If I could give these a six-star rating, I would. If you're looking for skis to cruise the local golf course, trek far into the BC, and charge the steep 'n' deep at the resort, you'd probably think you'd need separate pairs for each of those. You'd be wrong--look no farther than the Karhu Guide. Their flex is on the soft side, so they don't have the greatest hard snow performance, but when it comes right down to it, they'll do just about whatever you ask them to. Mount them with serious tele bindings (or go AT with 'em, if that's your thing)--I highly doubt traditional three-pins could power these (but don't overcompensate and put R8s on them, either). Pair them with the plastic boot of your choice--2-buckle or 4, whatever. I have TeleBulldogs on mine and wear EnerGs, and that setup works great--touring, telemarking through pow, or paralleling the firmer stuff. They climb well--I've been able to go pretty much straight up stuff that would be blue trail material at the resort. The notch in the tail makes them skin-friendly, in case you want to climb even steeper stuff (which would be totally legit on these--don't sell them short!). These skis are quite capable of meeting all your downhill AND cross-country needs (unless you're racing or are just crazy good or something)--bringing whole new meaning to the term quiver-of-one.

My compliments to the guys who designed these--the step-in feature is ingenious and in my opinion better than any Nordic or alpine step-in I've ever used. The bindings hold the duckbill of the boot very securely so that there is absolutely no lateral slop--this gives excellent performance for free-heel parallel turns. They tour very nicely, and are remarkably active--I have no trouble getting my stiff EnerGs to flex using these bindings. Being active and yet adding no stiffness apart from that inherent in the boots makes these very easy to tele with. However, while they're great for the soft-core telemarkist, beginner, or free-heel parallel skier, they would definitely not be ideal for someone doing hard-core tele-skiing--the stiffness of a cable binding would be a major plus for bombing the steeps tele. Also, the pins tend to chew away the backs of the pin holes in the boots, although I do not think this would cause any major problems, and it has certainly not affected my boots' performance at all. Overall, very cool.

I have a pair of Kontegas that I use with Cobra R8 bindings and Garmont EnerG boots; this has proven to be a less-than-ideal setup for a beginning tele skier (me), but it's an epic setup for an advanced free-heel parallel skier (also me). These skis are very snappy, which means they're too stiff for powder, but awesome for anything else. They hold an edge beautifully, release easily from turns, and perform well even at ridiculous speeds. They're great carving skis, as well as very nice freeride boards for those of us who prefer a narrower waist.