I am looking into getting a bigger pow ski than my 168 Nomads with BD O1's. I'm debating over the EP pros or the Salomon Czars, both would be mounted with a hammerhead. Anybody skiied either of the skis as a tele setup? I'm curious if the EP pros will be a bit too soft, and where to mount them. I'm 6'1" and 140 lbs. and want a nice playful pow tele-ski.

Hey Gavin, Last season I mounted the EP Pros with Marker Dukes and spent around 30 days touring in and around the Wasatch range (Alta, Snowbird, Brighton). Not the lightest setup and surely a West Coast kit, however I had plenty of success skinning around. Sometimes slow going on traverses and well-worn paths because the EP is far wider than almost any other skin setup therefore you're almost always breaking a wider track than most. Little tricky to get used to at first given the wider than necessary stance, but once you're acclimated you'll find that the EP is unlike any other ski. Extremely soft from tip-to-tail and the reverse camber means you end up with a smaller footprint (and effective edge if things get dicey on a z track) for skinning on anything packed (not undoable though). As a tele-ski I would expect that these would take some serious getting used to considering the amount of forward pressure you're exerting throughout each turn. Admittedly I've only spent a few days on tele setups though. Bottom line: s o f t, medium to heavier ski (08/09 model I rode), and I would buy these again in a heartbeat. Considering the flex I would question throwing anything less than a Duke or a Baron on these if you expect to ride any amount of chunder or choppy conditions. A friend of mine here at Backcountry has DynaFits on his Czars and raves about the setup. Between the 111 waist, the wood core, and the tip rocker I would suggest the Czars for a TELE setup. My two cents.