Poll: How Many Pairs of Skis Do You Really Need?

Now might be a better time than ever to own only one pair of skis. Thanks to leaps in ski design, versatile, all-mountain sticks are the industry standard. With a mid-sized waist and decent, firm snow performance, they hold up during most—but not all—days on the mountain.It begs the question: why bother shelling out thousands of dollars to build a fleet of skis? Some of the best skis come with trade-offs. Maybe they’re enormously wide, making them a pain in the c