So here is the situation: I currently have a superlight AT setup for peak bagging: BD Quadrant boot, BD Aspect Skis, Dynafit TLT bindings. Happy with that, but not so great on powder days...

My downhill setup is 2010 Volkl Gotamas with some Solomon bindings they came with (not sure what model).

I was looking to get an AT setup more useful for powder days, and after eyeballing a pair of 4frnt YLE's for a while pulled the trigger. Specs here:
http://www.evo.com/skis/4frnt-yle.aspx
They are are symmetrical powder skis designed to be center mounted. I also got a pair of Marker Dukes and planned to mount them on the YLE's.

However, after talking to a few people, some have recommended putting the Marker Dukes on the Gotamas and using that as my powder AT setup, and just keeping the YLE's for the resorts.

What are your thoughts on this? Worth it to swap bindings to make Gotamas my AT setup vs YLE's? Thanks for the input!

You bought skis that are over 10 lbs. how is that a powder backcountry ski? Powder resort definitely, where your skiing fast through chopped up tracks and moguls, chasing snowboarders. I don't see the difference between any of these big heavy alpine skis. Line, Gotama...your just not going to skin that far with them. And Marker Duke bindings are ridiculously heavy and also hard to operate sometimes.

I would say keep your alpine skis as is, and get another pair of dynafit skis on some fatter 8lb or less pair of powder backcountry skis. Problem is there aren't many. Voile, new BD Justice, or next year's Dynafit are the only viable choices I know of.

_________________
Mike Schwartz
www.thebackcountry.net
mike@thebackcountry.net

I kind of agree that the heavy skis are going to work against your enjoyment of big powder days in the backcountry even though they will float great. I don't mean to be dogmatic about it, but if the goal is getting multiple laps in -- or even just maximum enjoyment of one big lap -- going wide-but-light as Mike says is key, and Volkls plus Dukes does not end up in the light category.

In addition to the skis he mentioned, I'd say the current Dynafit Stoke and BD Drift are well qualified for powder. You don't have to go as big/wide as the Justice in BD's lineup to get good flotation. I ski a pair of Drifts with Dynafits and they do everything well. They're too soft for some people's preferences, and if you're in that camp then the Stoke is about the same weight, shape, and width but stiffer. I have used the Stoke on some very firm days and found them just as capable on hardpack, when necessary, as they are in powder.

Naturally there is still one thing that only heavy skis can do well: that would be laying down smooth fast lines in terrible bad snow, like variable density or hard refrozen chowder with lots of tracks frozen into it and lots of chunky stuff. That's something that those big bad skis are going to do well, and the light backcountry boards are not. But ask yourself when you will encounter that stuff in the backcountry... basically never unless you go exactly when and where everyone else does and don't pick the best days or routes.

There are always some skiers who are just such incredible athletes that the weight of their rig just doesn't hold them back. If you're that sort, don't let me and Mike hold you back and don't think we're preaching or being "weight weenies". It's just that we're going to give this standard advice when someone asks, assuming we don't know them specifically.