With all the acclaim that surrounds DPS and its signature Wailer 112RP, I knew a pair belonged in my quiver. My order arrived in early December and they quickly became my go-to resort and sidecountry powder ski for all but the deepest days (DPS has a different ski just for that — the Lotus 138). Through a combination of aggressive sidecut (141-112-128), tapered tips and tails, as well as rocker (450 mm at the tip and 400 mm at the tail) they take skiing powder to a whole new dimension. The sidecut allows for easy and quick turn initiation, while the rocker provides smooth floatation to ski untracked snow effortlessly.
Beyond shape, the Wailer 112RP stands out for its construction. It comes in two forms: hybrid and pure carbon fiber. My 112s are hybrids, which are less expensive than pure carbon, but still light. The hybrid model is made from a combination of fiberglass, carbon and bamboo and features the hardest graphite race bases available on the market. They're designed with accessible high performance in mind and unquestionably deliver on that. The pure takes high performance to an entirely different level. They're made from a combination of nanotech resins, carbon and poplar and the same bases as the hybrids. The result is a ski that's 30 percent lighter and 20 percent stiffer than a fiberglass counterpart while retaining nearly 100 percent of the ski's flex over its lifetime.
I bought hybrids because I couldn't afford pures and because my plan was to ski these equally in the resort and the backcountry. My 112s crush it on powder days within the resort and excel for days afterword, as I chase powder out of bounds. They're easy to boot pack or skin with and are equally versatile on piste, handling chopped up snow and groomers without a problem. Of my 93 ski days so far this season, nearly 50 of them have been on my Wailers. Given the amount of rocker they have, my one recommendation would be to buy them 5 cm to 10 cm long. Otherwise, this is a ski that's hard to go wrong with whether you're looking for something to slay powder or keep up inbounds once it's tracked out.
An edit of mine from this past February featuring my Wailer 112RPs in action:
A sneak peak of them from 2011's SIA:
