Im gonna hafta retract my previous statement, the 2004's are made of composite/carbon material. I know there are heated debates regarding foam/wood/composite cores, however, the BigStix's used to be a wood core ski, of which they were touted a stable cadillac cruise. The new carbon core skis are lighter weight, hence they get tossed around a lil bit more. If you want a pow ski, step it up to the 10.6s, otherwise the 8.6s will get tossed around in the chop/crud. But if you can find a pair of 2002s, snatch em up quick if your looking for a west coast crud buster.