Carve or Slarve – The Volkl Blaze 106 is Right at Home By the numbers, the Volkl Blaze 106 is an interesting ski. It has a unique blend of new school and traditional design elements. It specs out with a 146mm tip, a 106mm waist and a 128mm tail for all lengths. Its wide shovel and strong sidecut are the… Read More
Light, Playful Powder Touring Machine – The DPS Pagoda Tour 112 RP In the words of DPS, “The best untracked snow is worth walking for.” And that’s the motivation behind the new DPS Pagoda Tour skis, including the Pagoda Tour 112 RP. Following in the playful powder tracks of their lightweight Tour 1 skis, the design wizards at DPS bring… Read More
Voile HyperDrifter – Modern Powder Slashing for the Traditionalist Voile has long focused on wide powder ski designs. As a dedicated backcountry brand with the famed deep snow of the Wasatch as their testing grounds, it only makes sense. From the early Mountain Surf to the more contemporary Drifter and Charger models, they have been building skis that set the… Read More
DPS Lotus 124 2.0 – Alchemist Edition For the most part, backcountry ski waist widths have settled into the 100-115mm zone the last couple of seasons. You can confidently grab a pair of skis with a waist in the low hundreds for just about any day of touring. Between rocker, sidecut and lightweight core materials, these skis are agile, light,… Read More
2016 backcountry skis – Ski testing part II In keeping with the first ski testing post’s focus on 2016 backcountry skis with 90-99 mm waists, here are a few thoughts on skis with waist widths in the 90’s. Generally speaking, for West Coast backcountry skiers, a mid-90’s waist on a backcountry ski is considered on the narrow side and remains a quiver… Read More
The term backcountry skiing has evolved over the years to represent a broad category of skiing from descent-focused big mountain riding to light-duty rolling hill touring. But, for many, it still conjures images of lightweight, touring-friendly gear that’s adept on the uphill and the down – the quintessential roots of backcountry touring. Interestingly, a few companies are bridging the descent-focused… Read More
The office ski fleet is flush with sweet backcountry powder boards this season and with a couple months of skiing under our belt, it’s time to offer some insights. The full run down of skis includes three models that measure in at 112mm underfoot.: The DPS Wailer 112, Voile Charger, G3 District. I have been a fan of the Voile… Read More
