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As we've spent some time on next year's skis, we have - believe it or not - been able to get a handful of powder days in, and one of our favorite powder skis for 2014 is the Volkl One.

That is, it's been one of Jared's favorite powder skis for 2014 for a while, and once we pried them away from him, the rest of us agreed. In a 12-inch storm, Jared quickly grabbed a pair of 186 cm Volkl One's and headed into the backcountry outside of Sugar Bowl, foregoing his touring skis and skins, booting lap after lap.

One of the most unique skis that's got everybody at the Start Haus excited for next year is the Volkl V-Werks Katana, a cutting edge evolution of the popular Volkl Katana big mountain ski.

V-Werks skis from Volkl typically blend high tech materials like carbon fiber and titanium to get the best performance and the lowest weight possible for a ski.

In the case of the V-Werks Katana, Volkl created an innovative structure with a wood core sculpted into a Carbon Fiber frame, resulting in what looks like a rail extending down the length of the ski, leaving the sides of the ski super thin.

One of the Start Haus ski experts, Kenzie, was selected to be a part of the Powder Magazine Powder Week at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort!

She's been sending us feedback on the 2014 skis she's testing, photos of epic conditions in Jackson and more.

Between Outdoor Retailer, SIA, WWRSA at Alpine Meadows and Mammoth Mountain, our ski testers have been hard at work figuring out what goes on the ski wall for next year.

It's been mostly firm snow across the west, but we tested everything from skinny carving skis to fat powder skis, and a few favorites have started to surface. This isn't a comprehensive list, just the skis that have already started catching our attention.

2014 is already shaping up to be an awesome year for Blizzard Skis, with an expanded line of Freemountain skis.

One of our absolute favorite women's powder skis is the Nordica La Nina. Based on another favorite, the Nordica Patron, we weren't surprised when our female testers came back with big praise for these skis after testing.

Each year our staff, including America's Best Bootfitters instructor and Start Haus owner Jim Schaffner tests dozens, if not hundreds of ski boots. This year, we're lucky to be working with Craig Dostie, the backcountry skiing guru who founded earnyourturns.com, who is an expert on backcountry ski boots.

While we skied and liked a handful of what we'd call sidecountry ski boots that ski really well and have a walk mode for hiking, we only picked two dedicated backcountry ski boots that really deserve to spend their lives out of bounds: The Dynafit TLT 5 Performance, which has been around for a year and is the weapon of choice for ultralight altitude seekers, and the Dynafit Mercury, a new boot this year, that we think strikes the best balance between hike-ability, ski-ability and weight of any backcountry ski boot to-date.

Every year certain skis get all the hype - all the attention, while others seem to fly under the radar. The HEAD REV 90 is one of those skis - a faultless all mountain ski that's tons of fun both on the groomers and off-piste.

This ski is one of the reason's we decided to expand into HEAD's rec skis beyond the usual race skis we normally carry from them - it's a ski that sells itself with a day on a demo pair. That's because it really does nothing wrong - it's quick and playful while remaining damp and stable at speed, a rare combination of traits in any ski. Testers called it "effortless" and were stumped when asked what to put in the "cons" column after putting them through the paces.

One of the most exciting areas of development in ski boots has been in backcountry ski boots, and specifically in backcountry ski boots that ski as well as normal alpine ski boots.

It used to be that alpine touring ski boots were a compromise between the lightweight and flexibility needed to hike uphill and the stiffness and control needed to ski downhill. This year, that gap has closed rapidly.

We skied in and picked a handful of ski boots in this category, and really like them not only for backcountry, but also for sidecountry skiing where you only need to hike a little bit for a fresh powder stash at the resort - or even for those who just want a ski boot that's easier to get around in. These boots are extremely popular with ski patrol and other ski area workers who work in ski boots for good reason.

We've brought you the all mountain ski comparison of crazy 98s, threw down with a big mountain ski comparison of skis between 100 and 110 mm underfoot - and now we're bringing you the big boys with this powder ski comparison.

Powder skis get a lot of attention - partially because so many of us dream about the deep bluebird days, and partially because so much of recent ski innovation has happened here. Rocker, reverse camber, early rise and taper all cut their teeth in the powder before trickling down to narrower skis.

For this ski comparison test, we'll take a look at the Atomic Bent Chetler, the Volkl Shiro, the Salomon Rocker2 115, Nordica Patron & Nordica Helldorado, Armada JJ, AKJJ and Magic J, Line Influence 115, K2 Sideseth, Icelantic Gypsy & Keeper, Dynastar Cham 127, Dynafit Huascaran, DPS Wailer 112, Blizzard Gunsmoke and the Rossignol S7, Super 7 & Squad 7.

These are all fantastic powder skis and cover the spectrum, from quick and nimble skis for turning quickly through your favorite tree stash to big and stable for arcing big lines down open bowls - and everything in between.

POC has been growing in popularity over the last few years, both for ski racers and recreational skiers - for good reason. Their ski protection is some of the best and they've built up a big following on the race circuit.

Shane, one of the Start Haus's resident ski racers, talks about what makes POC equipment so good:

UPDATE: Check out the 2014 big mountain ski comparison here.

Last week we took a look at our most popular category, the 98 mm under foot skis, in an all mountain ski comparison. This week, we're taking a step up into the 100 to 110 mm range, what we'd call big-mountain skis.

There are wider skis that still fit into the big mountain ski category, but the 100 to 110 width are still solid quiver-of-one contenders for skiers in high snowfall ski areas that favor off-trail soft snow seeking to railing groomers all day, what Sierra Jim terms soft-snow oriented skis.

For this ski comparison, we're looking at the Armada TST, Atomic Ritual, Blizzard Cochise, Dynastar Cham 107, Head REV 105, Kastle BMX 108, Icelantic Nomad RKR and Volkl Gotama.