Dude, remember I live really close to the shore and live in Whistler and ride a HT. You can do most things on a HT but in all seriousness you can't drop the same trails (especially when you get older) and going DH on a ht limits speed BIG TIME!!! They aren't limitations if you aren't worried about it but in order to progress to a certain level you will need a dually someday.
I ride the Kona Roast from last year. Essentially the same bike and around the same warranty. I love my kona ht and would buy another one if I purchased another aluminum ht (My next ht will be a steel frame for sure).
But again you have very similar geometry and materials
Weight Weenie freerider? Whats that