Skin Performance in the Spring

Spring is here, and with it a unique snowpack that brings its own challenges when it comes to ski touring. The wide temperature fluctuations throughout the day, can create immense variation in snow conditions depending on aspect, slope angle, time, and other variables. For instance, in North America, protected northwest facing slopes can still hold dry powder, while at the same time south slopes can be completely transformed into corn. Skinning through this variable snowpack is a challenge as moisture from wet snow freezes as you enter drier colder snow, producing icing and clumping on the hair side of the skin. We've all been there: psyched and nuking up the skin track, enjoying the spring sun, when suddenly it feels as if you are building stilts under your skis, as your skins ice and accumulate snow stopping you in your tracks. Here are a couple of ways to prevent and mitigate this affect:

An iced skin.

Terrain choice

Simply being cognizant of icing and its mechanism of action, and choosing where to place your skin track accordingly, will drastically improve skin performance. If your terrain consists primarily of transformed wet snow, then stick to it. Avoid unnecessary travel into drier conditions which will cause the moisture that has saturated your skins to freeze. On the contrary, if you make it out before the snow breaks (frozen to soft) then avoid any areas that expose your skins to moisture.

Spring touring means big variation in snow. Dry powder, to wet sludge and everything in between can be found. 

Wax

Skin wax can both speed up your touring and prevent icing. Wax creates a hydrophobic coating on the mohair, preventing the skin from becoming saturated and then icing/clumping as it comes into contact with drier snow. In the wet warm conditions often encountered in the spring, the film of water providing lubrication between the skin and the snow crystals increases in thickness. Free water enters the system creating a suction effect,. Wax repels this moisture and suction affect, decreasing friction and increasing the speed of the skin. Waxing is really balancing the level of friction between a surface and the snow crystals to control melting and induce the optimal film of lubrication.

Warmer waxes are softer, and contain more oils to control the water film and reduce capillary drag. Colder waxes are harder, counteracting the  abrasiveness of colder/drier snow to produce more heat and promote melting. 

Flourinated ski waxes would be the ideal spring time skin wax due to their hydrophobic properties. However, we are in the flouro free era whether you like it or not. Most skin wax products are hydrocarbon based paraffins in both liquid or block form. Pretty much everything we know about ski waxing comes from the nordic ski world. The banning of fluorocarbons catalyzed a waxing race that has led to immense development and experimentation with flouro free waxes.They are still a bit of a mystery, and if there is one thing we have learned it’s that they are highly variable and application dependent. 

When applying wax to skins, whether liquid or block, my recommendation is to go thin. It’s become increasingly clear that the goal should be to produce an even thin film of wax over the surface of the skin. Performance degradation in flouro free waxes is largely a result of the accumulation of pollutants and impurities. Thin layered films seems to limit this compared to excess bulk application.

Here are the Hagan products and applications I recommend :

Organic Liquid Express Wax

This is a universal pfaa free liquid paraffin wax that is great for preventing icing/clumping and improving speed. Application is very easy, with the sponge head. Simply paint an even film across the entire of the skin and let dry. This last part is very important. Preferably you let them dry overnight.

Contour Skin Wax

This is the same paraffin as the organic liquid express but in block form. Apply it by rubbing an even but thin coat down the skin, or for increased durability pass an iron set to as low across the skin.

I think durability increases slightly with the ironing of the block paraffin compared to the liquid application. However, as we discussed speed degradation is often due to the build up of contaminants. So if speed is your priority, as it may be on race day, I would go the liquid route. If you are more concerned about truly limiting clumping over the duration of your tour, go with the block. Either is going to be better than leaving your skins naked in spring time conditions. 

Enjoy the Spring Skiing!