In reply to all: Thanks for the comments. This review was always going to be a bit tricky as the idea of skiing mini skis in climbing boots seems, well, a bit daft. Of course there are compromises and it does completely depend on what you want to go and climb- yes on some routes the benefits of skiing in with your ski boots will outweigh the downside of having to climb with them. But honestly, like all things, you have to teach yourself how to ski again. It will seem very hard at first but then wasnt the first day you strapped skis on one of the weirdest of your life?
I do have a set of K2 apache Chiefs as well as the BD verdicts Morgan mentioned. However I've only put them on occasionally in the last 2 seasons, and I mean very occasionally. I was amazed at how fast you can progress in skiing in mountain boots when you put time into learning it. Ok, I'm not out on deep powder days on these mini skis but thats not really the point of them.
JIB: yes, skiing in breakable crust is a total nightmare, especially with a big pack on! I've yet to work out how to not make it a nightmare but given how short the skis are they're always going to nosedive under the crust. You can always tie string from around your knee to the top of the ski which will help lift it up if you lean back a bit at the right time. Never tried it but its what Haley does and he's skied the Whymper couloir on the Verte in approach skis.
Finally: there are great bonuses to skiing in your mountain boots. For starters its much comfier. It is also means you dont have to carry spare boots with you in your pack which are not only heavy but take up loads of space meaning you cant just head out witha small day pack. It also means you dont have to squeeze on frozen plastic ski boots back onto your feet in the evening (this can be near impossible at times and involve some serious ice axe levering). Finally the whole thing is just so much nice and lighter on your feet. Plastic ski boots and big skis are really cumbersome and heavy.
Morgan: I use my Hagan's (and now my new 150 X Race Hagans) 99.9% of the time now. Even if its a easy route I could easily do in ski boots- with a bit of practice you realise that it really isnt that hard and you wont bother with the faff of ski boots and big skis ever again for climbing purposes.
As for bindings you want the Silvretta Pure Performance. Carbon fiber touring set up, but you'll have to pad out the front toe bail with a bit of foam mat (very easy). Petzl are in the design process of a lightweight binding for mountain boot use but thats still a couple of years away yet
jon