POMOCA

Buying a Pomoca skin is like being a kid in a candy shop: with so many sweet, fast-gliding, packable options, how can you go wrong? From the brand's humble roots outfitting the Austrian military with seal-hide ascension skins almost a century ago, Pomoca has grown into the world’s most comprehensive skin manufacturer, serving the needs of V02-maxing skimo racers and cliff-stomping freeriders with equal care and attention to detail. Now part of the OberAlp family of products, which also includes Dynafit and Salewa, we’ve seen impressive innovation in skin technology in the past few years, culminating in last year’s introduction of the Free Pro 2.0, Pomoca’s lightest and most packable skin yet.

The sleek design of a Pomoca skin starts with their industry-leading glue formulation, developed in collaboration with materials scientists from ETH Zurich, Europe’s leading technical university. Tacky to stay on ski bases, yet easy to pull apart during transitions, Pomoca’s glue  is simple to use yet sophisticated in its function, and meant to last through thousands -- millions! -- of transitions. Pomoca deploys two proprietary glues designed specifically for drier and more humid climates to match the needs of European and American skiers alike. Similarly, different skins use different mohair/nylon blends to perform best in different snowpacks and conditions. The main difference you will find between the skins is in their gripping properties, as a result of different fibers and fiber treatments. That said, even Pomoca’s grippiest, wet-condition skins glide ridiculously well and won’t hold you back on long, flat approaches, unlike the full-nylon skins (cough, Black Diamond Ascension, cough) that have held back backcountry skiers in the past.

At the fastest end of the uphill-skiing spectrum we offer Pomoca’s Race Pro 2.0 skin for those who spend cold winter mornings doing intervals and assessing their heart rate zones -- but also for anyone who loves to use a super-light race setup for any kind of ski touring. The Race Pro skins, which come in a 59mm and 62mm width, use an elastic tip attachment to pair with tip-notched race skis, such as the Transalp RC, as well as any other tip-notched sub-75mm touring ski. (For wider tip-notched touring skis, ask about a custom-built skin with a top fix!)

Dynafit’s most dependable, workhorse skins all cluster themselves in the Climb family, including the yellow Climb 2.0, blue Climb Pro S-Glide, and green Climb Pro Mohair. The Climb 2.0 is a perennial favorite for both skis and splitboards: a high-performance skin at an entry-level price, with dependable grip even on icy, steep skintracks. The Climb Pro S-Glide adds a special fiber treatment to the plush to provide water resistance and excellent performance in spring conditions. The S-Glide is the ideal “skied hard, put away wet” skin for those who would rather skin through meltwater channels than take off their skis during approaches. Both the 2.0 and the S-Glide use Pomoca’s house standard blend of 70% mohair and 30% nylon, the mohair (from Angora goats) providing fast and supple glide and the nylon adding durability and grip. The Climb Pro Mohair is a breed apart: a pure mohair skin for your powder-hunting setup and those once-a-winter trips to the Canadian Rockies or the Wasatch canyons. Once the sun comes out and the snow gets moist, the Mohair skin starts to lose its edge, but for cold powder it can’t be beat.

While all the Climb-series skins use the same sandwich of glue, backing and plush, the Free Pro 2.0 departs from the sandwich to use a thinner backing material, shaving precious grams and adding packability. 30% lighter for the same size than the Climb 2.0, the Free Pro is also much easier to stuff down your jacket during transitions than its slightly bulkier Pomoca siblings. As a 70/30 mohair/nylon blend skin, the Free Pro glides impressively fast yet stays water-repellant even on gloppy days. In terms of grip vs. glide feel on uphills, the Free Pro 2.0 tends to feel more like Pomoca’s Race skins than the Climb-series touring skins. We recommend the Free Pro 2.0 to folks who care the most about packability and light weight, especially on wider powder skis, while those who value grip and durability will do best with the Climb 2.0 and Climb Pro S-Glide. 

No matter who you are, skier or splitboarder, fast-and-light or slow-and-deliberate, you can count on a Pomoca skin to keep you charging uphill in the backcountry. While the Ready2Climb Pomoca skins come with tip loops and tail hooks attached right from the manufacturer, we also stock cut-to-length segments of skin material for those looking to build custom touring and race skins. Let us know what you need and we can build you set of high-performance skins!