Update: these arrived today.
I called up ON3P and had a nice chat with Scott Andrus (who answered the phone, actually). He pointed out that I knew I wanted a powder ski at some point, so why not get that now, and that if the Billy Goat worked for me in mixed conditions and crud, great. At a later time I can figure out what I really want from a middle quiver ski, if I need one at all.
He did offer some options, such as doing a custom order with 19oz fiberglass rather than 22oz, which would save some weight. BTW, they have a custom ski builder on their website on any model in their lineup, with options for softer or stiffer carbon, softer or stiffer glass, stock or tour layup, options for topsheet, sidewall color, base color/pattern, wether you want it detuned for park, and whether you want a stock tail or a skin clip tail.
Scott even floated the idea of using a template from the Steeple 108, which was a touring ski with the Billy Goat RES sidecut, and making it with a Billy Goat layup.
I thought about it for a several days and inquired again about the Steeple with Billy Goat layup, but the reply was that they’d already thrown away the parts/templates, though they might reconsider doing this kind of thing again in the future. I asked about demo days to be able to try the Woodsman, he noted they aren’t doing as many demo days, in part because of ski resort consolidation (for example, Stevens Pass is now a Vail resort and haven’t allowed ON3P to do a demo tent, and Crystal/Ikon seems to have a similar policy). There aren’t many dealers or ski resort shops that carry ON3P (I think Evo does) so most of their business is order direct from them.
So I ordered a Billy Goat in 184.
I have to say, Scott’s company is a class act, they make everything in their Portland, OR factory, quality of construction is excellent, and they are very accessible and responsive. Shipping is free with orders over $100, and it was sent via Fedex, which from Portland was overnight.