Duke and EP Pro Skinning?

F

=FLO=

Active member
My thread on TGR - could not hurt to ask here, not gettin much help there

I am putting a Marker Duke on an EP Pro, has anyone skinned on a Hellbent or EP Pro? Does the lack of contact area make skinning difficult? I am sure it has to, but would like more info.

Also, on the Marker site is says that Crampons are available for the Duke, has anyone seen these? Would these help? The accesories page is not yet available, so i can not get much info. Any help is much appreciated!

FYI- not doing many all day hikes, mostly Sled accessed loops in Crested Butte BC.
 
I saw a guy skinning around on Pontoons a few times last year and it didn't look like he was having a very good time. Your contact patch will be smaller, and I'm sure you know the side effects of that. But for just quick skins or breaking trail you should be fine.
 
with the rocker i could see it beingpretty hard to keep a straight line and would get very tiring skinning with such heavy skis.
 
Heavy? I wouldnt call any of those skis heavy man. Its ounces different than a park ski in reality... because its made super floppy.

and you should be fine on EPs because they arent a full rockered ski. early rise system, so its a little more contact area in the middle. still tough to keep in the tracks because of their size though...
 
I think the contact area of the ep pro is about 90 cm or something like that, so I would think it would be pretty hard. maybe you should look at something else...Line offers tons of fat skis that would work great
 
skinning involves a releasable heel and a chamois type material "skin" that clips onto the tip and tail of your ski making the base sticky insteady of slippery. this lets you climb with your skis as if you were on xc skis. then, once you get to the top, you remove the skis, lock out the bindings, and ski down normal downhill style.

as for the first question: i'm sure it would be less than ideal, but i don't see it being too horrible. i haven't skinned with anything wider than 95 underfoot and the ski was certaily not rockered, but i think the struggles that would be incurred on the ascent would be more than worthwhile to have a ski of that nature for the freshie descent. like i said, i don't have any experience with such a ski, but it can't be that bad.
 
are you shitting me? have you ever lifted a pair of helbents? there ginormous! they wiehg probly double what my invaders weigh! i cant say anything about the ep-pros because i have yet to pick up a pair, but i am guessing they are fairly heavy also.

i would reccomend a different pair for touring other than rockers...if you dont need twins then look into some g3 baron's or reverands.
 
Yes of course it won't be ideal, but well worth it on the way down, i am just curious about the crampons
 
it sounds to me like no one that has replied has really skinned before. you will be fine. the only part of the ski even traditional that sticks when you are skinning is right around your foot anyway. I put dukes on my new Prophet 130's for the same use sled and resort access. If you are skinning with the dukes weight is all ready is blown out the window but if you are using the touring minimally it is an ideal set-up especially for hucking. dont worry about the crampons unless you are crossing ice to get to the deep, I have never worried about crampons on any of my past AT bindings because I am not crossing glaciers while ski mountaineering or skiing ice. maybe that will help?
 
Thank God finally someone who knows what is up, you are right, the tip and tail are not that effective when skinning. Thanks for the thoughts, ++++++++Karma for you!!!
 
thanks, I forgot to mention that the crampons dont even come wide enough for the EP Pro. good luck sounds like a sick set up to me.
 
Ya and i just talked to a lady at marker, she said they are on backorder until the end of the season
 
The tip doesn't really do much, but if you're going up something steep the tail definitely does a lot of work. I don't see any harm in giving it a shot though, if you don't like how they work you can just mount the skis alpine and get something else.
 
my buddy has this exact setup (hellbent with duke), its reasonably light and he said it wasn't even that bad to skin with... but they ski themselves through pow so even if it is a little harder, the reward is too good.
 
if your planning on landing switch with your ep's if you do put dukes on them, i've heard the plastic piece that keeps the binding out of touring mode snaps when you land switch
 
yea.... the name of the game in skinning is, the larger the footprint the steeper the slope you can ascend.. so w/ only about 1/2 the ski actually making contact w/ the ground (and putting pressure on the skin -- which creates grip w/ the snow) you would struggle going up anything very steep
 
not to mention that from what my back country guiding teacher was telling me the wider the ski the worse it is for skinning, so ep pros aren't ideal at all. If you can break trail it'd probably be a lot more enjoyable.
 
I'd more wonder about skin attachment. BD's XL tip loops barely fit on my Seths.

What do people do with larger tips than 130 mm? You might be forced to create your own tip loop? Or G3 has the hooks which might not be as encumbered by tip width?
 
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