How sketchy are these for the ride down? obviously no AT binding can offer the same security as downhill bindings, but I don't want to let that bother me. Can I drop cliffs and ski hard in this or will I kill myself? I'm 5'5" and 150 lbs.

Dynafits hold you in well and also pop you out fast! There is not much give in the pin-system that connects the boot to the ski and they also lack the required damping and elasticity that allow you to ski at or near the true din setting you need. Made for: backcountry skiing. The good: light-weight and simplicity. Hard-landings, running hard-crud, etc, can and will lead to premature ejection from most tech-system bindings - it's not a secret and most users will acknowledge that. They can also break from time-to-time and guides often pack spare toe-pieces in their packs as a precaution in case they fail for some reason on a long trip. My own experience? I love Dynafits for what they are intended for. A while ago, I crashed (not too hard) at a resort on hard-pack with my tech bindings and one of the heel piece components busted (it's not all metal even if it's silver colored) AND they also ripped a gash in the toe-piece connector on my boots so that I needed new touring boots -- lesson learned -- ! You wanna huck cliffs? Not a very good idea with these babies. Forget cliffs unless you really are a pro or don't mind ruining your touring gear. Huck small kickers - yes. Buy another pair of skis with a real step-in binding. It is 110% worth the piece of mind and better release characteristics to be on a good setup for resort use. Lots of great bindings here on www.backcountry.com that flex well (Look Pivot, Marker Jester and many others) and would be way more dependable for resort use. If you only got one ski for resort and backcountry, then ask your shop to install inserts for swapping bindings.

Dynafits (and all tech-system bindings) lock you in hard. The extremely torsionally rigid connection to the ski can't be beat by any other AT system. The drawback is that they have no elasticity. An alpine binding will allow your boot to move and then return to center if the force isn't great enough to release. With the tech system, you are either in or out. Ski hard-yes, huck cliffs-land smoothly!