
High precision laser cut finish creates clean edges.
hey all, anyone tried to clean and revive the glue? Hot water, bit of soap and a good scrub like a hybrid glue clean or iron and paper like a traditional glue clean...? my adhesive is starting to be less tacky. Thanks
Pros: very packable, great glide, just enough grip, easy to pull apart. Cons: glue does not stick to bases. unless I'm on firm surfaces, snow gets in between the skins and tips and tails and then the glue can fail catastrophically. The tail attachment is difficult to adjust manually but then it loosens on its own.
Glide is good. Grip is adequate. The glue, which I know is supposed to be something new and special, is not particularly great. Below about 10F they don't stick well at all for me. The tails seem to get some snow under there and then it slowly creeps its way up until the whole skin falls off. Maybe I'll try putting a little Black Diamond Gold Label adhesive on the tails.
I have used these on Blizzard Zero G 105 this season and have loved them. Glue makes ripping skins off skis super easy and pulling them apart is almost effortless. The glide out of the box was great and got even better with a thousand feet of skinning. The backing material is nice and thin so packing them up for this big of ski and putting them in your jacket was super nice. Tail has never moved on me and tip is pretty standard tip buckle similar to other skins. The only thing I have found is to make sure you clean any snow off the glue after pulling off your ski, for consistent use all day in any temps. I have had good success doing this and keeping great adhesion for 10,000 foot days.
Lightweight, glidy skin, that packs down easily and takes up minimal pack-space. Previous skins were the BD Ascensions and the Alpinists downright destroy the Ascensions in all aspects, save for the stickiness of the glue. Other than that, these skins are A+ material.
Update: last tour these froze and the tail strap loosened so I was forced to bootpack. Luckily, I was optimistic of my fitness so I bootpacked. Wasn't fun but HTFU!
I was really impressed with these skins. I wanted a full mohair for my new powder boards and these fit the bill. These have great glide, I'd say significantly better than any mohair mix skins I've ever used. The glue really impressed me; released from the skins very easily, yet held strong for 5 laps in cold temps on a recent outing. I'm a huge Pomoca fan and have used those on most of my skis, but now I may have a new favorite! One downside, you only get a single tip bar size, so if these don't fit your fat boards, you have to buy another attachment (don't worry, SkimoCO carries them for you!). That said, these skins perform great, are nice and wide and well priced verse the competition. Be nice to someone you care about and give the gift of glide; I just ordered another pair for my girlfriend's skis!
chris cawley
(used product a few times)
