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The following is a guest post from backcountry ski expert Craig Dostie, author of Earn Your Turns.

There are roughly three different styles of backcountry ski bindings you should consider if you're hunting fresh powder. The one that will appeal most easily to alpine skiers are essentially alpine bindings mounted on a plate with a hinge that is attached to the ski. To ski uphill you need climbing skins and a way to free your heel – that's what the hinge is for - so you can simply walk on top of the snow up the mountainside.

These bindings are fully equipped to earn turns in the backcountry, and durable enough to handle whatever abuse you may subject them to under or outside the lifts, whether cruising hardpack or nailing the landing, the beef is all about absorbing the big hits without letting go. For that flavor of earning turns, you want to play both sides of the line and binding like the Marker Duke, Salomon Guardian, Tyrolia Adrenaline, or the MFD plate gives you geographical options.

We need your help! User reviews are a great way to give your feedback on a pair of skis, boots, bindings - whatever you use. Not only do we see what our customers think, but your helping out other shoppers by adding your voice.

All you have to do is go to the bottom of any product page and click "write your own review." It's quick and easy - not to mention fun! Love a certain pair of skis? Think there's something other shoppers should know about the last pair of ski boots you bought? We want to know.

Here's what a review looks like on our product page (this one is on the Blizzard Gunsmoke)

Here's how to get paid:

• Write reviews on products you've used - skis, boots, bindings, whatever.
• Shoot us an email at online@starthaus.com with the user name you used.
• We'll read it, approve it and post it on the page, then send you a unique code for $5 off at www.starthaus.com.

It's that easy, 5-10 minutes of your time to help us and help other shoppers and you get $5 off online purchases at the Start

Volkl Skis has had a long line of traditional front-side carving skis  built old-school - stiff flex, full camber - generally needing a powerful advanced skier to drive them, and leaving smaller or less advanced skiers wanting something more forgiving.

Enter the Volkl RTM 84 - the first fully rockered (reverse cambered) front-side hard snow biased all mountain ski we've tested. Rocker has always been a tool of powder-oriented skis. It's crept into all mountain skis, and even carving skis in the form of a little tip rocker designed to keep the tip from catching, and helping in quick turn initiation.

If you've been following along with our ski reviews, you may notice we've spent a lot of time on all mountain skis - particularly at about 98 mm underfoot. That's because it's the sweet spot for a do-it-all, quiver-of-one ski for so many western skiers - something you can count on in almost any conditions.

One of the top contenders in the category is the Line Prophet 98. The Line Prophet series of skis have been around for a while now, and have always been popular. The latest version, the Line Prophet 98, is definitely one of the most versatile all mountain skis in its width range.

Armada Skis pro riders and stars of "Education of Style" Tanner Hall, Henrik Harlaut and Phil Casabon will be at the Start Haus Ski Shop on Friday 11/9/12 from 3 to 5 p.m. signing posters and hanging out.

This is an amazing opportunity to meet legendary pro skier Tanner Hall, who co-founded Armada Skis, has taken numerous metals in the Winter Dew Tour, X Games and more, and appeared in Dozens of ski films.

Canadian pro skier Phil Casabon also has a number of freestyle titles under his belt from X-Games to War of the Rails, and a handful of film appearances.

And Swedish skier Henrik Harlaut, named Skier of the Year World Freeskier.com has a whole slew of big air, slopestyle and rail jam placements along with 9 film appearances.

Dalbello Ski Boot  will also be on hand to help you out with any technical questions you might have, so it'll be the perfect time to pick up a new pair of Armada all mountain or powder skis or Dalbello Boots.

The Volkl Gotama has had a strong following among big mountain skiers as a versatile all-mountain ski, loved from coast to coast for its versatility.

Recent generations of the Gotama  have dropped traditional camber in favor of a continuous rocker profile, what Volkl calls ELP, or extended low profile rocker, basically meaning the ski has a continuous upward curve from tip to tail, but it’s not as aggressively upward turned as some other rockered skis. Volkl skis embraced full rocker early with a number of models, and has really been able to fine tune it for more than just powder ski performance.

HEAD skis have been on the Start Haus Ski Wall for years - as a race brand.

*2015 Update, we have replaced the i.Supershape Magnum with the HEAD i.Supershape Rally.

The Armada TST all mountain ski is a playful performer, but it's not a one-trick pony. A lot of skis that place a premium on turny, surfy skiing don't necessarily give you the confidence to rail on firm snow, but the Armada TST accomplishes this with a unique shape.

The first significant snowfall has hit the Lake Tahoe region and everybody is buzzing!

Start Haus sponsored Pro Skier Daron Rahlves wasted no time in getting out and skinning up Sugar Bowl Resort for the first turns of the season with his Atomic Skiing backcountry ski setup, check out the video:

K2 Ski's Seth Morrison pro model skis have been long-standing favorites from the Seth Pistols to the Obsethed, and now K2 has created the  Sideseth the latest iteration - and we think it's the best yet.

The K2 Sideseth has a similar tip rocker profile to last year's K2 Obsethed; low and gradual starting way down the ski - not too far forward of the front of the binding, for tons of float in powder.

Here comes the next big deal, our Salomon Ski Sale! We got great pricing on the 2012 Salomon Rocker 2, Salomon Sentinel, Salomon Enduro XT 800 and Salomon Origins Bamboo, and we're passing the savings on to you. You've got to act fast though, we've got extremely limited quantities, so they're going to be gone in a hurry.

The 2013 Atomic Automatic looks like it's going to be one of the hot skis this year - for good reason.

Atomic says it blends the playful powder surfing Atomic Bent Chetler with the hard charging straight lining power of the Atomic Atlas.

We say it's one of the most versatile fat big mountain skis out their, and a real candidate if you want to ski a fat ski everyday.