PNW Quiver?

After losing one powder ski last year and with my daily drivers showing their age I'm trying to, quickly, figure out a new two to three ski quiver for this season. And I'm finding the amount of options overwhelming!

My preference is for skis that can do double duty inbounds and outbounds so my plan is to mount them all with Dynafits (likely Radical FT or Vertical FT). I'm using a Dynafit Titan boot.

Here's what I'm considering after trolling through some old threads here.

Powder ski (inbounds on epic days, heliskiing, day touring): I borrowed my buddies old Pontoons and loved them more than my new Darksides (the ski I lost). Any other big boards to consider? Thinking G3 Empire?

Daily driver (days with <6" new inbounds and out, day and multi-day touring): I'm equally happy ripping groomers as getting after powder stashes. I'm considering either the Coombacks or Sidestashs.

Spring volcano ski: On a Dynafit Manaslu now. Probably something slimmer would be more appropriate?

The vast majority of my days are at Crystal, Stevens, Alpental and Whistler so only the Cascade's finest snow.

Thoughts on the ideal 2-3 ski PNW in/outbounds quiver? Thanks!

ok, I'll bite, not knowing your height, weight, skiing style, strength, or endurance LOL

Powder: DPS RP112 Pure, or if you can't afford it and don't plan to tour too much with it, one of the Rossi S7 series, or if you are old school, K2 Obsethed  .

Daily Driver: Kastle  (use their ski finder) to choose among MX (say MX 88) or LX (say LX 92) series--why consider for multi-day touring?  Maybe look at the Wailer 99 Pure (but it has had mixed reviews). If touring is real important (you want to span big uses) try Volkl Amaruqs, altho the LX and FX Kastles aren't that way heavy.

Spring Volcano/Multi-day touring:  lots of options.  I have the Manaslu but I use either a Volkl Snowwolf or Dynafit 7-summits for spring snow--I like the narrow waists 76-80; Silas likes his tiny little Movement Randoms (or try an X-Random).  But plenty of people use big skis.  The Kastle TX-87 was picked best in the touring class by a leading yurpski mag.

Not that I know what I'm talking about (IMHO), just bored LOL

Oh yeah, putting my money where my mouth is, my PNW quiver:

Lift-served, with alpine bindings: 191 2011 Volkl Mantra, 188 Rossi S7, 184 Kastle LX 92.
Backcountry with tech bindings: Dynafit (187 Manaslu, 182 Stoke, 178 7-Summit), 184 Volkl Snowwolf; 191 Karhu Guide. With 3-pins: 191 Madshus Epoch, 190 Fischer Outtabounds.

Spring volcano ski: On a Dynafit Manaslu now. Probably something slimmer would be more appropriate?

Big volcano ski lines in early Spring can be pow up top, corn in the middle, and slop down low. Too slim is a recipe for sadness in the slop. What don't you like about the Manaslu? Weight? Edge grip?

Here's a "spring volcano ski" thread:
www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboardi...ex.php?topic=24319.0

Two ski quiver
resort and side country ski with barons
Hart Outback 105 178 cm
all day backcountry ski with dynafit vertical st no brakes
Volkl Explosive 180 cm
This set up also works all over the west, nothing pontoon size here.

After long internal deliberations I decided on a 4 ski quiver: hard pack lift ski, soft snow lift ski, spring touring ski, winter touring ski. Here's what I've got now:

Lift:
Apache Recon (Might not buy again because they aren't a great PNW ski, but they are great for non-new snow lift days)
Gotamas - new to me this year and I haven't even skied them yet, super excited to get em on once I get a powder day on the lifts.

Touring:
Shuksans with dynafits - great ski for late spring and summer. They can be a little tricky in super sloppy snow, but nothing that's not manageable.
Coombacks with dynafits - Love these skis. Personally, I wouldn't want anything bigger for touring. I don't think you can beat them at their price point.

The bottom line is that if your wife (or lift partner or whatever) doesn't think you have too many skis, then you don't have enough!

If I had to go to two pairs tomorrow, I would probably pick the Coombacks and Gotamas. If I could keep a third it would be the Shuksans.

@Andrew 5'10", 175 lbs, fit, I ski 30-40 days a year. I have been eyeing the DPS and Kastle skis. Don't know if I want to drop that much money though. By the time you add up skis + bindings + skins it is a pricey package . I'll check out the other recos.

since i'm procrastinating studying...

quick info: 6'1", 175 lbs, pretty much only touring
boot: titan UL

daily driver: 187 PM Gear Bro fat. <9lbs for the pair of skis before bindings, work on everything. mounted with dynafit ST w/o brakes

deep pow: 190 Praxis pow boards, will be mounted with dynafit speeds on swap plates

lightweight touring/consolidated snow ski: unknown at this time, thinking something like g3 spitfire, ski logik piton, etc will be mounted with the dynafit speed on inserts

Same height/weight as Kevino. 

Powder Ski: Snowboard (Ride Slackcountry)

Daily driver: K2 Sidestash 181 with Dynafits

Touring: Atomic Aspect 176 with Dynafits, www.telemark-pyrenees.com/en/atomicaspect1213-p-77509.html

Fitness laps/Rando races: Atomic Ultimate 160 with Dynafits, www.telemark-pyrenees.com/en/atomicultimate1213-p-75633.html

Motorcycle (summer) skis:  Atomic 130 with Dynafits, also fun as ice skates when it's ultafirm.

DPS Wailer 112 RP 190cm w/ Dukes
80% of ski days
for resort skiing and side country

Atomic Atlas 193cm w/ 916s
15% of ski days
for early season, rock skis, and deep powder

Volkl Gotama 190cm (white ones) w/ Dukes
5% of ski days
for firm ski touring or ski touring with high chance of hitting rocks, but more often the skis I lend to buddies without an AT setup

Armada Pipe Cleaners 181cm w/ Tyrolia Mojo 15
5% of ski days
slush bumps, dedicated groomer days, ice, and park

next purchase will be DPS Wailer 99 w Dynafits

5'10" 180 lbs

Resort:
Head Raptor 130 rd boots
Hard snow: 180 Head Mojo 94
Soft snow: 195 Praxis Powder Boards

Touring:
Dynafit Zzeus boots
Spring/Distance: 177 Movement Pariah (126-92-113)
Everything else: 186 PM Gear Lhasa Pow (140-112-120) Best ski I've probably ever ridden, it's light, stable and stiff. Destroys everything it's path yet doesn't beat you up after a long day skiing on them. I am a huge fan.

6', 155 lbs, sometimes I have a beer gut.

Last season I added 190 Wailer 112's to my 183 Bro's and 185 Armada ARG's to fill the gap between stiff cambered ski and pow ski. It's since become my ski of choice unless the powder is bottomless or i'm skiing inbounds on icy groomers. I did a traverse of the olympics last spring on the Bro's and was wishing i had the 112's the whole time. After that it also became my ski of choice for volcanoes.

My suggestion would be to drink the kool-aid and get 112's. Buy a used pair of explosiv's for $100 and a used pair of Praxis Pows or DPS 138's. Put cheap alpine bindings on the explosiv, put plates on the 112's and 138's.

My suggestion would be to drink the kool-aid and get 112's. Buy a used pair of explosiv's for $100 and a used pair of Praxis Pows or DPS 138's. Put cheap alpine bindings on the explosiv, put plates on the 112's and 138's.

This. If you've got the dough, Wailer 99s are a killer volcano/spring ski and a little easier to deal with in skin tracks and icier stuff, though the 112s are better than you'd think in those situations.

Me:
184 99s/sollyfit (long tours, volcanos)
184 112s/sollyfit (powder days inbounds or out)
183 Katana/sth14 (crud, mank, inbounds charging)
178 Megawatt/sollyfit (rock skis)
176 Legend Pro/Axial (high pressure, ice. Too short. Need to sell these)

Having one ski with metal in it is a must for me.

I'm got
174 cm coombas with threaded inserts and dynafit St's for lighter touring/spring
182 Atomic Atlas with plates for my Sth16 for inbounds day to day and dynafit for deep touring days
186 Moment Night Trains with rossi 14's for deep days

I really enjoy the flexibility the plates provide. If you could afford to scrap one pair of skis by going with lhasa's or 112's then that makes up for the additional cost. For an inbounds setup I would stay away from the coomback due to its light weight, and instead go with the hardside or the sidestash.
I've heard great things about the Rocker2 and the Pon2oon for deep deep days. Personally I wouldn't go narrower than 90mm for a spring volcano ski, but that's just me.

I like keeping it simple.

Powder - K2 Coombacks - toured with these in the Wallowas over a week, awesome response, a bit heavy however. Axl with BD Push.

Everything else - BD Crossbows. Not bad in the deep, holds and edge, not too heavy. Vesper, Shuksan, Glacier, Rainier, etc. Old T2s with Hammerhead.

The bottom line is that if your wife (or lift partner or whatever) doesn't think you have too many skis, then you don't have enough!

Now that's the best ski inventory theory I have ever heard. I kind of use that same theory for seeing Grateful Dead shows, if my wife isnt complaining then I can catch another one or two. LOL.

K2 Coombacks 174... have pretty much sealed the deal for me here in the nw. That's coming off a racing setup. I banged up my cooms this summer from the volcano tour and was bummed to think about replacing them. But with my new tuning bench, they are repaired and ready again.

Then... I found last year's model unmounted in 174's for $309.00 delivered to my door from a small shop in aspen. I snagged em and am happy to have a new set in wrappers ready to go anytime. Just need to mount.

I've been happy with them in and out of bounds. Been great sticks for me...

I don't like this thread. I think it exposes my addiction.

Rock Skis - Atomic REXs, Touring - Dynafit Manasuls, "Fitness" Atomic Tour Guides, Skate Skis - Rossi ???, Lift Skis - Volkl Gotamas, CityLeague Skis - Atomic Beta

No wonder I feel like I'm always waxing....

I have a 3 ski quiver right now but it seems to mostly come down to one pair...

1) Praxis Pows w/ alpine bindings - I think these are the funnest skis I have ever owned. They are unbelievable. Are these the best ski ever made?

2) Surface Live Life w/ dynafits - For winter touring or just fine on lifts. Not too heavy for a big ski (150-120-110 I think) and rocker camber rocker profile is nice, just not quite as nice as raging on the Powderboards. I think I need some stiffer touring boots.

3) Trab duo freerando - Nice and light but I have a hard time getting stoked on these skis. I'd probably use them for spring & summer volcanoes but I have pretty young kids and haven't had as much opportunity the last couple years.

Hey Matt,
Dunno if you remember but I had Voile Drifters last year on Chair peak. Can't think of a lighter or cheaper BC pow ski than those surfboards. 130mm waist, IIRC. Not the best for inbounds days though due to the low weight.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, clearly the answer is a bigger quiver .

Joking aside, I feel like I just need to up the waist size on my daily driver expectations.

DPS 112 seems like a go-to daily driver that does everything. Lots of love for the Praxis Pow for deep deep days. More of you are rocking plates or other binding transfer setups than I would have guessed.

For those rocking Dynafit in and out of bounds. ST versus FT? Is FT worth the extra money?

How about some 171 ON3P Caylor blems? Never mounted, new, can't tell they're blems for $350? My favorite daily driver ski for the last 3 seasons (longer for me but a super fun and versatile ski) that has seen the highest percentage of snow time and I have a reasonable quiver.

Alright.  I will chime in.  (all except trab have inserts installed for sollyfit plates. The trabs just have inserts installed for my plum bindings.)

Rock skis - atomic tm:x, or old school 188 pm gear bros.  depending on conditions.
Resort - 186 ON3P billy goats. Super fun in all conditions.  They take a little finesse on the hardback, but more than make up for it on everything else.
Tour/Resort- 186 PM gear Lhasa pow, 188 DPS Wailer 105.   I am sure there is some overlap in there somewhere... I just can't decide which pair to get rid of.  I love them both.
Long tours -  185 Trab Stelvio XL Light.  Haven't mounted these yet. 

I keep thinking about getting a dedicated powder board, but have found my lhasa pows to do pretty well.

[overlap disclaimer] Through a variety of circumstances I have ended up with what I am sure many would consider quiver overlap. If I had to bail on gear tomorrow and limit it to three pairs of skis, I would keep the DPS, Blizzards and the Explosiv's. I don't however so the gear whoring will continue [/overlap disclaimer]

Boots Touring: BDL Methods with stiffening spoilers (these will probably get replaced with Mercury's)
Boots Alpine: Flexon's, Techinca plug boots

Pow:
DPS - L-120 Pures (190cm) with swap plates - Touring, side country and inbounds (awesome Spring ski too).
PM Gear Lhasa's (191) with swap plates - powder touring go to

Deep wet fresh:
Pon2oons/Jesters - Inbounds/side country only at this time, may add swap plates though for low angle touring

Daily drivers:
Blizzard Cochise 185cm with Dukes - inbounds/side country

Mixed conditions/firm snow:
Volkl Explosiv 190's with dukes - Inbounds/side country
Volkl Bridge with Jesters

Hard snow:
Volkl P20 GS - inbounds

Spring touring:
Atomic Charter 186cm with swap plates

Rock boards:
Volkl Explosiv's 190cm
Volkl Gotama's 189cm

Long boards (210>):
Numerous

Woohoo
My Ski quiver is amazing

Epic Pow days
174cm K2 Way back with Dynafit bindings and TLT5 Performance boots

Crappy Pow days
174cm K2 Way back with Dynafit bindings and TLT5 Performance boots

Great in-bounds days
174cm K2 Way back with Dynafit bindings and TLT5 Performance boots

Touring Volcanoes
174cm K2 Way back with Dynafit bindings and TLT5 Performance boots

Multi-Day Tours
174cm K2 Way back with Dynafit bindings and TLT5 Performance boots

I know, quiet the line-up there, but, it's hard to find the right ski

The way backs at a 88mm waist seem to fit a really good groom of the middle of everything. Not to small, not to large, good enough you can cut edges on groomers and fun enough in the pow.

Though I'm still new to skiing, I'll probably opt later to get a 110 waist or greater and a < 80 waist for summer days.

I really do at some point want to get a Marker or another binding I can use in-bounds and ski harder with jumping (when I get that good) and some easy side country tours if I plan on it.

Alright, here's mine: Powder touring ski - Dynafit Huascaran/Plum Guide/Dynafit Mercury. Daily Lift-Served Driver - Atomic Automatic/FFG16/Lange RS130. All-around winter touring ski - Dynafit Manaslu/Plum Guide/TLT5P. Spring and summer touring ski - Dynafit Mustagh Ata Superlight/Plum Guide/TLT5P.

Slightly over the three ski limit, but my wife seems OK with it . . .

there's a 3 ski limit? well then I'm forked.

Epic Pow days:
Whatever ski is under my feet. It's a POWDER day and therefore going to be Epic.

Crappy Pow days:
What are you talking about? It's a POW day therefore by definition can not crappy; the only true Crappy Pow days are when I am working instead of skiing pow.

Great in-bounds days:
Great in-bounds days are defined by the size of the line I am forced to wait in, not the skis my feet are attached to. No/minimal line means it is a Great in-bounds day.

Touring Volcanoes:
Maybe best done in a VW Westfalia...

Multi-Day Tours:
Sigh....I wish I had that kind of time.

Epic Pow days:
Whatever ski is under my feet. It's a POWDER day and therefore going to be Epic.

Crappy Pow days:
What are you talking about? It's a POW day therefore by definition can not crappy; the only true Crappy Pow days are when I am working instead of skiing pow.

Great in-bounds days:
Great in-bounds days are defined by the size of the line I am forced to wait in, not the skis my feet are attached to.  No/minimal line means it is a Great in-bounds day.

Touring Volcanoes:
Maybe best done in a VW Westfalia...

Multi-Day Tours:
Sigh....I wish I had that kind of time.

So, L-120 then...

My quiver

PNW powder touring- Mt Baker superlights/silvretta 404 bindings/Garmont megarides.
PNW powder resort- Mt Baker superlights/fritschi bindings/Garmont Adrenalin's
PNW spring touring- Mt Baker superlights/targa telemark bindings/ Scarpa T2's

PNW powder touring- Mt Baker superlights/silvretta 404 bindings/Garmont meagrides.
PNW powder resort- Mt Baker superlights/fritschi bindings/Garmont Adrenalin's
PNW spring touring- Mt Baker superlights/targa telemark bindings/ Scarpa T2's

Do you really have 3 pair?  :

My Baker Superlights were decent in fresh powder but left me wanting under any other circumstance.  I needed something with more torsional stability to deal with the thicker stuff that's so common around here.  The Atomic Aspect, (and predecessor the RT86) are nearly identical weight and dimensions as the Baker SL, but a firmer flex.