Sorry. Woulda chimed in earlier but I was away skiing all week. So firstly, just an FYI, next years opus' are identical to the currents with the exception of graphics. I say that because this way any responses you get about this years are totally valid for next years. So anyhow, I was out in Utah this week and they actually got a bit of snow. I took my bacons and opus' out there. I skied everything from groomers to park to side country to backcountry. About midway through the week I was leaning toward the bacons over the opus. To me they just seemed to rip through the chunder much better than the opus. The opus was doing exactly what it was supposed to do though. Float over everything. The problem I was encountering was that I'd be rippin through the trees, it would get tight, I'd try to speed check and instead would go soaring over everyone else's tracks at warp twelve and darn near kill myself. Those same runs on the bacons were much more controllable and a proper speed check would plow right through the tracked out stuff no problem. My last two days out there I forced myself to bring only my opus' out. So glad I did. One of my buddies took me to a bunch of his private stashes and the opus' killed it. Those two days made me remember why I love that ski so much. It floated everything and I never once felt like I had to lean back. They held a perfect edge even on impromptu holy shit if I fall I'm gonna die type of cat tracks. In the air off drops it feels a little tough to spin and get technical with the grabs. That is of course until you realize that you simply have to sack up and stop being a pussy about it. You can't hesitate like on a park ski or say the bacons. The opus is a big boy ski and you just have to commit. Once you figure this out, the ski is unparalleled. It'll iron cross all day with the greatest of ease. Now on groomers like I've said before, the thing doesn't feel like a pow ski at all. You could ride groomers on this thing all day every day and love it. Laps through the park are fun and very Elizabeth-esque. In the end I figured out that the opus is a different bear than the bacons on steeps and tight trees. On the steeps you just gotta sack up on your hop turns whereas the bacons are easier to throw around. The bacons are also easier in the tight trees at speed. Though if you can figure out that on the opus you need to be a little surfier and control your speed in the tight trees, you will learn to love them even more than the bacons. My fav thing about the opus if being able to launch off smaller random pillows that others would just plow through. Hope that helps bud and sorry this ain't in paragraph form. I'm on mobile.