The Genesis of Tour1

Class-leading downhill performance in the lightweight touring segment, with a prioritization on uphill ease.

By DPS Skis

April 14^th, 2017

TO UNDERSTAND the birth of Tour1, our dedicated touring construction line now in its third year, we must provide context by looking back at the history of carbon fiber ski development.

In 2004, when we introduced the world’s first Pure Carbon Sandwich construction skis, they were groundbreaking in terms of their physical properties—demonstrating more torsional stiffness and reactivity than skis on the alpine world cup. Pure Carbon skis were undoubtedly hyper-technical, yet on first touch many in the ski world perceived them as touring specific simply because they were extremely light.

Our dedicated touring line has evolved and expanded since its inception in 2015 to include a complete range of award-winning designs, placing equal emphasis on ease of the ascent and maximum pleasure on the descent. Dive-in to see the niche that Tour1 fills in the DPS construction paradigm.

What triggered this incorrect assumption?

Notably, prior to the arrival of the Pure Carbon Sandwich, the ski world was conditioned to think that ‘lightweight’ meant ‘low performance skiing’. To engineer a lightweight ski in the traditional fashion—using fiberglass laminates—manufacturers started with the same menu of materials in their alpine constructions and then proceeded to massively dilute each component to reduce weight: shave out the fiberglass content, move to lightweight woods and foams (which has close to the same modulus as fiberglass to begin with), and then soften the longitudinal flex. The net result is invariably flimsy torsional stiffness and soft rebound that translates to uninspiring performance on the downhill after a long uphill effort.

Tour1 is designed as a specialized beast that prioritizes the weigh-in first. Yet, while the design objective was to match the weight range of skis in the existing touring specific ski class, we upped the performance ante by infusing DPS’ carbon engineering expertise into the line.

The intention of DPS’ Pure carbon construction (now represented by Alchemist) was never to dilute, but rather to enhance performance while simultaneously shedding weight from a standard alpine build. The unique physical attributes of the Pure3 prepreg carbon build allowed us to accomplish this magic trick. We wanted to drop weight, not for touring per se, but primarily to enhance alpine performance. Lighter skis are quicker and more agile edge-to-edge, stoking more on-snow creativity. A residual by-product of a performance-driven lightweight mentality is more efficient backcountry travel, which is also a quantifiable bonus.

Mackenzie Jones touring in the Wasatch. Photo:: Libbe Ellis

Piers Solomon in British Columbia filming for DPS Cinematic. Photo: Oskar Enander

Current Alchemist skis weigh 20-30 percent less than industry standard composite fiberglass skis. However, they are not as svelte as lightweight dedicated touring skis primarily because they were not created as touring specific skis. Alchemist builds are designed as the ultimate performance build with minimal compromise in any application. Skiers charge the resort at high speeds on Alchemist builds, yet also tour incredibly well on them. You should be able to take a Alchemist ski anywhere and do anything with it. Apply Alchemist to a Cassiar and you can carve hard pack with unprecedented power. Apply it to a Spoon, and you have an amazingly powerful ski with huge floatation and reduced weight—light enough that you can still tour in deep powder.

Tour1 fills the quiver gap that Alchemist cannot by being 100 percent targeted for touring. Tour1 is designed as a specialized beast that prioritizes the weigh-in first. Yet, while the design objective was to match the weight range of skis in the existing touring specific ski class, we upped the performance ante by infusing DPS’ carbon engineering expertise into the line. We aimed for downhill class-leading responsiveness, edge grip, dampening and power by employing a proprietary Tour1 carbon laminate that dominates the modulus of Tour1’s lightweight balsa core. All skis found in today’s Tour1 line exhibits and prioritizes strong downhill performance in the lightest DPS package available. Tour1 also puts Alchemist in proper context by speaking directly to the skier who is touring 100 percent of the time and values every gram of efficiency on the ascent without compromising the bliss and completion that comes with an epic run down.

About Tour1

Tour1 is a targeted lightweight backcountry build that emphasizes fast ascents and class-leading downhill performance. It is significantly lighter than Alchemist, DPS’ flagship construction. Whereas Alchemist is the ultimate in advanced ultra-powerful carbon ski technology, Tour1 skis are comparable in weight to the lightest backcountry-specific touring skis on the market while offering competitive differentiation by exhibiting superior, class-leading torsional stiffness, unmatched edge grip and damping via a proprietary Tour1 specific aerospace carbon laminate. Why invest energy in long tours if you are forced to ride floppy touring skis that sap the performance and fun out of the descent?