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Happy man on a DPS RPC
Product: DPS 112 RPC (Pure Carbon construction)
Length Tested: 192cm
Turn Radius: 20-23m
side cut: 144mm-115mm-127mm
side cut: 144mm-115mm-127mm
Tip rocker: 480mm
Tail rocker: 384mm
Running length: 1510mm
Weight: per skis: 4lb. 5oz.
Tail rocker: 384mm
Running length: 1510mm
Weight: per skis: 4lb. 5oz.
Binding: Dynfit Radical Speed
Mount point: +1cm forward of suggested
Ski weight with bindings: 5lb. 2oz. per ski
Environment & Conditions:
Ski weight with bindings: 5lb. 2oz. per ski
Environment & Conditions:
Location of Test: Crystal Mountain Washington
Number of Runs: 5 full days over a 10 day late spring storm cycle
Snow Conditions: from hard packed, rain ice, to 3 feet of new mid winter snow
Demo or Own: own
Tester Info:
Height/Weight: 6'1" 190lb
Ski Days/Season: 30+
Years Skiing: 30+
Aggressiveness: Moderate
Aggressiveness: Moderate
Current Quiver: Huascaran, Aspect, GTR, Lo5, Hi5, 112RP, 138, Broad Peak, 112RP, 138.
Home Area: Silver Mtn Idaho, Crystal Mtn and Alpental WA.
Preferred Terrain: off-piste, trees, steeps
DPS sez: The RPC shape gives up some of the Wailer 112RP's hard snow carving performance and versatility in exchange for enhanced crud and powder velocity.
1 (worst) to 5 (best) star ratings
Value: ***** (hard to believe on a $1250 ski but there it is!)
Value: ***** (hard to believe on a $1250 ski but there it is!)
Durability: unknown at this point but they still look good
Edge Grip: considering the 115mm under foot *****
Maneuverability:******
Performance:******
Up front. I have not been a big fan of the 112RP. Some seem to think it is the *magic ski*. I liked the 112RP enough to have kept a pair for a season. Almost everyone from professional mtn guides to timid intermediates seem to rave about the 112RP. To me it is a quiver ski. And not one currently in my quiver. And not one to be replaced. Not nearly versatile enough to be my only skis. Not to say it is a bad ski. Just not the ski to end my search for the perfect ski. I am glad I had a chance to spend a season on them. But not unhappy when I sold them either.
Yes, I was on the 190cm version of the PURE 112RP. And a 192 on the PURE 138 Lotus. (Zero4 and One boots) But one of my all time favorite skis is the Dynafit Huascaran in a 177cm (TLT boots) as a playful, fun ski in most any conditions and unsurpassed *for me* in tight trees. I like a stiff tail and little or no rocker in the tail on a shorter ski. The rocker up front I don't want flapping around at speed and the ability to carve bullet proof ice with some acuity important as well.
As much as I did like them both I thought both the 138 and the 112RP too much of a quiver ski instead of a all around ski (duh! that is obvious on the 138 and not nearly the versatility of the 112 everyone else describes ).
DPS sez:
• “The RPC is designed to ski more in the fall line with a shallower turn shape. It’s for the charging, directional skier …who wants to put less emphasis on the RP’s hard snow performance and more on its abilities in crud and soft snow.”
***I found the RPC better at fall line/faster mach 1 type GS turns, ski with no lack of hard snow (or ice for their 115mm under foot) performance. I also found them easy to do slow, super tight turns on steep or even really moderate terrain with ease. Little difference in the 112RP and the RPS here it is only a matter of a little (very little) effort.
• “The RPC gives up some of the 112 RP’s hard snow-carving performance and versatility in exchange for enhanced crud busting and speed through powder.”
*** I didn't find that to be the case. I think the RPC has some serious added attributes and literally giving away nothing to the 112RP....other than a more skilled/stronger skier will be happier on the RPC by comparison. Blister's review hints at this btw.
• “The RPC will allow skiers to surf powder in the morning, then charge leftovers all day as they sniff out stashes.”
***this I found spot on.....
Blister sez:
"the RPC is absolutely a Wailer 112RP at heart, as it shares some of the same characteristics that helped put the original RP on the map".
***Not IMO....I think the RPC is best described as a "115 Lotus" Forget all that nonsense about it's connection to the 112 RP. Bad marketing on DPS's part IMO.
"I’m not sure I knew what “torsionally rigid” really meant until laying down some blisteringly fast, high-energy carves out the bottom of Alta’s Collin’s face on the RPC. In this respect, DPS’s engineering and construction of the ski is seriously impressive."
I mention Rossi 4G 207s below. It is a torsionally rigid ski is. I had the chance to ski some of the best made for several decades. The 138s and the 112RP are good examples of torsionally rigid skis. The RPC even more so I think. If you want to ski ice...serious ice... get a torsionally rigid ski. Make the ski rigid enough and you can even ski ice on a soft boot and 115 under foot.
Blisters' review here:
http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/2012-2013-dps-wailer-112rpc-2#comment-16640
Follow up:
To prep my RPCs I simply ironed in a thick coat of some spring wax on the Hauscaran and the RPC and took them to the hill. No detune on either and I wouldn't call either ski hooky or even anything close to hooky.
Bottom line?
Heli ski? You bet. I'd be OK with leaving the 138s at home.
Up front. I have not been a big fan of the 112RP. Some seem to think it is the *magic ski*. I liked the 112RP enough to have kept a pair for a season. Almost everyone from professional mtn guides to timid intermediates seem to rave about the 112RP. To me it is a quiver ski. And not one currently in my quiver. And not one to be replaced. Not nearly versatile enough to be my only skis. Not to say it is a bad ski. Just not the ski to end my search for the perfect ski. I am glad I had a chance to spend a season on them. But not unhappy when I sold them either.
Like everyone else reading this review specifically for 112 RPC hands on info, likely most of you have read the less than stellar review on the RPC, Blister had posted previous. (It is linked below) That review (and more recently a second on the 2014 RPC) and my dislike for the 112PC kept me off the RPC for most of this season. In retrospect that was a big, BIG mistake on my part. I get sucked in on the Internet reviews just as easily as the next guy. Damn it!
What I like about the RPC compared to the RP? Less rocker in the tip and tail as a start. And a stiffer over all ski flex. The ski is best described as "a sidecut version of the lotus 138, than similar to the wailer 112RP". Same shape used, with slight variation, on the Lotus 120, 112RP, the 112RPC and the 99, and is exceptional technology imo.
What I like about the RPC compared to the RP? Less rocker in the tip and tail as a start. And a stiffer over all ski flex. The ski is best described as "a sidecut version of the lotus 138, than similar to the wailer 112RP". Same shape used, with slight variation, on the Lotus 120, 112RP, the 112RPC and the 99, and is exceptional technology imo.
I am blessed by good fortune to get on a lot of skis. A dozen or so this season alone. Not a professional ski tester by any means but more skis than I have ever dreamt of skiing in any one season previous. Best of all I own the skis..so nothing owed to the manufacture here past an honest appraisal of the skis.. All of which just keeps me searching for the next "best ski".
A good many friends (most active outdoor ski professionals) have decided that the 100mm under foot is *the* magic number for their every day skis. I need to keep looking for that 100mm ski. And I have most of the 100mm ski my buddies have suggested. From my own search the 112mm/115mm seems to be my magic number. I am typically a strong skier (physically) and able to ski any terrain given reasonable snow conditions. And now with a modern 115mm under foot ski, even what I use to think as "unreasonable" conditions I can generally ski with little effort.
One of my most fun and agile pair of all around skis right now is a short 177cm, and 112mm under foot, skis. But I prefer something longer when riding lift served terrain. Something more like 190cm+. FWIW I generally like a light weight 167/168cm skis in the BC if I am looking at covering an sort of distance.
I am using a tech or Dynafit style binding on all my skis these days. Even the skis reserved just for lift skiing. The RPC is going to be a lift served ski 90% of the time for me. I commented on the 112s earlier. From DPS's original comments the 112RP seems like a much better powder ski than a resort/powder skis to me. I've not skied the newest Rossi 7 Series but hopefully will shortly. I have skied similar skis to the DPS RPC from BD, La Sportiva, DPS in 100 and 115 formats. I like the newest light weight skis and the lightest Dynafit style bindings. A mountaineering back ground has me looking in that direction..instead of back at my old school Rossi and K2 roots. Just the weight when picking up a 115mm under foot from Rossignol or K2 stops me from looking any further. The huge tail rocker on any of those skis would, if weight did not. Even though I know some of those skis will ski very, very well.
Below are a few questions from a different forum that were asked when I mentioned I really didn't like the 112RP.
Below are a few questions from a different forum that were asked when I mentioned I really didn't like the 112RP.
"Were you on the 190cm RP's? Interesting that DPS describes the RP to be more capable on hard than the RPC, and more versatile, but you found just the opposite to be true for you."
Here is the video I found most enlightening from DPS. This is what convinced me to give the "112" another try even if it is a 115 version :)
Yes, I was on the 190cm version of the PURE 112RP. And a 192 on the PURE 138 Lotus. (Zero4 and One boots) But one of my all time favorite skis is the Dynafit Huascaran in a 177cm (TLT boots) as a playful, fun ski in most any conditions and unsurpassed *for me* in tight trees. I like a stiff tail and little or no rocker in the tail on a shorter ski. The rocker up front I don't want flapping around at speed and the ability to carve bullet proof ice with some acuity important as well.
As much as I did like them both I thought both the 138 and the 112RP too much of a quiver ski instead of a all around ski (duh! that is obvious on the 138 and not nearly the versatility of the 112 everyone else describes ).
I bought 196cm Huascarans and the 192 RPC at the same time. Expecting GREAT things from the longer Hauscaran and not much from the the RPC. Knowing that the 177cm Huascaran is one of my all time favourite sets on any terrain using the TLT Mtn boot. It turned out the other way around on ski likes and dislikes. I was making the comparison on two hour intervals during a 3 day dump of new powder over a hard ice (west coast standards) base that was rained on before freezing up solid. Add two feet of fluff to that while you are still skiing the ice as the base was interesting for the first day and a half.
Every time the place got skied out and I thought the conditions just sucked I went back to the RPC and found it was the ski lacking and not the conditions. Harsh reality and eventual glowing accolades for the RPC (much to my surprise!)
In all my Internet surfing I found two guys describing the RPC as a *115 Lotus* on another forum...which I found intriguing. Marshal Olson and Stephen Drake of DPS were saying the 112RP was a combo of the 138 and the Cassiar 80. All those comments and the newest technology from DPS built into the RPC had me intrigued. My bet is the RPC was the ski DPS was really trying to make when they came out with the 112RP.
DPS sez:
• “The RPC is designed to ski more in the fall line with a shallower turn shape. It’s for the charging, directional skier …who wants to put less emphasis on the RP’s hard snow performance and more on its abilities in crud and soft snow.”
• “The RPC gives up some of the 112 RP’s hard snow-carving performance and versatility in exchange for enhanced crud busting and speed through powder.”
*** I didn't find that to be the case. I think the RPC has some serious added attributes and literally giving away nothing to the 112RP....other than a more skilled/stronger skier will be happier on the RPC by comparison. Blister's review hints at this btw.
• “The RPC will allow skiers to surf powder in the morning, then charge leftovers all day as they sniff out stashes.”
***this I found spot on.....
Blister sez:
"the RPC is absolutely a Wailer 112RP at heart, as it shares some of the same characteristics that helped put the original RP on the map".
***Not IMO....I think the RPC is best described as a "115 Lotus" Forget all that nonsense about it's connection to the 112 RP. Bad marketing on DPS's part IMO.
"I’m not sure I knew what “torsionally rigid” really meant until laying down some blisteringly fast, high-energy carves out the bottom of Alta’s Collin’s face on the RPC. In this respect, DPS’s engineering and construction of the ski is seriously impressive."
I mention Rossi 4G 207s below. It is a torsionally rigid ski is. I had the chance to ski some of the best made for several decades. The 138s and the 112RP are good examples of torsionally rigid skis. The RPC even more so I think. If you want to ski ice...serious ice... get a torsionally rigid ski. Make the ski rigid enough and you can even ski ice on a soft boot and 115 under foot.
Blisters' review here:
http://blistergearreview.com/gear-reviews/2012-2013-dps-wailer-112rpc-2#comment-16640
Follow up:
To prep my RPCs I simply ironed in a thick coat of some spring wax on the Hauscaran and the RPC and took them to the hill. No detune on either and I wouldn't call either ski hooky or even anything close to hooky.
Easy to describe the 112RP as the ski for the guy that doesn't know how to ski powder.....and you'll never have to learn on the 112RP. The ski will simply give you a majority of the skill required. The 112RP is a super easy ski to ski...any where but hard snow. But for me it is a "beginners" ski. I come from old school Rossi and K2 SL/GS 203 and 207 race skis if that helps. The newest (rockered and 5 point shaped) skis have made me a much, much better skier with less effort involved.
Bottom line?
I can rip groomers on the RPC with literally no speed limit. Big super fast GS turns if I like (and I DO like!) or quick turns straight down the fall line at Mach 1. Easy. Pow? If it is on this ski things are easy. Not as easy or as playful as a 177cm Huascaran but just as playful as the RP in my opinion. Looking for those last tiny powder stashes at your favorite resort? The 4 to 6 turn pockets of the last remaining stash? The RPC will make that patch and if you work at it add an extra turn in there as well. Yes they are a tiny bit more work than the 112RP. And I do mean TINY! But the advantages the rest of the day are immense. Even if it is just getting between stashes at Mach 1 with a huge smile on your face. Slow speed tight trees or just tight turns? Easy enough...so easy....enough. I am still amazed at just how versatile this ski is. Some of my skis will do most of what I have described. The RPC finally seems like the one "full meal deal".
I am a little stuck on a skied named a "112" when it is actually 115mm under foot. And I think it is much more ski than the 112RP. More than the 3mm implies.
This is no 112RP. It really is a Lotus 115. Big Mountain? All mountain? The RPC will do both easy enough. "My bet is the RPC was the ski DPS was really trying to design when they came out with the 112RP". The limitations of the 112RP is obvious for the skilled practitioner. I've not noted any limitation on the RPC. And I really don't consider myself a very "skilled" practitioner. I just get to ski a lot of skis.I am a little stuck on a skied named a "112" when it is actually 115mm under foot. And I think it is much more ski than the 112RP. More than the 3mm implies.
Heli ski? You bet. I'd be OK with leaving the 138s at home.
FWIW I am skiing the RPC with a Dynafit One boot or the Scarpa Maestrale RS. And I am very pleased with the combinations. More so with the RS and this ski. Makes me think I might be leaving some on the table here. Which makes me think Lange and down hill bindings.
The RPC isn't my all time favorite ski...but it is damn close. For a resort ski on any sort of soft snow? It might well be my favorite ski ever. Either way hard not to get a smile on your face with these guys on your feet. If I am earning my own turns on any sort of soft snow, corn to pow? This ski (even in my 192s) is light enough to consider for any mid winter snow pack, boot or skin mission. You earn the turns might as well savor them.
The RPC isn't my all time favorite ski...but it is damn close. For a resort ski on any sort of soft snow? It might well be my favorite ski ever. Either way hard not to get a smile on your face with these guys on your feet. If I am earning my own turns on any sort of soft snow, corn to pow? This ski (even in my 192s) is light enough to consider for any mid winter snow pack, boot or skin mission. You earn the turns might as well savor them.
6 comments:
What boots/bindings are you using? I just bought the RPC Pure 3s, I'm currently on Volkl Mantras which I like very much. My idea with these DPS's is to set them up with tech-bindings - I was thinking about either the Diamir Vipecs (I know, I'm told they're hard to get into) or the yet to be released G3 ION's. My Mantras have Fritchi Freerides on them - it's a bomb-proof, great set-up, but heavy, and I do hike a fair amount. I'm 205 pounds and ski aggressively - the Beasts were a thought, but they're too heavy (I don't need DIN 16). I read between the lines regarding reviews you referenced on the RPCs, the testers were considerably lighter than I am, and the turning radius of the RP's didn't make me too excited. Your review reflects what I'm expecting from these sticks.
Hi Dean,
I am skiing a Speed Radical with a Dynafit 6mm tos shim to lower the ramp for my RPC. Which means I don't use brakes but leashes to lower ramp angle as well. I have used the Maestrale RS, TLT5 P, ONE, and now the TLT6 P this ski. Love the ski. Boot choice is al about fit IMO. Playful and no speed limit on the RPC.
I use to ski on a DIN of 11 when I was younger. Still a solid (well a full 200# anyway) 200# plus what ever kit I carry but well over 205# and have no problem staying in any Dynafit on no fall terrain. But I don't huck anything, ever. Just ski anything up to steep+. At some point I get scared and stop :) But a head thing not a gear thing.
RPC is an amazing ski IMO. But no way in hell I would add a Beast to them. Let me know what you end up with and how you like them.
If I were to do it again I would mount a Speed Superlight heel and a Speed Radical toe with a Dynafit 6mm shim to a RPC. Not an easy combo to source but that would be my choice of anything available. It would be the chit!
Have fun!
Great review!!!!!
Have you ever skied the Lotus 120?
Have fun out there!
Bill
Hi Bill, yes, I have the 120 Spoon this year. Nice ski. Snow has been dismal here in the NW So no review yet.
Hi Dane,
Fantastic review (and I'm a long time lurker and follower of your blog). I grabbed a set of the 186s as I'm a big scrawnier than you, but am after all the attributes of a wider ski that you describe (minimal fancy rocker BS, suitable for aggressive skiing).
I'm just trying to figure out a binding for them...I was thinking the Beast 14, but the weight is a bit off putting. I've been on a Radical toe/Kreuzspitze heel on some super light and short G3s, but this ski looks much bigger and burlier. I'm also looking at stepping up my skiing and dropping small cliffs (5-10m max!) and generally skiing as hard as I can on steep stuff before scaring the hell out of myself.
I do have a set of ATK Free Raider 14s which I could definitely mount (which have positive reviews in Europe), or feel free to suggest something else entirely. Apologies if this all comes across as a bit ignorant - I'm a climber coming to skiing!
Thanks for all your work,
Dan
Appreciate the comments. I ski mine with a TLT6 or more slightly more boot like the Dynafit Mercury but mostly a TLT6) and a Dynafit Speed Radical :) But I aint hucking anything intentionally in them either. If I were, I'd likely want a alpine binding and use a boot unless the new Dynafit Khiôn lives up to the current hype.
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