Off the back, need help choosing new sticks

Hello! I need some assistance with skis. For reasons not relevant to this post, I've been away for the sport with the exception of a few days a year for a few years now. I'm now off the back and am a bit overwhelmed with all the ski options. So without further ado, my vitals:

Locations: Denver, Colorado
Age: 32
Sex: Male
Height: 5'9

I grew up skiing. Went to a ski academy. Skied in college before getting bit by the backcountry bug. I have a pair of marker Dukes to be paired with whatever ski I choose. I've preferred a slightly stiffer and longer ski in the past. I'll likely be splitting my time 50/50 between lifts (loveland mostly) and the skin track. Dynafit and associated weight weenie stix need not apply. I'll gladly deal with the extra weight on the way up for DH performance. Lastly, I may have a good in with Volkl so perhaps start there and provide me a little calibration in terms of what I need in a ski. Many thanks!

Come on folks. I might be new here but I'm not new to the forum format. This is your chance to geek out. That's why we are all here right? ;)

Want Volkl? Get Katanas. One of the best one ski quivers out there. Heavy, but nimble, considering their sturdiness. Consider also the Blizzard Cochise, Kastle BMX 108, ON3P Vicik, and Moment Belafonte. These are the gold standard of stiff, stable, do-it-all skis. Unless you want to go fatter.

Now use the search function. There are many reviews of all these skis

Praxis gpo. Boom

My short list:

Hoji
Praxis Concept
and chicken's aforementioned gpo.

I demo'ed Cochises last year, didn't like them but ymmv. My daily driver is the Concept...

And yeah, now go search and read.

Sent from a rotary phone.

Dude if you really want a kick ass ski you should check out Rax skis!! Tons of us on here ski them. They are bad ass!

Peep them, you won't be sorry: :smile:
http://www.raxski.com/

Praxis GPO
Squad 7

Fatypus D-Sender. Light, poppy, local.

ETA: Go demo some shit. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Vwerks Katana.

Vicik, Katahna, GPO, Sickle, Lhasa, RPC, Kastle BMX98, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by I've seen black diamonds!

These are the gold standard of stiff, stable, do-it-all skis. Unless you want to go fatter.

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Hmmm, perhaps. Couple of my friends are doing the 110 underfoot thing and both said they wish their skis were more like 120.

Thanks for the help. I know where to start.

Plenty of great fatter skis too. Bibby's, Billy Goats, GPO, RPC...

It's a matter of personal preference.

Katanas in the longer versions (191-197) for charging performance or in 184 for fun versatility. They are comming with titanal, but in 184 they are quite nimble yet abel to take some speed.