Where to mount bindings?

the tails are pretty soft and they ski better when mounted foward, at least for me.

my 179 SP is at +6 for park and my 189 SV is at +4 for everyday.

They will be fine at midsole, but sometimes the tail tends to washout. They will float the best at midsole, though.

having a pow ski mounted too far forward blows, trust me. People on here will tell you its awesome, thats prolly because they don't ski in an agressive "over the boot" stance and just stand straight up when they ski. If its mounted too far forward you need to lean back to ski properly, and thats not skiing properly

Mine are barely forward of the mark at all... Seth skis at +5, but he's a lot smaller than I am. I find they ski great where they are, but then, I've never remounted them. I'm sure they'd be better switch at +4 or +5 but that's not what I'm using them for... I guess it'd depend how versatile you want them to be.

There are many adv and disadv to both sides of the story. It just depends on what suits you.

I'm a bigger/taller guy like JD, but I generally choose to mount a bit more forward, but just forward enough that I feel like I'm not laying back to keep the tips up.

Alot also depends on the length of your sticks. I've skied 189 Made'ns at +4 and never had the tips dive. I've skied 179 Pistols at +3 and never had the tips dive.

Another reason I like to mount a bit forward, especially when skiing 189+ length is that if the ski is a bit softer in the tip (as many pow skis are), it reduces chatter and makes the tips a bit more stable. It also makes them a bit more agile.

Like I said, it all comes down you what you like and what your uses are. I partially agreed with Ice, but I think his comments were a bit too general as I know LOADS of people who forward mount and still 'ski properly.'

I definitely agree with this, that's where my mounting point for my pistols does sacrifice something. When they're in new snow they just glide, but when I'm on hardpack or crud the tips have so much length to them that they do tend to jump around a little. I'm willing to put up with that because they're not really FOR anything but fresh pow days how I've set them up (also means I don't use them as much, only about 5-6 days last season, but then, they'll last longer that way). I think the point to get across here is that your mount point will depend on the purpose of the ski. If you're using them as a 1 ski quiver (and if so you've chosen a good ski for it) you should probably mount somewhere around +4-5, I would think.

Word that was a bit general, I'll admit. But I guess it also depends on where you live. Out here you can pretty much count on skiing deep snow most days of the week. I just find it hard personally to ski something that too far forward, although it makes park riding 100% easier. I usually find a happy medium unless it's a ski specifically for one disipline.

I will be using these 179 pistols for backcountry skiing only. No park use. Maybe some black and blue groomers. So should I mount them +3? Also I am 5'9" 160lbs.

I mostly agree with that too. Where you live and the use of the ski (one ski quiver or niche ski) play a big role in mount positions.

However, I live in CO and ski more pow.soft days than any other kind of day and I still mount forward on most skis, but as this will show, it depends on the ski and what it's particular use is, although I suppose I'm prone to go a bit more forward than average:

193 Sanouk +3
190 Explosiv factory
189 Vicious +5
189 Made'n +6
184 Mantra -1.5

Also note that if you asked many people who ride the sticks above on a regular basis (namely factory riders), they all tend to mount somewhere near where mine are, so I'm not totally ka-razy.

That said, I think +3 is perfect. I had a pair of 179 Pistols last year for a while and +3 felt like the money spot for me in terms of all-mtn performance, not including park.

Thanks for all the help!
What does "one ski quiver and niche ski" mean?

one ski quiver = one ski to do it all, park, pow, everyday, etc.

niche ski - a perfect example is the spatula. It has one real purpose, such as pow or park. you have other skis to fill in the other niches.