Review: Stockli DP Pro + 193cm

[MickeysEars]

Hi all...sorry for the delay in this review.

Ski: DP Pro + 193cm
Dimensions 131 - 101 - 118
Turn radius 32.2m
Binding. Dynastar PX14 Racing
Location: Chamonix, Mt Blanc
Me: 185cm and 210 lbs (fit not fat!) I worked 5 seasons (3 Europe 2 US)
Instructor. Very technical agressive skier.

Why this ski: I wanted a stiff mid fat ski that was going to be powerful enough to ski in varied conditions fast in Europe. My in between a storm ski, which in reality becomes quite often in Europe. Kind of a 4 out of 7 days a week ski. Previous skis recently while great in powder were too soft like the Seths and were flapping around everywhere at speed and really not great on firm snow when you came accross those conditions. Can I just say that by firm I mean ICE ! I was also keen on ski that I could trust to open up in the powder make less turns.

Conditions during my trip.

I was very very lucky and had about 60 inches of fresh snow in 14 days. 4 days of snow, but also about 4 days of flat light / mixed weather.

First Impressions

Wow - this was a heavy rig ! Not an issue but it really was apparent these skis are mega heavy in this size with the PX Racing bindings. But this helps in some situations. Immediately I was drawn into going very fast on this ski and my first run on these was from the top of Bochard (on piste route). Incredible edge hold and I was amazed at how quick i could turn these skis. What also amazed me was how much rebound I was able to generate out of the turn. A fat race ski effectively. Very well damped and I just found myself wanting to carry on for far further than I would with other skis as they give you so much confidence at speed. The tips are rock solid. I also straight away knew i'd got the right size with the 193cm. The 186 would have been too short for me. The turn radius of 32.2 was actaully more versitile than I imagined and I could vary the radious of the turn with progressive flexing of the ski during the turn. The PX14 are a great binding too and I felt more secure that on my P15's. However they are a pain in the arse to put on in powder as you all know.

Chopped up crud / ski'd out powder

Well, if people think the LP186 was good in this area than these skis are better I believe. With more surface area and length they are very very powerful and I felt so secure. This was what I was looking for in a ski. Don't think I need to expand on this area as they excel. They weight of the ski was sometimes a pain in these conditions and you really needed to crank up the speed though.

Windblown Powder

I really liked the ski in these conditions. They were easy to be gentle on and stay on the top surface and the damp nature / flex was just right for going very fast making big GS and Super G turns. I did have one huge tumble however when hit a compression in these conditions as I was going just a little bit too fast ! What I was suprsied about was how you could change the turn radius and smear soem speed off easier than I expected.

Flat light snowy day - 7 inches overnight of light power - terrible visibility

This was the only day I really thought "I wish i'd brought the Seths" when I took out the DP +'s. Being so heavy and also so straight they were hitting the icy hard layer below unless you went very quick and also with such flat light they were not the ski to be on being as stiff as they are. I went back at Lunch and swopped the skis over. I also had to go through the woods in them and follow a boarder cross style track to get back from the sidecountry this day and with huge moguls and compressions on this roller coaster route these skis are a handful. At the bottom of this run you come accross VW Beetle sized bumps and I defy anyone on this size of ski to skis these with ease ! I just went straight over the tops and ski'd out the bottom each time !!

20 inches of powder the following day ! - visibility better but still snowing.

Now I know what these skis were made for ! Holy crap they fly when you can open them up and can see well enough to have the confidence in the powder. I had no tip dive at all and their natural turn is HUGE. I tried some smaller turns and they were fine, but lets be honest you dont buy these boards to mince about on. Yes some other huge skis would be amazing on a day like this as well but they also are soft as crap and i'm of the era that I dont believe in anything above this type of width anyway. So i'm very happy with their powder performance.

Heavy wet power through the trees.

Not a pleasant experience really. Slightly ski'd out, wet and about 15 inches deep. My knees are still hurting !! These are a heavy rig to be using in these conditions.

Brevent - Hotel Face - un-ski'd 20-25inches of sun effected powder.

INCREDIBLE - cracked them up and did 5 turns from top to bottom. So stable and unlike in tight spaces when you can open them up they just work in what would be tricky snow if you were trying to ski at normal speeds.

Glacier Rond - Exit Couloir etc and down to Mt Blanc tunnel. Then back up the Midi and down the Grand Envers and all the way back to Chamonix without using the train.

Every conditions imaginable on these routes. In summary - amazing till you reach the trees ! The sooo the right choice of ski. A true big mountain weapon !

Summary - can you tell I like them?! lol.... I do indeed but they will not be for everyone. I love them and whilst they are very versitile unless you want a ski that's for skiing at mach 3 everywhere then there are probable better options out there. I'd also say that if you ski west coast US and in particular the Jackson's of the world or a Snowbird then due to their snow quality you'd be able to get away with this skis with a wider audience. In Europe conditions are often more challenging and i'd say this narrows the number of people that would use them.

Hope the review is helpful?

ps...one other negative - the top surface scratches very very easily and that's a shame. Especially with French / German idiots everywhere and Euro lift lines !

Cheers

[Arno]

nice review - glad you liked them

[jerr]

Wicked review. I enjoyed reading it simply for the sake of reading. I kind of wish it was a TR, with pics.

Thanks,

[MickeysEars]

Wicked review. I enjoyed reading it simply for the sake of reading. I kind of wish it was a TR, with pics.

Thanks,

Thanks jerr.. I wish I had the pics...my main camera / video broke on day one! Especially bad as it was my 3 years olds first trip skiing. All I have is the odd shot / video from my mobile.. gutted to be honest. Also in Chamonix you don't really have the time to hang about taking shots as the powder is being ski'd out before you can blink!