They say life begins at forty......and so does arthritis, dementia and the desire to try touring. Having researched the available gear i am more confused then before i started.
My stats: i am 41,weight 80kg’s, height 181 cm, have been skiing since i could walk, last fifteen years almost exclusively off piste.

Gear so far: ski: my old dynastar 8800 89mm under foot, 188 in length (i know a bit, too long for touring) mounted with dynafit tlt radical (yet to acquire; possibly splash out on the plum guide).
Then the boots....? Technica Cochise 120 ? Dynafit Titans ? Garmont Radium. What i have gleaned so far is that they are all have a stiff flex pattern (which is what i am after), but what is their ‘tourability’ like? technica appear to be lighter then the Titans, but some have said they have a more restricted range of movement in walk mode? How do their walk modes differ and how much does it matter. How difficult would it be to do a multi hut/day tour with this set up. Any help or advice would be most appreciated.

The skis are quite heavy for a multiday hut tour but it you are strong it is certainly feasible, especially as you have Dynafit bindings to lighten things up a bit. I imagine you are looking at 4.5kg for the pair? I wouldn’t be in a hurry to change this setup.

Boots. Well I’m not an expert on stiff touring boots, prefering softer flex myself. It is true that with bigger skis tougher boots can help. For long ski tours you want good walking flex but if the boot is advertised as a ski touring boot it should be ok. Maybe someone else can comment?

Here is some past discussion of the Radium and Titan

http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/674/#2402
http://pistehors.com/news/forums/viewthread/484/

Hi there,I started touring at around 40 too (a few years ago now)- must be alternative mid life crisis.First tour - in at the deep end - was the Haute Route,I splashed out on boots - Garmont Endorphins (?) got black diamond skins, couteaux (sp?) & put touring bindings on old 185 pocket rockets which I still use - no problems with any of these.A friend used his downhill Salomon Crossmax boots which he was fine with - comfort is all & if you have downhill boots which fine worth trying to use them I think.I don’t think it’s worth getting too hung up on weight of kit unless you are doing something particularly epic.Getting the best ski down is the aim for me so I wouldn’t sacrifice too much that would affect that - ultralight skis great going up but (in my experience) sometimes not so great coming back down again.Hope that’s of some help.

Here’s my take, from a ‘day tourer’ who has just turned 50…

I enjoy the uphill for the exercise.  So why worry about a bit of weight.  I enjoy the downhill for the great off piste, fresh snow, virgin tracks.  So why worry about a bit of weight. 

At the end of each outing, it’s rare that others have not been envious of my setup vs. their own lighter ones: Garmin Endorphins, Rossi B94/185, Diamir Fritschi.

Thanks for all the responses guys. I have not got an accurate scale to weight the ski but i think it is circa 4kgs. Looks like i will stick with the ski/binding combo and see which of the boots fits best.

I bought the Cochise last year and used them for many day tours and couple of multi days.  I absolutely loved them.  Considering they are more solid and slightly more freeride orientated than a true touring boot, such as the Garmont Maestrale, they still perform really well on the ascents with a fantastic walk function.  And then the descents are fantastic, with the big power strap making them feel like a true 4 buckle.
As far as the age old debate of weight vs downhill performance for ski touring goes, I’d say it’s all down to personal choice as described in the previous posts in this thread.  Fortunately the technology is improving so fast that a good middle ground is becoming more and more achievable.