question for ski mountaineers

1 110ish
2 <8lbs if possible
3. 185ish

6'1 165

Have skied: old gotamas, bluehouse districts, dps wailer 105s, wailer 99's and many others.

What I think is ideal for the way I like to ski: 100mm underfoot 185-190cm, flat to slight camber, stiff, slight rocker tip,  stiff, and most importantly DURABLE. My current favorite is the w99, it's slightly heavier than my old 105's but far more versatile w/o being too heavy. Full disclosure: I work for DPS, but I think my generalities hold true for other skis as well.

Which volcano?

For me personally, it would be 95mm (but I'd rather take 85mm or 75mm), 3,000 grams/pair without bindings (but I'd rather take 2,600 grams/pair - or less), 178cm (but I'd rather take 169). It depends a lot on how fit and tall you are, and how balanced a skier.

This is all awesome info folks, keep it rollin in!

Greg, if you want to get specific with different answers for different big peaks, go right ahead! As for the other question, I had folks stating their own height to give their answer a framework. For ability let's assume the hypothetical me is somewhere north of awesome (meaning, remove that as a variable).

Here comes a curveball....

In the spring/summer, the skiing is mostly on consolidated snow, so the mechanics of skiing is mostly ski EDGE oriented, not ski SURFACE AREA oriented... Meaning you are ON the snow, not IN the snow..... and the parameters of buying a specific ski for those conditions are completely different than buying a winter snow ski......

I am over 6'2" and about 210lbs. In winter snow, all of my skis are 185 +, with the exception of my "bump skis" which are 182cm.  My go to skis in soft condtions are 193cm early tip rise, 112mm underfoot, big mt ski design, so I normally ski on a long, challenging performance ski.

In the spring, I ski a short superlight ski about 80mm underfoot. It's a 170cm dynafit seven summit.  It weighs 5.6lbs for the pair. It's superlight, manuverable, and holds an edge well. When I bought it, I was looking for ~180cm length, but decided to give it a try purely for the reduction in weight.  On hardpack snow, there's no performance penalty using a shorter ski. It's lighter, kick turns easier and 80 underfoot gives you much better edging leverage than 110 underfoot....

I don't see any reason to drag extra weight uphill in the spring, especially if it's a rockered tip that never even touches the snow or extra width that reduces your leverage when you anglulate to set your edge......

......my $.02....

Meaning you are ON the snow, not IN the snow..... and the parameters of buying a specific ski for those conditions are completely different than buying a winter snow ski......

......my $.02....

I agree completely.

I agree completely.

And I agree with your agreement. For me, it's all about narrow, light, stiff and short for a volcano ski.