The 171 kick ass, i demoed a pair from my shop last wnter and they were a good ski but id say strckley for park, groomers and light pow depending on your size, then at coc this summer i demoed the same model only with the new core, they are extremley responsive edge to edge, light, stiff for my weight (135lbs) and crusied awsome fakie. im sure they would handle way better in powder now and be alright for someone in my weight range for riding backcountry, groomers, park, and pipe. Id say if your anything like my body type, go for it ( my body type: height-5'8 weight-135lbs aggressive type 3 skier strong lowwer body to push the skis i can bench 600 lbs with my legs at 17 reps) if you want longer then go skogans, and mike was telling me at camp that they are planning to do another mid season release with an eric pollard pro, length in somthing like 185cm)
JJ