Ski skins; just a simple piece of fabric that helps you go uphill on your backcountry ski tour, right? Not so fast. For something seemingly so basic, a lot of thought has gone into Skinbased skis’ integrated climbing skins. In the first of this winter’s Tech Series blogposts, we take a deep dive into what makes Skinbased ski skins some of the best out there.
Nylon vs Mohair
There are two main materials used in the ski skin world: nylon and mohair. Nylon offers supreme grip and durability. So, what is the downside? Glide. Full nylon skins often stick to the snow like glue, greatly reducing the ski’s natural ability to glide. While this may have occasional niche benefits for setting (too) steep skin tracks, it makes traveling on flats and rolling terrain both harder work and a lot less fun. Afterall, the joy of skiing comes from gliding across the snow, not merely walking with skis on your feet.
In contrast, mohair offers mildly less grip, but much improved glide. As an animal hair fiber harvested by sheering the wool off of Angora goats, it is also the natural alternative to petroleum-based nylon. To top off this list, skins made of mohair are generally both thinner and lighter weight. Downsides include cost, as it is a more expensive fiber than its readily available nylon counterpart. 
The Best of Both Worlds
Our premium skins are made of a 65% mohair and 35% nylon blend, ensuring that our skins bring the advantages of both materials. Heavily researched and tested, this blend seems to give just the right balance and is overall the highest quality, longest lasting, and best performing in a wide variety of snowy conditions.
Specific to our core values, the material sources, as well as their place of manufacturing, are important to us. The mohair in our skins comes from the farming collective Mohair South Africa. They are a member of the Textile Exchange, an organization that researches and shares best practices on how to reduce the environmental burden of the textile industry. Additionally, the nylon portion of our climbing skin is made from by-products of the oil industry. Produced in Central Europe, our skins are cut and glued onto our skis in-house, at our home in Kangasala, Finland.
At the end of the day, this attention to detail is what sets our skis apart from the others. Not only does it make a better performing, longer-lasting product, but most importantly, one that is more fun to use. Swing by one of our retailers or adventure partners and see (and feel and experience) the joy for yourself! 
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