Tips, tricks and trimming

Splitboard skins 101

Climbing skin performance can make or break your day in the backcountry. If your skins do not fit your splitboard, or they are not properly maintained, you are asking for trouble. At best a skin issue will waste your time and energy, and at worst, a skin issue can be down right dangerous if the problem slows you down too much.

How to take care of skins

Skin glue performs best when clean and dry. Avoid getting snow, dirt, pine needles, gravel or wax on the glue side of your skins. When you wax your splitboard, be sure to scrape off excess wax before touring.

Some snow build-up on your skin glue is inevitable, so it’s crucial to stay on top of cleaning it off before it becomes an issue. Inspect your skins during transitions and clear off any built-up snow before you pack away your skins for the descent.

One of the best ways to clean off snow is to scrape the glue side of the skin against the edge of your split-ski. Stand the ski upright in snow, hold one end of the skin in each hand, and pull it across the ski's edge like a saw.

If the skin glue becomes frozen or iced up to the point of failure, scrape all the snow off with the "saw technique", then stash your skins inside your jacket for the next descent to help melt any remaining snow or ice.

If your skin glue fails on the way up, scrape all the snow off, then use a few wraps of duct tape, athletic tape or a ski strap to help stick the skin to your ski. The tape or strap is best placed just behind the heel of your splitboard binding.

Skins and water do not mix well. If the skin plush gets wet it will cause snow to stick to the plush. Avoid skinning across puddles or open water. In wet snow conditions and on warm spring days it is advised to treat your skins with skin wax. Some skin wax like Black Diamond Glop Stopper can be applied in field. More robust waterproofing treatments will need to be applied the night before or ideally at the start of the season. Our skins are designed with a rubber backing to keep the skin from getting wet.

 

It’s important to hang and dry skins after any use. Hang in a dust free area away from direct heat like a heater or wood stove. Dust, dirt and pet hair will shorten the life of your skin glue. Once skins are dry, pack them up and put them away as soon as possible.

 

For short term storage, skins can be folded up glue to glue and placed into their bag. For long term or summer storage, use the cheat sheets that come with the skins and make sure to store the bag in a cool, dry place. To use cheat sheets, fold skins over sheets with one side of skin adhered to each side of cheat sheet. Prolonged heat on skins will cause the skin glue to get gummy and stick to the wax on your splitboard base.

Adjusting Jones pre-cut skins (Quick Tension tail clip)

"The Quick Tension Tail Clip is a lightweight tail clip system designed to fit all Jones adult splitboards from 2017 and Youth Solution from 2023. These splitboards have a notch cut into the tail of both skis that allows the Quick Tension Tail Clip to simply slide into the notch and secure the skin. The Quick Tension Clip features a durable rubber tail strap and compact metal clip.

If your splitboard is not a Jones model, or predates the years mentioned above, please use the Universal Tail Clip."

Skin group size chart
Skin group Board models & sizes
Group A Women's Dream Weaver 2.0 Splitboard 145, 148, 151, 154
Women's Solution Splitboard 146, 149, 152, 155
Women's Stratos Splitboard 146, 149, 152
Group B Men's Solution Splitboard 154, 158, 161
Men's Ultralight Solution Splitboard 158, 161
Men's Frontier 2.0 Splitboard 156, 159, 162
Group C Hovercraft 2.0 Splitboard 148, 152, 156
Men's Stratos Splitboard 156
Men's Ultralight Stratos Splitboard 156
Mind Expander Splitboard 150, 154, 158
Ultralight Butterfly Splitboard 158
Ultralight Hovercraft 2.0 Splitboard 152, 156
Group D Men's Mountain Twin Splitboard 157, 159W, 160
Men's Solution Splitboard 164
Men's Stratos Splitboard 159
Men's Ultralight Solution Splitboard 164
Men's Ultralight Stratos Splitboard 159
Ultralight Butterfly Splitboard 150, 154
Group E Hovercraft 2.0 Splitboard 160
Men's Solution Splitboard 165W
Men's Ultralight Solution Splitboard 165W
Ultralight Hovercraft 2.0 Splitboard 160
Group F Men's Solution Splitboard 162W, 167
Men's Ultralight Solution Splitboard 162W
Group G Men's Frontier 2.0 Splitboard 158W, 161W, 164W
Men's Solution Splitboard 159W
Men's Stratos Splitboard 158W, 161W
Men's Ultralight Stratos Splitboard 161W
Group H Men's Solution Splitboard 169W
Group i Storm Chaser Splitboard 152
Trim-to-fit (universal tail clip) Youth Solution Splitboard 137, 142, 147

Follow these instructions for adjusting the Quick Tension Tail Clip

  1. Attach skin to splitboard nose.
  2. Slide clip along tail strap and position so clip is at bottom of notch in tail.
  3. Slide end of tail strap into clip, securing clip in place on tail strap.
  4. Stretch tail strap and fix clip into notch with medium tension. Clip/strap does not need a lot of tension, just enough to hold securely in notch.
Two halves of a splitboard showing how to attach the skins with quick tension tail clip.

How to: trim splitboard climbing skins and install Universal/Quick Tension Tail Clip

Skins climb best if the majority of the split ski is covered almost edge-to-edge with only the width of the edge exposed on each side. It is important to leave the edge exposed for edging on icy, firm snow. If your skins are too narrow and there is a lot of base showing on each side they may be slippery in certain snow conditions. If your skins are too wide and the edges are covered the skins may be slippery on firm snow.

Jones Nomad and Nomad Pro Universal skins are trim-to-fit so they must be custom cut to your board before use.

Tail clips work best when they require a little tension to fit on to your board. You don’t want them so tight that they are pulling the skin off the base but a little tension can help the glue stick to the ski.

Watch this video for complete instructions on how to trim your Jones splitboard climbing skins and install the Universal Tail Clips (the installation of the Quick Tension Tail Clip is identical):

(Skip to 1:30 in video for Universal tail clip installation instructions (The installation of the Quick Tension Tail Clip is identical)

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