Thoughts on approach skis?

A snowboarding friend of mine is tired of snowshoeing but isn't a fan of split-boards either. Any thoughts on approach skis?
I'm an AT'er so other than learning to ski I've got no advice for him.

Saw lots of boarders in Canada with thrift-shop wooden kid's skis like Kastles cut down to about 3' long.  Most just used pieces of old skins permanently attached, but one straight-up type was using indoor-outdoor carpet!  They seemed to work OK in mixed groups at not trashing the skiers' skin track, but were pretty useless breaking their own trail in deeper snow.

Approach skis suck - end of story.

Saw lots of boarders in Canada with thrift-shop wooden kid's skis like Kastles cut down to about 3' long.  Most just used pieces of old skins permanently attached, but one straight-up type was using indoor-outdoor carpet!  They seemed to work OK in mixed groups at not trashing the skiers' skin track, but were pretty useless breaking their own trail in deeper snow.

What year was this? Sounds like a scene from 10 years ago! Which is where approach skis should be left.....

Just curious why he doesn't like splitboards? Has he ridden one? The only difference I notice in riding my split vs regular board is the bindings on my split are set farther back than on my regular board. Many of the new boards bindings can be centered if that is an issue.

you could contact Mammoth Mountaineering, in Mammoth Lakes, CA. they'd have the info you need