Which ski for Colorado?

Sorry, one more question: what's the best binding for the Mantra?

Thank you,

Ed

The Mantra will do most everything that a 80mm ski will do.  If you want a narrower ski, go with something in the mid70s, or go to a GS cheater ski.

My quiver is a Fischer RC GS ski which I'm skiing right now, an AC40 that I'm not sure I like anymore, and the Mantras.  If I were to do it again, I wouldn't have both the Mantra and the AC40.

Mike

I'd go the opposite -- I'd treat the Mantra as the daily driver, and get a true powder ski as the second.

As for the bindings, they're not ski specific.  Jim's suggestions are strong.  Personally, I like Tyrolia (/Head/Fischer/Elan/4FNT/etc.) these days, any model with the Aero (race) toe, which generally means 13+ DIN, but Look/Rossi/Roxy are my preferred alternative, and I like my Marker Dukes (and would be fine with the other Royalty series) fine and would go for them more often if they didn't cost me 2-3x what I ordinarily spend.

The Mantra IS your ski to rip the groomers.  If you want something narrower and more "carvy" you don't want an 85 waist....  In order to find something significantly better than the Mantra on the groomers, you need a race ski.  Get a consumer GS.

I think you'll find the Mantra plenty good, though.  Get something wider for your second ski.  110 waist or so, and maybe a little rocker.  Gotama?  Blizzard Answer?

I own the AC30 (the 76mm waisted one from a couple of seasons ago).  It rips hard pack groomers.  I don't travel out west to ski those [hard pack groomers].  I picked up the Watea 94 in the off season.  I've got two trips to Colorado and a trip to Utah on the schedule.  The Watea 94 is going to be the ski that makes the trip.  Lots of great input from knowledgeable people on this board.  That's what led me to pick up the Watea.  I'm looking forward to skiing them for the first time at Steamboat.

Good luck with your ski shopping.

I think some people's recommendations for your first ski might change if they knew you were bringing two pair- I haven't skied the Mantra, but have heard most say that it is stiffer than most soft snow specific powder skis.  Looking at the descriptions above, the Mantra is a good choice if bringing one pair.

I think some of it depends on how long a trip you will be taking and what you like to ski when it hasn't snowed for a while:
     1.  For trips of a week or less, you could look at the amount of recent snow and the 7 day forecast and get a good idea of the conditions you'll get most of the time.  If no recent/expected snow, then your skinny ski and something like the Mantra would probably be a good choice.  If lots of recent/expected snow Mantra and a powder specific ski.
     2.  One difficulty that I have had in getting set on a quiver is that many skis that are good on firm groomers are not necessarily good on firm bumps and skied out off piste, yet you are likley to get these 3 conditions at the same time.  What you will mostly ski when faced with these 3 choices will likely influence which ski is best as your hasn't snowed in a while ski.  I bought the Watea 84 thinknig that I would mostly stick to the bumps and off piste, but after having my ACL reconstructed last Nov, I am not sure if the plan is the same. 

Sierra Jim, my only reason for calling the AC30 an intermediate is it's softer flex compared to the AC50.  Let me clarify that a good ski like an AC30 can be fun to a lot of different levels.  Sorry if I was to specific with my reference.  Frankly, I thing the AC30 is a fantastic ski, I rented it last year on a groomer day and had a blast. . 

Edge1, the AC30 would be a great second ski for your groomer~cruiser days.  I'm a Volkl fan and love the snappy feel of their upper level skis.  But when your looking for a ski like that, their can be a lot of good values out their.  In fact I just purchased a K2 Apache Sidewinder (08) for a friend at a local ski show.  The whole set up was $450 with bindings.  Frankly, I think if your primary ski is the Mantra, which is not a powder specific as a board over 100 mm waist (like a Goat), you may never need a second pair of skis. 

I know many CO skiers that have the Mantra as their one-ski tool. Seeing that you're a level 8 skier and athletic you should have no prob rippin groomers on the Mantra as well at touring the whole mtn while out in CO.

Hope this helps

 I own a pair of Mantras; I like them a great deal for many of the days around here where 10-25" of slightly heavy powder is fairly common and we don't have the skier traffic to pack it out quickly. I'm 5'11", 165 lbs, and I have the 177cm Mantra. I find they turn as tightly as I need in the trees, and they give me enough float to pivot if I need to. They are supposedly stiff for a (sort of) powder ski, but I find they have a big sweet spot and they're tolerant of my inaccuracies in balance and movement.

However, I'm a bit of an old-school type. I'm prone to tipping the skis on edge even in deep snow, and I've been known to ski 3 feet of untracked on a pair of skis with a 78mm waist. More face shots that way, but you have to be comfortable never bringing them to the surface.

I lived and skied in Colorado for 23 years. Given what's usually available there, I might not own the Mantras if I was still there. I like something more like the 78mm skis in the bumps at MJ, for example. The Mantras will handle bumps, but they're not as much fun as something that's narrower and quicker. You'll see a lot more bumps than the hoped-for 12" dumps, and the dumps will be gone in a matter of hours, unless you're good in tight trees. And when the dump gets skied out, you have...bumps.

So, my old-man preference is to know how to ski powder well on smaller skis, enjoy the face shots if you're lucky, and then slice 'n' dice the leftovers on those same smaller skis.

Thank you, everyone, for all the help and information.  I really appreciate it.  I just purchased Mantras with the Griffin binding.  Now all I need is some snow!

Thanks again.