DPS has carved a reputation for itself by promoting high-end “pow surf,” touring, all-mountain, and freeride skis. It’s the biggest home ski producer within the U.S., but it’s by no means designed a ski particularly for on-piste situations. However this 12 months, that’s altering. On Dec. 11, DPS opened preorders for its first-ever carving ski: the Pisteworks 79.
This ain’t your grandpa’s carving ski, both. Like most of the DPS fashions, Pisteworks leverages distinctive expertise that units this ski other than the pack. As a substitute of utilizing metallic within the building (like many racing skis), Pisteworks makes use of a proprietary carbon laminate that the model alleges improves stability, agility, and responsiveness.
“By analyzing real-time knowledge throughout turns and optimizing the suggestions loop, we’ve developed a ski that delivers a planted but thrilling trip all through all the flip,” Ted Ligety, two-time Olympic gold medal alpine ski racer, mentioned in a press launch. “These skis will change your life.”
Ligety labored with DPS to design the Pisteworks ski particularly for carving efficiency. Via intensive testing and design work, he helped the model dial within the ski’s flex, vitality, and really feel.
“We’ve spent years mastering carbon fiber building for powder and freeride skis,” Zach Clayton, the worldwide advertising supervisor at DPS informed GearJunkie. “Shifting into carving was our manner of making use of that experience to create a ski that matches the steadiness and energy of conventional metallic however with the agility and vitality that solely carbon can present.”
DPS Goes On-Piste: Pisteworks 79 Carving Ski
DPS is predicated in Salt Lake Metropolis and claims some large improvements within the ski area. It designed the primary powder pintail ski and created the primary rockered ski with none sidecut. In response to the model, for its Pisteworks ski, it developed a course of utilizing aerospace-grade carbon fiber as a substitute of metallic to make a ski that’s extra exact, responsive, and secure.
“Our purpose was to take the traits of metallic that folks love and mix them with the thrill of carbon,” Stu Gleason, the design engineer at DPS, informed GearJunkie.
In comparison with skis that use metallic elements, carbon fiber skis are usually lighter and stiffer, with a quicker rebound. However that usually comes at the price of dampness, energy, and velocity supplied by metallic. That’s why conventional racing and carving skis use titanal or different metals of their building. It’s higher for extra aggressive, higher-speed snowboarding.
The Pisteworks break the mildew in that regard. These carving skis use two layers of multidirectional carbon fiber and a DPS multidirectional wooden core. DPS claims on its website that the carbon fiber layering course of enhances torsional rigidity so the ski has a full of life, extra nimble really feel.
“DPS has at all times chosen carbon as our main building approach. We love what carbon can do,” Gleason mentioned. “When harnessed correctly, it provides a very distinctive expertise. Our new line has the planted and predictable really feel of metallic however with extra vitality popping out of a flip.”
Make no mistake: These skis carry racing DNA. They’ve 4000 Collection World Cup race bases, 20% rocker, an 80% efficient edge, and a 13.5m flip radius. Whereas they lack the load of their metallic counterparts, DPS nonetheless recommends a carving binding system for the Pisteworks.
“Each element of the Pisteworks 79, from its flex profile to its dynamic vitality, displays Ted’s enter mixed with our superior carbon fiber expertise,” Clayton mentioned. “It’s a ski designed by skiers, for skiers.”
Presently, the ski is just obtainable for preorder. DPS expects it to begin transport someday in early February. The $1,995 price ticket would possibly offer you pause. However, like all of DPS’s different skis, the Pisteworks is hand-made by the model’s craftsmen in Salt Lake Metropolis.