I would go with the Barons, even if you want your DIN at 10 (your knees wouldn't like you) these will work great. the are a better weight, better for touring, better all around. -- and the size you get is dependent on the length on your boots.

alpine boots work fine in these, just make sure to have a shop set up the proper toe height adjustment.

Get smalls for you boot size, we need more information as to your profile (height and weight at least) and the terrain you ski to determine which binding. Alpine boots will work, however they may be slightly uncomfortable and heavy to tour in unless they have a walk mode. Nothing you can't endure

The 177 would not be a huge difference, and you will probably progress to a longer length fairly soon, if you are moving to Colorado. For now, this will get you through quite well as a quiver of one rig, but next season or maybe the season after you will be looking at longer planks, almost guaranteed.

It depends what this setups use is for. If you Fritschi set is a more long distance, multi-day tour set up than I would say Dukes. That gives you a heavier setup that you can mount on bigger planks, so that you have more of a sidecountry, day-tour setup for charging hard and the likes.

Well I will have to tell my Marker tech he is a chimip. Jason you are not completely off on the AT soled boots not releasing. Last spring I tore my MCL and destroyed my knee when my Scarpa Denali TT boots did not release from my new Duke bindings during a backcountry trip. The Marker tech contacted the company and they say that not all AT non DIN boots are compatible with the Duke. My advice is to take caution on this one and not end up in rehab for a year like I am.

Well, whoever told you this didn't set the binders up correctly. These binders have an adjustable toe height which should be set by a qualified tech who is familiar with AT BINDERS, not alpine binders. If you do not set toe height correctly, then it is possible to have issues with releasing. 90% of the time, this is due to some jackass who claims he knows how to set these binders up then does it the wrong way. I have three pairs of Dukes and have not had an issue with them yet. If you have a rockered sole on your boots (like some AT models such as the Spirit 4) then you need to be even more careful setting them up.

All in all, they will work fine with ANY AT boot as long as you dont have a chimp setting them up.

the usual rule of thumb is that you can drill into a ski about 3 times before the integrity of it has been compromised. ideally you drill into it once and it's a done deal, but twice shouldnt be too big of a problem.

If you have to ask if skis can be redrilled, I think you need to take a bit more time getting familiar with the sport and backcountry safety before you venture into the BC. Maybe I'm way off base here, but I think it's a fair assessment.

Yes, you can re-mount bindings.
No, the holes do not match.

As long as your BSL is in the range you should be fine. Remember however that there is a large range of BSL's for various boots of the same foot size. Just make sure you don't limit your boot options in the future if you want to go with a larger boot of if you want get a boot that has a long BSL for its size.

I stand corrected. We took a look for ourselves at last year's vs this year's Duke bindings here in the BC.com Mega-Core Office and Margarita nailed it....SS, DD. So yah, despite the claims we heard at SIA, there is no structural change (height from ski). Just the new color. I've checked a Green Thumbs Up on Margarita's answer and given my original "nah dude it changed" answer the dreaded Red Thumbs Down. Still a kill binding. I love my Barons.

Whoa not so fast there Margarita! There have been two cosmetic 'updates' to the Duke and one key structural change. As you can clearly see, the colors have been changed up. What's harder to see is that the toe of the binding is less stubby than last year's. It kinda curves back towards your boot instead of being straight up and down. That's all pretty-points though...the important thing is the structural change. The new Duke/Barons sit lower on the ski than in years past. There is less lift and a closer-to-the-ski feel.

This binding's price hasn't changed for this year. If you've seen smaller prices in the past...they were on sale. These are mad expensive. I work here and I can't even afford them! I picked up the Baron last year, saved around $100, and lost a pound/pair of weight. You could also try my ski bum plan: work nights at a resort part-time for a (free) half week pass and tour the rest of the week. There's always a way man!

Easy answer. There aren't any changes, aside from the new copper and cream color scheme, you buy binding for the binding, not the year it was made. You probably already know this, but ski companies only design a binding once. They sell essentially the same binding with very minute modifications every year until the system is outdated or a flaw is discovered. There is no difference in this year's duke from last years, or will be from next years. Buy a used pair if you can, its the same binding.

27.5 puts you into 315/316 mm boot sole length, which means that you will just fit into a small size duke. you will save a few grams too!

I wear size 27.0 ski boots & had to get the large Baron, you'll also likely need the large Duke. To make sure, check your boot sole length - it should be printed in mm somewhere near the bottom of the boot shell.

See above. Love your name...