The days after these blue pups showed up on my porch, I threw them on the skin track, my backpack, and on some good mid-winter San Juan powder. Later I tossed them on a plane headed for Rossland, British Columbia for NW powder cat skiing. I was lucky enough to have plenty of snow types and situations for testing the DPS Wailer 106 Tour1s.
The DPS Wailer 106 Tour1 traveling light with me to a summit near Telluride, Colorado. From 13,442 feet at the top all the way down to 8,750 feet in Telluride, I skied everything from untouched powder to tracked sun-baked crust.
Wailer 106 Tour1s are light and nimble on the uphill. Because they’re not super wide, they edge well and don’t create as much friction as really wide powder skis do on the skin track. I didn’t have to work hard to make them perform during kick turns or while traversing on icier snow/rock. Their lightweight structure allows them to carry pleasantly strapped to a pack while boot packing.
I found that the Wailer 106 Tour1s are a buttery and moderately playful ski on powder. In both Colorado powder and Northwest style heavier powder, they made for a smooth and floaty ride. Making medium to large radius turns was easy and fun. For being only 106 across the waist, they feel wider when it comes down to how they float. The rocker/camber combo paired with partial twin tips makes these skis a pleasure to ski on dreamy deep days.
Playful skiing in the Kootenays with Big Red Cats, Patagonia, and Recco. Photo credit Kieren Gaul from Big Red Cats.
Unfortunately not all descents can be 100% lovely powder even though that’s what we’d all prefer. On the Wailer 106 Tour1s I skied sun crust, tracked out chunder, mank, and groomers on my way home from luscious powder turns. I personally don’t think that they handle these types of snow particularly well. Initiating turns and tree skiing became quite a bit of work in these types of conditions. In other words, they don’t quite cut through the crud. I believe this to be due to their lightweight balsa and carbon core and partly because I’m fairly lightweight as well.
Just for kicks, on groomers, I was able to lay them over and get a pretty decent carve out of them but it did take quite a bit more work than on an alpine ski.
Top and side profile of the Wailer 106 with Tour1 technology and a full cap polymide top sheet.
I won’t call the Wailer 106 Tour1 an all-in-one ski by any means, but I will call them a fantastic touring ski for fresh snow oriented objectives. Even if you have to deal with a little mank on the way out, these skis are well worth having on the uphill and in powder if it is that kind of day.
You know a fine pair of skis when they double as a good backrest! Reclining after skiing the Birthday Chutes near Telluride.
THE SKI: DPS Wailer 106 Tour1
Length – 168cm (also comes in 178 and 185)
Tip 130, waist 106, tail 120
Weight per ski -1351 grams
Balsa core with carbon/glass laminate
THE REVIEWER:
Height – 5’7
Weight – 125
Boot – Scarpa Maestrale
For more feedback, check out Bob Perlmutter’s review of the DPS Wailer 106 and Zelda.
WildSnow Girl, Rachel Bellamy, skis, snowboards and does just about everything else that’s fun. Rachel calls the Pacific Northwest home but is often romping around the mountains and crags of other states she loves. Whether on snow, rock, or in the sea, this WildSnow Girl will frequently have a camera in hand to capture the bliss of adventure through photography. See her beautiful images on Instagram: birdrachel.
