Black Diamond Ascension Custom STS Climbing Skins

Black Diamond Ascension STS Skins—The sure to grip skins for backcountry and telemark skiers

The dreaded hike. You get off the chair and you realize you got a good mile to the top of the mountain. But, the bowl you’ll be dropping into (and all of that untracked powder) is well worth the effort of climbing your way up that mountain. While the prospect of hiking at 12,000 feet (like I frequently do on my home mountain in Colorado) seems daunting, things can be made a whole lot easier if you’ve got the skins for the bottom of your skis.

The Black Diamond Ascension skins strike the perfect balance between giving you amazing grip up on the slopes without being too big and heavy to put in ski jacket pocket. Pre-cut Black Diamond Ascension Custom STS Climbing Skins come in a wide variety of sizes to give you a precise fit without any knife time. Durable Orange Plush synthetic hair holds up to seasons of abuse, and the bomber, pre-attached tip and tail loops won’t give you any trouble either. Black Diamond left a glue-free strip down the center of the Customer STS Climbing Skins to make them easier to remove from your skis. They are easy to mount, cheaper than the regular STS skins and will make sure you have amazing grip even on icy, slippery slopes.

The quick & dirty:
Where you can get them:
Black Diamond Ascension Custom STS Climbing Skins $109.95

Why they rock:

• Durable, hydrophobic construction
• Easy-to-tension camming tailpiece with a tough elastomer strap that allows for 10 cm of length adjustment
• Reversible tip loop fits a wide range of skis
• These are super sticky and also super easy to get on and off
• Easily fits in you jacket pocket for after the climb when you are ready to bomb that bowl
• Durable Orange Plush synthetic hair holds up to seasons of abuse

Seat-of-the-pants rating: 9 out of 10

These skins are the best of the both worlds. They are super easy to get on and off your skis, provide for GREAT traction, even up steep, slippery slopes, and are easily adjustable. These new skins also come in wider varieties to fit the increasingly wider skis out there, so if you’ve got a pair of fatties for the powder, these will do just fine. It also comes in a handy little pouch and they aren’t too big to slip into your pocket after you’ve finished your climb and are ready to cut fresh tracks.

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Black Diamond Ascension Custom STS Climbing Skins $109.95