Gear Review

Black Diamond Ascension Skins

1. top glue performance
2. stiffer for wind handling
3. excellent attachment system
4. bring back the purple!

The original Ascension climbing skins achieved a near-legendary reputation for sticky glue performance when they first came out.

Ascension has long since been taken over by Black Diamond, but everything has worked out fine, and the Ascension Climbing Skin is still the standard to beat in the skin business. You'll love the glue on these skins. Sticky, sticky, and stickier still, this glue locks your skins to your boards so securely you'll wonder if you even need the STS attachment to lock the tail.

Have you ever experienced glue failure on your climbing skins? If your skins aren't sticking, you're not climbing—many of us have worst-of stories involving skins flopping off skis in the middle of nowhere, leading to much suffering and grief.

The Black Diamond Ascension is probably the best insurance you can get to ensure that never happens to you in the backcountry. In fact, year after year, season after season, the Ascension's top-secret glue formula stays sticky. I had to reluctantly retire a pair when their nylon mohair finally disintegrated after about 10 years. The glue was still as sticky as ever.

Compared to other skins, the Ascension has an intentionally stiffer feel; Black Diamond says the extra stiffness makes them easier to put on and take off in windy conditions.

It's also worth noting that Black Diamond's STS attachment system routinely bests other maker's designs in head-to-head reviews. It's a simple and reliable way to keep the tail from coming loose, and I certainly haven't had any problems with it.

You can choose to have Black Diamond pre-trim this model to fit several shaped ski templates. A trimmed skin weighs more (this may seem counterintuitive at first), but more completely covers your bases, providing better grip on snow. Depending on conditions, this extra grip will either be welcome or irrelevant.

The deep purple of these skins gives them a classic look that I like; call me old fashioned. This season's version has switched to an orangey yellow. Maybe we can lobby BD to change the color back!

A final note: sticky glue does have its drawbacks. When ripping skins which have been stored base-to-base, you may find it takes a lot of upper body strength to separate the Ascension. Since I am not a bona fide he-man myself, I've developed a few techniques (involving using my body weight). Some users may find these a little too sticky.

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