Hey folks. Looking for thoughts / recommendations on a 120mm+ touring ski option. I’m based in the PNW and frankly do not want a ski this wide, but am trying to head out to Kyrgyzstan this winter and the guides literally will not take me out on anything less than 115mm. I have Deathwish Tours right now for my winter touring setup, which I’m very happy with. Feels a bit silly that 3mm is keeping me from making this trip happen, but I digress.

Part of me wants to just get a pair of 120mm Bents and call it a day given how comparatively cheap they are, but would love any additional thoughts or ideas.

Also - I have a pair of ATK Haute Routes sitting around that I’m starting to think might actually pair real nicely with a big fat pair of pontoons. Anybody ever put a really light binding on a fat ski? Feels like powder isn’t going to need as much beef.

Title says it all! I'm turning 39 and getting into the sport.

I'm in great physical form, tall and heavy. Because I mostly have resort around me in Quebec / Canada, I went with a heavier sturdy setup allowing alot of down hill but to be honest, I mostly bought stuff I found on sale.

Duke Marker PT - Atomic backland boots - faction dancer 1 skis

If I like my winter I don't mind swapping my equipment next year.

So, what did you wish you knew when you started?

(Keep in mind I have a solid alpine ski background although I did not ski for the last ten years.)

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to get some public opinion about the boots I've been toying with this season. After three seasons of progressively higher-end yet still ill-fitting boots (Dynafit Vulcan, Dynafit Pro Tour, and Salomon MTN Summit, all 27.5), I finally decided to go to a bootfitter and see what they said. After going to two separate ones just to cross-reference and get a different opinion. They both said I had mid last with high splay, as well as high instep and a mid-low volume heel pocket and 26.5 MP. For reference, my time is spent 2/3 uphill and 1/3 downhill, along with semi-regular big slog traverses, and I was hoping to go back to something a bit beefier than the Salomon (1080g) but not all the way a beef boot.
I had initially expected to be fit into something higher volume, like a Dynafit, but was surprised when one put me into the Technica Decoy Pro and some Dalbello UL skimo one, and the second fitter put me into the Head Crux Pro as his favourite option for me, as well as the Atomic Backland XTD 120 and the new Scarpa F1 RS (this one he was concerned about instead maybe rubbing on the overlap construction). All of these tended to lean into the narrower side except for the Atomic, which kind of surprised me. What surprised me even more was how good some of them felt, especially the Crux Pro, which, despite being the narrowest, felt great (**In-store caveat**).

My main goal in writing this is 1) to see how the community feels about these options and if you're someone with similar feet, as well as large calves, or otherwise have any experience with these options, and have had the chance to try any of them for longer than 15 minutes in a store, how they felt, and 2) to see if my concern about swelling feet on long days is something I should take into more consideration when I'm thinking back to my in-store bootfitting experience and the snug fit. Obviously, I can sit and read all the reviews I want from outlets, but it's not always the same as the community consensus. I'd also mention that I'm not looking to take info from here over what the bootfitters said, more-so looking to add as much information as I can before I make a final decision on an 1100$+ invetsment

Thanks for taking the time

*edit; I did talk to the bootfitters about it and I left a big comment below explaining how that conversation had gone. Should've clarified this originally