I am thinking of buying a pair of El Hombres, but I am confused about ski sizing these days. I am a resort/backcountry skier in Washington state. I am looking into getting a pair of fatter skis to to support and upgrade my K2 Work Stinx (182 cm) on deeper days. I ski anything from bumps and trees at the resort to bowls above treeline in the backcountry. I am 6' 2" 200 lbs. I live in a part of the state that has no Tele or backcountry support (the only good shop around sells alpine and snowboarding gear). The only info I can find online is that size is up to skier preference. I have never had the opportunity to demo different sizes of skis and so I don't know my preference. I have to order them online and ski whatever comes to my door. The 177s sound short to me, but this is also a pretty wide ski. I know the 177s would be better in the trees and the bumps. What are the disadvantages to going smaller instead of the 185s? Would I lose much floatation?

if you go with the 185 you will be super stoked, i think there is a place for a traditional camber and this is the ski for you, Paul Parker did a great job with this one!

Wow! What a question! I don't want to say "vague," but perhaps "broad" would more aptly describe your inquiry, and subsequent answer. We need to know your style of skiing, what terrain, what kind of weather... Tell us about yourself: What do you WANT your ski to do? There are so many styles of skis available now, that you can practically have a custom pair that's already on the market. Give as much detail as possible. A 185 would definitely be a more adequate ski length for a person of your build. You will able to negotiate any terrain easily enough, and make tight turns when you need to. If you aren't able to demo skis, see if you can't check out other resources and reviews, or, borrow some folks equipment. Most people are pretty excited and willing to show off their gear, and if you're nice, they'll let you take a run to share the stoke. Otherwise, backcountry.com is THE place to shop. You won't find a better (lifetime) satisfaction guarantee anywhere else. If you don't like the ski, then return it for something different. Also, merely for expressing my own opinion and sharing my stoke, I have to encourage you (and everyone else) to buy a ski with rocker or early rise. Right now, I don't want to ski anything with traditional camber.