DPS 112 vs. S7

[dynamike]

"Worst ski I've ever been on"? Uh, might not have worked for you, and design may not be as novel as a few years ago, but still solid for its mission. Which was never a big mountain charger.

I call 'em as I ski 'em

[Wetdog]

I've skied them both. They are more similar than different. What I did notice, was that the S7 skied a little looser in powder. That is not better or worse, just different. While I was able to slarve the 112's like the s7's, they were also able to lock into turns a bit more than the S7 if you want them to. I skied the 112's as demos out of the resort on a back country trip and the S7's cat skiing. While I didn't ski groomers as such with the S7's, there were plenty of hard wind blown ridges where I was able to test their edge hold and they did what I needed them to, holding an edge far better then my Praxis Powders. They seemed to cut through tracked out fairly well too, not as well as the Praxis. They are soft and I could feel them bounce around a bit more. The loose feel probably comes from a more centre mount than the 112's and a bit softer flex. On the ridges, gladed trees and gullies we were skiing on the trip, they out performed my Praxis, which is a saying a lot. In wider open spaces and less variable conditions, it would be another story perhaps. They were certainly more versatile.

The 112's I had to ski out of and back into the resort on a day tour. On icy groomers they required some focus, but on softer packed surfaces they skied quite well. At the end of the day, the resort was closed and the groomers had prepared some cordoroy for us where I carved tight slalom turns with ease. In the BC, at first I tended to over turn the 112's, steering them across the fall line, as I am used to man handling big damp skis, but as I learned to relax and finesse them, they performed much better and rewarded a relaxed balanced stance. I took a few runs in some resort chop to test them and they handled it fairly well, though they were more reactive than I am used to skiing heavier damper skis. They wouldn't be my first choice in those conditions. In the powder they were a dream though, as were the S7's, so easy to turn and the light swing weight made them very maneuverable and it was easy to change the turn radius mid turn or react quickly.

Tempted as I was by some low priced demos of the S7 with bindings, I am going to wait for some 112's Pures and mount them with Dynafits. I tour mostly now anyway, and these skis are perfect for resort based back country where one has to contend with resort conditions to get out of bounds. They are lighter than the S7's by a fair amount. For comparison, I tested some Dynafit Stokes under the same conditions and hated them. The 112's blew them away in every way except in uphill touring, where they were about equal, the Dynafit Skin system is so slick though! I will probably look at some Manaslu's as a dedicated touring ski, but the 112's strike me as a perfect touring for turns ski, both in and out of the resort.

[dynamike]

PM me for my soon to be for sale Manaslu's with Dynafits, if you wish. I'm in Pemberton.