Backcountry skiing runs on a simple transaction: you climb to earn the descent. Climbing skins — those adhesive-backed strips that grip snow on the way up and peel off for the ride down — are the unsung workhorse of that deal, and a bad pair can ruin a tour faster than flat light. Ski Magazine's testers spent last winter putting eight pairs through their paces everywhere from Grand Teton National Park and British Columbia's Monashee glaciers to the Swiss Alps and the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, judging grip, glide, durability and how neatly each pair packs away.
The overall winner is the Pomoca Tour Pro ($240), a 65/35 mohair-nylon blend praised for excellent glide and a smart upgrade: a new metal Power Hook tail clip replacing the plastic version that used to be an early failure point. The dual-fiber plush puts grippier nylon at the edges and slicker mohair in the centre, giving solid edgehold on refrozen skintracks. One caveat — the plush needs a tour or two to break in.
If speed is your thing, the Atomic MultiFit Bent Chetler ($300, 70% mohair) delivered the best glide of the bunch over three weeks of guiding in Kyrgyzstan, plus Benchetler-designed artwork. Down sides: a finicky tail clip and glue that takes roughly ten outings to stop fighting you when you peel the skins apart.
For lappers, G3's redesigned Alpinist Universal ($200, 100% nylon) proved the grip king. Tested on a spring hut trip at Blanket Glacier Chalet in the Monashees, its new ChannelBond glue — a vertical channel pattern of adhesive — held firm around ski edges and showed zero breakdown between lap one and lap five. Durability honours went to Black Diamond's Glidelite Tour ($230), a lighter, lower-profile successor to the Glidelite Mix with a metal tail clip and tip loop that fits everything from fat powder skis to narrow spring boards. And the most packable pair, Kohla's Freeride Air ($215), lies so flat testers stuffed them in jacket pockets during a seven-day Selkirk hut trip — with the bonus of an excellent stretchy tail clip, though the plush showed wear after about 100 days.
For anyone new to touring, the buying logic is straightforward: mohair equals glide, nylon equals grip, and most top skins settle on a 65/35 blend. Beginners wanting extra security should look at Black Diamond's Ascension line, trading weight for confidence. Pre-cut skins matched to your ski guarantee a tidy fit, and if your skis have rounded rockered tails, check tail-clip compatibility before you buy.
