Equipment Store

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Comparison with 2006/2007 orange BD/Ascension skins.Pros:The glide is much better than with Black Diamond skins. They are also 3 oz./skinlighter than the Black Diamond skins. Mostly because of the improved glide, I estimate that I am able to climb about 300 ft./hr. faster than with the BD skins.In dry powder, the G3 skins grip as well as the Black Diamond skins. The G3 skins fold up much more compactly.Cons:In wet snow or glazed tracks, the G3 skins don't grip as well as the Black Diamond skins. The G3 skins seem to ice up a bit more and have more problems with snow getting between the skins and the ski.Once the G3 glue has snow on it, it is more difficult to scrape clean thanthe Black Diamond glue and seems to lose more of its stick. The skins are more floppy and harder to handle, especially in the wind, and it is also more difficult to rip the skins off without taking the skis off. Both of these problems can be dealt with by taking the skis off before removing theskins and folding the skins in quarters as you take them off instead ofremoving them completely and folding in half.The skins are showing somesigns of fraying around the edges after 10 days of skiing. Finally, the tailhooks fall off the skis a lot if you aren't carefulabout tightening them fully.All-in-all, the pros seem to outweigh the cons, at least when one is skiing primarily dry powder snow.

I used a pair of Ascension skins for 6 or 7 years until they finally wore out, and loved them. I went to get a new pair of BD ascension skins this year and was really dissatisfied with the glue. I returned them and got these G3 skins. Not only did the glue work better in the east, but the design is cleaner and simpler. The main advantage is that you don't have an extra loop of fabric at the tip the way you do with the BD skins. A disadvantage is that you can't get the fit quite as tight as you can with the BD clipfix skins.