Dynastar CHAM 127 Impressions

[gwat]

After two months on the CHAM 127 here's what I think.

Let me start by saying that when you first jump on these skis, you will probably think they feel weird. Not weird in any particular bad way, just different. Hard to figure out. I was skeptical for the first few days on these skis, but by the end of the first week had figured them out and haven't looked back (they're now my daily driver at Fernie).

The Cham 127 only comes in a 189cm. Dimensions are 149-127-141. They are a traditional sandwich construction with full vertical sidewalls made with the same attention to quality as all other big Dynastar skis. The huge tip has a decent amount of rocker and reverse sidecut while the tail is flat camber with reverse sidecut. Underfoot maintains traditional camber and sidecut.

The big tip does its job well, never wanting to dive under the surface in even the worst crusts. No more sitting in the backseat when conditions get sketchy, stay forward and charge with confidence. At high speeds the tip does rattle around somewhat, making these a little less stable than previous hard charging skis from Dynastar, but that's the tradeoff for having eternal tip float. Another bonus of the huge tip is it cuts traverses like no other, when everyone else is on the low traverse these things break trail up high like a champ.

The combo of tip rocker and pintail allows these skis to instantly release from any turn at any time. You can be carving a turn one instant and with a quick flick of the ankles the ski effortlessly releases into a slide. One spot in particular I found this a huge benefit was when making high speed turns in the bumps, and when needed being able to release the turn and slide overtop of a bump that gets in the way.

Fresh untracked snow is where these things obviously shine. With a combination of carving and sliding they can make any turn size and can be skied at and speed. Control with these skis is unparalleled, the stiff construction with the modern shape allow you to confidently rip any line full speed and know that you'll be able to effortlessly ditch speed whenever necessary.

Fat width is a stellar landing pad. Stomping is not an issue with the Chams, but if you do end up in the back seat the stiff tails will kick you back upright in an instant. These are a bit more poppy and playful than previous Dynastar offerings. Don't expect to be boosting the booters in the terrain park, but they do provide a little playful boost when you're sending and are super fun in the air.

Groomers are actually FUN on these. The 127 waist makes turn transitions super slow, and at low speeds they do feel exactly like what they look like, a big fat honking pow ski not meant to be anywhere but pow. Once you get these up to speed these things RAIL GS turns and edge hold is as good as any race ski. No joke. The short traditional sidecut underfoot does take away from the edge hold (compared to a full traditional sidecut ski) when you're gripped on hardpack steeps, but the big tip does give the advantage of being able to slide up and over the spines that a traditional tip would dig straight into. Again, another tradeoff of the new design.

Swing weight, as you can imagine, is a little heavy so jump turns are not these ski's forte. But if you have a good set of legs on you whipping these things around isn't as hard as one would imagine.

Mount point is quite a bit more forward than traditional Dynastar offerings. I originally mounted -2cm (as I do with all big skis) but after going to -0.5cm I had gained some agility in the tight stuff.

Although construction is top notch, there are two (minor) issues with the skis. The Chams do seem to have the same topsheet chipping problem as the original Legend Pros. 5 Minutes with a bastard file easily solves the problem. And the reverse sidecut portions of the edge need to be detuned, which makes the ski even easier to release. It would be nice if they could figure this stuff out at the factory, but doing it yourself allows for a little intimate time with your new skis before you jump on them.

[D(C)]

Sounds like a nice ski for good skiers. I really need to try some Chams. The idea of a tapered, flat tail is very appealing.

[verbier61]

Tried the 107 twice, and decided that the pintail with positive camber is not a good idea. But it might work for other skiers, and at the end of the day the one who has more fun wins....

[gwat]

Tried the 107 twice, and decided that the pintail with positive camber is not a good idea

when you first jump on these skis, you will probably think they feel weird.... Hard to figure out. I was skeptical for the first few days on these skis, but by the end of the first week had figured them out and haven't looked back

........

[Jack Burton]

When these showed up in the mail after last years $129 PSA went out I was not sure I had spent $129 wisely, they looked like water skis. Now Iv'e got ~ 20 days on them and I'd buy another pair or two at that price. Other powder skis 193 EHP for ~ 4 years & sumos b4 that, daily drivers are Cham 107 & head mojo 103 were daily drivers before that.

IMO it's a traditional ski, just bigger with a forward mount point, (I mounted on the line). Powder performance is great but the surprising part to me is that it's pretty nimple and turnable in less than perfect conditions, as far as a 189 ski that's 127 under foot i find its surprisingly friendly on less than perfect conditions and just rips where you would expect. they break free when you want, handle speed real well and the tip is huge, a few times that shovel saved my bacon, I'm sure the shovel is sinkable but there's a lot of margin for error up there :-).

I did not feel any hookiness but I'm a Cham 107 fan so there's that.

[Shredhead]

Finally mounted mine up and took them for a spin. Nice in Powder.