If you have a pair of twin tips and skins, you need these. They work great and are easy to install.

Disclaimer: These are my first and only pair of AT bindings so I am compairing them to the mediocre quality alpine bindings I had on before.

When I first got my Prophet 100s earlier this season I was overjoyed. They were everything I hoped for and more. The were fast, responsive, all mountain machines, and the float, good god the float! My only complaint was that it was sometimes a long hike back to the car after a snowkiting session and I wanted to make that hike more comfortable and maybe explore the backcountry a little too. That's where the Fritschi Diamir Freeride Plus bindings come in.

I just got my lovely prophets back from the shop today where they switched out my Look PX 12's for the Fritschis. After eagerly driving up to my local ski resort I slapped them on and was off.

They sucked the ever loving life out of my prophets. They were utterly unresponsive and I was reminded of the 210cm monsters I used to ski 10 years ago. I hoped I'd never have that feeling again but there I was.

I had been so stoked to find these bindings and hear that they were engineered with alpine performance in mind. I knew that these were AT binding and expected a small drop in performance, but not this. The claim that these can hold there own with even the most mediocre alpine binding is, at best a cruel joke and at worst, an outright deception. I was so depressed that I had to stop skiing after an hour and a half and go home.

I have three theories as to why these perform so dismally, perhaps someone with more knowledge of ski performance can shed some light on which one may be the culprit:

1) They place the boots so much higher above the ski than conventional bindings.
2) They are heavier than a typical downhill binding.
3) Their weight distribution is such that it puts substantial weight a good distance behind the heel (my boots measure at 305mm so they were slightly too large for the small range and right in the middle of the medium range).
4) ?????

I have an open mind and will give these bindings several more shots. Perhaps I will become used to the feeling or gradually forget that my Prophets have become an empty husk of what they once were. Time will tell. Below is a summary of my feelings:

Pros:
- Very nice AT feature with climbing adjustments.
- The ability to quickly switch to climbing/hiking mode with the flip of a switch.
- The functional parts of the binding seem quite stout and durable (the faceplate covers seem very flimsy but, as far as I can tell, these are purely aesthetic).

Cons:
- 0 degree ramp angle really sucks the life out of these skiis.
- Switching to/from AT mode without removing skis is not as great as it sounds. While you can easily switch to AT mode without removing your skis, switch back to alpine mode is nearly impossible as the mechanism will be filled with packed snow after hiking.

EDIT: So it turns out it was the ramp angle. After digging around the Teton Gravity Research forums I found a thread with a bunch of people complaining about the same thing. It turns out the ramp angle on the Fritshci's is 0 deg while a normal alpine binding is 4-6 deg. For me, the shifted my weight distribution toward the tail of my skis without me realizing it (causing a drastic reduction in ease of turn initiation). To test this, I folded up some socks and stuffed them under my insoles and the skis came back to life. I am having the cosmetic toe piece removed to gain some ramp but I doubt this will be enough, I will probably have to have some sort of lifter added under the heal as well. I am adding one more star to these because performance is now satisfactory. Fritschi really should make a lifter plate for the heal as an option, especially since these are marketed more towards Alpine skiers going to back country rather than nordic skiers. If fritschi had a solution I would give these 4 stars.

Length:
I skied a 170cm, 65cm waist Volkl before this and I was considering going a size shorter for snowkiting. After I read all of the reviews saying that the prophets ski a lot shorter than they measure, I decided to go with the 172's. The reviews were right, I think I would have been quite comfortable on the 179's (I'm 5'8" 170lbs). If you are trying to decide between sizes, definitely go long. I know you read a lot of reviews about how short is better these days but that does not apply to this ski. Go longer, you will appreciate the extra float and stability.

Groomers:
The prophets are a little slow edge to edge on groomed runs due to the wide waist. This felt awkward at first but after a couple of days of skiing, I was used to the feeling and it was no longer an issue. This is not at all noticeable in powdery conditions. They are easy to turn and quite a bit faster than I was expecting on groomed runs. At higher speeds they can be a bit squirrely when not on edge, especially in icy conditions. I'm sure that a longer ski would help with this.

Powder:
This is definitely where the prophets shine. These skis are an absolute joy to ride in powdery conditions, the float is phenomenal and they are surprisingly maneuverable. Be warned that you will find yourself constantly searching out powder if you buy these skis.

Crud/Bumps:
I have found that the key factor here is ice. The performance is not great in icy crud or icy bumps, it's not terrible, but not great either. Those conditions are not my cup of tea anyway. In powdery crud and bumps the prophets perform great.

Overall, I would say that the prophet is really close to a one ski quiver. They can definitely get by skiing in icy conditions but on really poor days when this is all I expect to see, I'll break out the Volkls.

Pros:
* relatively light weight.
* excellent maneuverability.
* phenomenal float.
* They like to go fast.

Cons:
* squirrely in icy conditions at high speeds (possibly not an issue with longer skis).