Hobbit wrote:I ski i.sl in 160 and was considering getting into i.ss in the same length.
I'm not sure about the soft tip...probably HH will be able to give you a definitive answer there. Here are some thoughts regarding lengths and the skis. For reference I'm 5'11" and 170lbs.
I have the iSL Chip in a 160cm. I love this ski. As you know on groomed runs it just rips and its surprisingly adept in up to 12" of snow. Its just a whole lot of fun.
I have the SuperShape in a 170cm. At 170cm it will handle 12" of snow and rips everywhere. I like it but not as much as the iSL Chip. I suspect I like the iSL Chip more because its shorter (and a bit more forgiving) and generally I use my SL boards for tight turns on groomed runs (especially when I know the snow will be firm). It would be interesting to see how the SS performed at 165cm.
At race camp I had the iSL Chip, the SuperShape, and the Atomic SL9 (I had tuned each before camp so I could just grab a fresh tune each morning). The iSL Chip was so much fun I used it every day.
For skiing off piste I grab my Atomic Metron B5s. They are great even when the snow is 24"+. I mention this so you'll know that I'm not skiing either of the Heads in deep snow/crud very often.