Fat Ski Skinning

I skinned all weekend at Hyak with my Dukes/Megas and had an absolute blast, except that the damn wet snow kept jamming up the track on the Dukes making getting into ski mode a super hassel.

The double ejection mode on those Dukes works VERY well, as you found.

As for the question at hand, it's all good product, just how much weight you are willing to carry.

Buy the boot, bindings and skis and rip it up!! Unless you're hauling that rig up Rainier don't sweat the weight.

That being said, while skinning up Rainier last year I met a guy from AK with some monster skis, Dukes and apparently elephantiasis of the balls.

Don't have too much of an opinion about the setup, accept that I've seen people humping the heavy gear in all sorts of spots, including the Alpental Randonee Rally.  Buy what you think you'll use and expect to fine tune it over time.  Get a pair of AT boots that are beefy enough to push a big ski, make sure they have Dynafit fittings, then rent a pair of Dynafit skis for touring when you're ready to feel the weight difference.

Do you have a beacon, shovel and probe already?  I'd expect yes since you took AIARE 1, but if not, drop the money on that stuff first...

The double ejection mode on those Dukes works VERY well, as you found.

I've elevated it to an art form.

I wouldn't sweat running the Dukes as in-bounds binders, but I would worry about any other AT binding.

The ski width will be a pain, but you're not proposing to do that much so just enjoy it. Replace the setup in a few years if you find you really like touring. I've noticed that the skin tracks are getting wider and steeper every year, and having a giant ski with full width skins sure DOES help in staying on a lot of the tracks...

AT boots dont do much, I've found that the switch from DH boots has just weakened my legs...

I take my Goliaths and Dukes on any day trip under 5000 vert, and very rarely get passed by people. I tend to tour with people that aren't as fit, so I've never found the extra weight to be a problem.

Just get something... the snows good!

H2O from Praxis.

That's right up there around the upper end of big powder skis.

For what it's designed for it's going to be unbelievable.

For everything else it's compromised to a greater or lesser degree.

For your stated "50/30/20 inbound/side/back split" and to add to a quiver of Salomon Guns I don't think it's a great pick from the currently available bigger skis that are on the market.