G3 Skins Fall off in steep deep climb?

This was going to be a trip report but my gal pal is concerned about her 'secret stash' so its about my G3 skins failing me. About 7 inches of fluffy stuff over solid sun crust on a steep slope somewhere slightly south of Mt Hood. The skins are a few years old but I have never had any trouble. I am wondering if it was because I failed to get a good bond in the first place in my excitement to get back up? Maybe I should have dried the ski bottoms? The trek out to the secret stash was dog-pull assisted (skijoring) so I had great adhesion and little stress on the skins. I ended up booting up, luckily the undercrust held. How can I really tell if the skins need re-gluing? They look and feel ok to me. I have just started using those awkward cheat sheets, but that can't be the problem?

I'm sorry you're having trouble w/ your skins. I also have had trouble w/ my G3 skins. I got them last Dec and by Apr. they would fall off my skins at the slightest provocation. I heard that a couple of years ago G3 had problems w/ their glue, but I thought these were supposed to be fixed by the time I bought mine. It doesn't seem to me that the problem has been fixed. I got my G3 skins after 5 yrs on a pair of purple Ascension skins with glue that's still going strong. I've been babying the G3 skins much more, so I can only conclude that G3 glue is way worse.

I emailed G3 last summer and they said they'd be happy to warrantee the skins. I didn't want to give up the skins I'd cut to fit my skis, so I decided to put a new coat of the Ascension/BD glue on them. They stick great now, but I wouldn't recommend the glue renew process, it was a horrible headache and you shouldn't have to do it after <1 season. I'd take them back to where you got them and get some Ascension skins if you can. If not, warrantee them through G3...

Hope that's helpful.
Peter

My G3 skins don't work well at all, especially if it is warm. Although, when it is really cold, they seem to work alright.

I've had the same problemos with my G3 skins....the glue that comes with the skins is awful stuff...got my skins in mid-March last season, and this past weekend I finally gave up and reglued them with Ascension gold label adhesive.   Have an older pair of G3's (probably four years now), same problem when I got those...original glue was worthless after about half a season.

I really like the tail attachment system of the G3's way more than the BD attachment systems, and regluing doesn't take more than about ten minutes, so I don't mind the minor inconvenience.

Unless your original G3 glue is covered in dirt and pine needles...no need to cook off the old glue with an iron and heavy duty paper...just brush on a coat or two of Ascension glue and you'll be in good shape.

Also a good idea to carry some of those rubbery voile ski straps in your repair kit to lash your skins to your skis if they catastrophically fail in the middle of a tour.

To give you a clear answer I will need to know the location of your secret spot. I've had skins come off in well known areas but never in a secret stash.

Nooo I can't reveal the secret stash. But I did take my skins to have Pepi at my local shop (2nd Wind) feel them up for me. He said there was lots of glue on them but the little fuzzys were the problem and suggested I try to smear some more glue on. He referred me to a local skin head (no- I mean skin aficionado who will redo them from scratch for me for a tiny fee. I do take care these skins very well, I think it was the mileage in the spring that might have done it.

How is this ski guru? So many cheap skates, uhhh i mean thrifty bc users, could benifit from this mans skills. If the guru is anonamous then where do folks go to get the service done. I reglued skins once and NEVER again!

Who, not how

cheers

I am trying to get out of town to find some freshie up in the Idaho panhandle, and then up to Nelson, but 'Stormy' the cat has decided to hide out so we are forced to wait. . So anyway, I can't testify for the skins guy yet, cause I haven't got them back yet. He says he enjoys doing it. What can I say?

You can now drop your skins off at 2nd Wind Sports in Hood River to be reglued. The cost is $40 and you will normally have them back within 3 days.

Testimonial for the Hood River 2ND Wind Skin Guy: he did a really great job of re-gluing and I didn't have to go in to Portland to get them done, which is a huge issue around here. And he was fast. And I didn't have to do it myself; I can barely keep wax on my various boards. ;D

Testimonial for G3 skins: I like the tail attachment system, and the original glue worked fine in the PNW. When I reglued after 2 seasons I used BD Ascension glue---all the local shop had after I used up my old Coll-Tex squeeze tube. I didn't strip all the old glue, but just smoothed and thinned it by using the iron and a paper bag. The new glue works so well it's hard to rip the skins off the bases! I ran electrical tape down the middle of the skins to make them easie to pull.
After some bad experiences I religiously keep snow off during the day, use Skin Saver sheets for every run (tho the Scotsman thinks I'm nuts), and dry them thoroughly as soon as I get home.

I have a pair of G3s and, although the glue has seemed to be pretty good, have had a lot of problems with the tail tail system. It seems to come off quite frequently, particularly when I'm traversing up a slope and doing kick turns. I did reglue them once using the glue sheets that G3 markets. The glue worked well afterwards but it was a major pain to put it on as getting off the paper backing from the sheets proved to be quite difficult. I still prefer my BD Ascensions.