Berwins are great for what they are designed to do, which is basically shuffle along on skis on mostly flat terrain. If you need to ski on more challenging terrain, they are not a good choice. Lots of folks use berwins skiing across lakes in the BWCAW, the only hilly sections will be portages to get you to the next lake. Terrain is the real dictator of what to use, lots of hills and Berwins will not work well.