Hey Freg,
I was in the same place last year. I got setup with a pair of Atomic RT86s, Marker Baron Bindings, and some Scarpa touring boots of which I can't remember the name, but they're bright yellowish-green and wonderfully ugly (you buy the boots that fit your feet - who cares what they look like?). If I had to do it over, I'd probably get Fritschi or Dynafit bindings. Love the skis and boots, though. Plenty light to tour with, stable enough to ski steep stuff. I've begun to hate transitions because you have to step out of the barons to switch from tour to ski mode, but they'll do for now.
I pretty much stuck to resorts in the winter and then would tour in the late spring/summer when the snow was isothermal which meant Camp Muir or around the Baker Backcountry (Blueberry Chutes, I think the area is called), or for a few weeks in the spring after the lifts stopped turning at Alpental or Bachelor but the snow still remained. Last winter, I took a Level I Avalanche class through Mountain Madness which has finally given me the confidence to head into the backcountry during the winter which thus far has just been a few choice weekends down at Paradise when my work schedule has permitted.
Things I've got my eye on:
Castle Saddle at Rainier ASAP
Mt. St. Helen's in March or April when a high pressure system moves in
Silver Star after Highway 20 opens in the spring
South Sister after the Cascade Lakes Highway opens in Spring
In general, it seems like when the snow is dumping in the winter, it's plenty of fun to just run laps some place convenient. In the spring, when roads open up, bigger objectives are easier to get to plus the sun sets later which makes for a better experience. Then in the summer, you pretty much ski whatever snow is left at Muir until the first snow falls in the Fall. There are plenty of folks who will hit big objectives in the winter, though. I'm just not confident in my skills to do that sort of thing yet.
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