Gear Review: DPS Pagoda Tour 100 RP Skis

DPS made some updates to their lauded Pagoda Tour line and graciously obliged when I asked for a chance to test them out.

But before I dive into the Pagoda Tour 100 RP, I want to talk about another DPS ski. I’m a diehard fangirl for the Yvette Alchemist 112 from 2018. Craigslist brought us together when I needed a powder touring ski, but they ended up becoming my touring quiver-of-one. They were unsinkable in pow, stable in crud. They were directional and stable, but also acquiesced when I skied them from the backseat. They held an edge in firm conditions, and I even took them on a 6,000ft ski mountaineering trip up Adams. They were almost perfect, but they were not light. If DPS could make their touring line with all the same traits at a fraction of the weight, I think I could get over the $1,549 price point and nab a pair.

They were close. The Pagoda Tour 100 RP felt familiar in powder, crud, and corn. It’s quick and nimble, forgiving in the backseat, but really rewards you when you drive the tips. But edge hold took a bit of a downgrade. Some might find this to be a logical compromise when you’re significantly slashing weight, but at over $1,500, your wallet has compromised enough. That being said, I think the Pagoda Tour 100 RP is still a worthy buy for certain groups in the market for touring skis, particularly across short sizes where powder-capable models are few and far between.

Before diving into the details, quick disclaimer: DPS loaned me these skis for part of a season, along with skins and bindings. I greatly appreciate them supporting me and my efforts to increase women’s ski review coverage, but it does not affect the content of my review.

Construction (Size 171)

To really appreciate how the DPS Pagoda Tour 100 RP handles, it helps to understand it’s made and how it’s different from its peers before connecting those features to its on snow performance.

We’ll dive in to how these specs inform how the Pagoda Tour 100 RP handles, but to learn more, check out the Construction Cheat Sheet.

Pagoda Tour 100 RP and Ability Level

The Pagoda Tour 100 RP is a good fit for intermediate and advanced skiers venturing out in the backcountry. The turn radius is already short, and the soft tips / moderate overall flex make it easy to bend and shorten that radius even more. The Pagoda Tour 100 likes to make frequent turns and keeps them on the tighter side. This makes it easy to explore new or challenging terrain with quick, controlled turns, but still lets you keep your turns rhythmic and connected.

The Pagoda Tour 100 RP also has a lot of both tip rocker and tip taper. Both of these make powder skiing easier. And the moderate flex in the tail of the ski makes it amenable to backseat skiing (we all end up back there at some point, as much as we hate to admit it).

This doesn’t mean expert skiers won’t get along with the Pagoda Tour 100. It’s nimble handling make it a great companion for tree skiing, and you can usually size up if you need some extra stability. DPS also offers the Pagoda Tour 106, which comes with their “C2” shape and has a longer turn radius and feels more stable in the fall line. But if you’re doing lots of high-consequence lines, the edge hold factor may be an issue and you’d likely benefit from a different ski or a narrower companion (like an 80-something ski mountaineering ski).

Next, we’ll get into the Pagoda Tour 100’s performance in various types of terrain and snow conditions, from best to worst:

Trees and Tight Terrain

The Pagoda Tour has DPS’s “RP” shape, which I like to think stands for “real playful.” (In reality, it stands for resort powder). Every size has a 15m turn radius (shorter than the norm), which becomes even shorter if you’re deeply flexing the ski. The tips and shovels have both a lot of rocker and taper. The former makes the ski handle a little shorter than the length suggests. The latter makes the tips lighter. Weight in the extremities (tips and tails) affects maneuverability more than weight underfoot (it’s further from the pivot point, also known as swing weight). This all combines to a ski that’s quick, nimble, and partial to tight turns. That agility shines in tight corridors or dense trees, that are all too common in the PNW.

Powder

The tip rocker and taper that contribute to the Pagoda Tour 100’s playfulness also make it shine in soft snow. Rocker helps the ski plane, while taper allows the ski to flow through powder with less resistance and more ease – think aerodynamics, but for snow. These skis might not be the fattest on the shelf, but their float is more in line with the 105-110 width class. That makes the Pagoda Tour 100 a godsend for the 5ft & under crowd. They’re really the only ones making a ski that’s that floaty, that short, and a touring specialty tool.

Forgiveness

Ideally, when we’re skiing, we’re leaning into gravity with our weight shifted forward. This bends the tips and shovels, which is typically the softest zone on the ski. When we’re feeling super nervous, our weight shifts back so we can take any falls on our hips or rear. However, this flexes the back half of the ski. Some models are designed to accommodate this form, others aren’t (especially since it can compromise stability).

The DPS Pagoda Tour 100’s tail is on the stiffer side, but it has just enough rocker and softness in the tail where they’re somewhat amenable to a cautious, defensive, or backseat stance. They definitely feel best when you’re driving the tips, but it’s more carrot than stick.

Crud

Weight makes such a difference with crud performance since a burlier ski can plow through crud and dampen out vibrations. None of the sub-1400g “true” touring skis are going to be world class in variable conditions. But the Pagoda Tour 100 really surprised me. Those rockered, tapered tips plane well and keep you up on top of the snow, where you’re less likely to catch an edge. I never have issues skiing through tracked out snow, rollerballs and tree bombs, or even skiing over the skin track. I definitely feel some vibrations and slow down a bit, but it’s a slight adjustment, compared to the Ripstick 102 W where I needed to put on the brakes and pick my way down a few turns at a time.  

Long, Arcing Turns

So many of the Pagoda Tour 100’s design features make it a nimble model that shines in short and medium radius turns. On the flip side, long, arcing turns that pick up speed are not in their wheelhouse. They’re not comfortable sitting in the fall line for very long.

Hardpack

Firm snow is the only spot where I felt like the DPS Pagoda Tour 100 left some things to be desired. Faster, steeper, and firmer turns had a tendency to “skip,” where the edges catch and release until I finally come to a stop. Slowing my speed helped immensely, but the best part of skiing spring corn is open, fast lines in the alpine. For a skier who steers clear of steep terrain and keeps speed conservative, the Pagoda Tour 100 would be a fine 1-ski quiver. But I wouldn’t feel safe on this ski for consequential terrain like glaciers or couloirs where control is paramount. This video clip catches my downhill ski kind of wobble or skid out as I’m trying to set an edge – and that’s even after preparing to stop and slowing my speed in the preceding few turns. These two frames catch the outside / downhill ski on edge one moment, and then skids out diagonally the next:

A few friends ski the previous version of the Pagoda Tour 100 and 112, and all 3 are satisfied with the edge hold. DPS made some tweaks to the core materials and swapped to a bio-based sidewall, so maybe that’s the difference? Just to be sure, I swapped skis with a ski partner who owns and loves my same Yvettes. She had similar problems with firm terrain, both for skiing and skinning.

A note about the name and topsheets. I feel a little weird about the Pagoda name and imagery. I’m not Asian. I don’t have strong knowledge about Asian cultures. But I know pagodas are sacred spaces in several religions and that the ski industry doesn’t have the strongest track record when it comes to cultural appropriation. Do I know for sure that they’re problematic? That’s not my place. But if I’m spending over $1,500 on skis, I want to be 1500% sure that they’re not going to be controversial.

A note about price. Some of the most common questions about DPS is why they’re so expensive and whether they’re worth the price. The price tag mainly comes from 2 places: innovation and high-cost materials. On the innovation front, the founders of DPS thought way outside the box for the shapes they used for powder skis. In the 2010s, every brand was making some sort of DPS knock off. On the materials front, they use 2 layers of pre-impregnated carbon. Carbon is a common material in ski construction, but DPS’s use of pre-preg is unique. It has a higher strength-to-weight ratio since it uses a lower proportion of resin. DPS also has a US supply chain, which includes higher labor costs than the brands that manufacture in China or Ukraine. Do you need to spend $1,500 for a quality, enjoyable ski? Absolutely not. There are plenty of great models for almost half the price. But for DPS, it’s not just “Double Price Skis” – there are some design choices that justify at least part of the premium.

A note about sizing. Rocker makes a ski feel shorter than the length measurement suggests. The ski’s “effective edge” is the portion of the ski in contact with the snow that you press into, flex, and turn. I skied these in a 171, similar to the length of my wider freeride skis (like the Atris Birdie, Santa Ana 110, or Sheeva 11). For comparison, I have the Backland 98 in my personal quiver, and I ski those in a 164 since they’re less rockered and shaped more like the average all-mountain ski.

If you’ve got additional questions, drop them in the comments below.