 Poster: A snowHead
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I don't need another pair, I really don't. But I love the way some of these custom skis look. I lean towards all mountain, something that can do bumps, groomed, crud and all but the deepest powder, and (dare I say) ice. I'm on a 3 yr old pair of dynastar Cham 90/, and they're great. Anyone on a custom set of boards, are they much better than the better boards made by the big boys? Worth the added cost?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have a pair of Wagner made for me couple of years ago. They are beautifully made to my specifications.
Are they better? In my opinion, yes.
Worth the added cost? That depends on what you are comparing with.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I have some 'semi custom' Praxis skis... you can choose flex, layup and appearance (and for at least one model, rocker geometry). They're jolly nice, and if you order em in the pre-sale they're not too expensive either, even with shipping from the US and tax, etc. Does that count?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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not sure DPS are really custom - AFAIK they don't make skis to order (although I think they tried that in the dim and distant past)
I have more than one pair of DPS. When I bought them, they were a pretty unique combination of shape and construction; probably aren't so unique now. I used to buy new skis quite regularly, but haven't bought a new pair in 4 or 5 years because my DPS Wailer 105s and 112s cover pretty much every base I need. That said, I wouldn't really recommend the 112s for crud unless you are a good skier. You can survive bumps on them, but they aren't really a bump ski.
The new Wailer 105 might be worth a look for all round use if you are a strong skier
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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I would not assume that the build quality is any better on the indie manufacturers than on the larger companies skis - although I've not seen a pair of Wagners or a pair of Igneous. I'm not sure the advantage of shaping holds in the same way it did either. A few years ago some companies, notably DPS but also Praxis and PM Gear were fast to market with rockered, full reverse cambered and reverse sidecut skis. For some reason, despite having built the spatula, Atomic were comparatively slow out of the gate with skis that built on its design.
That's no longer the case. When I bought my first pair of Lhasa Pows (which fell to bits but skied beautifully until they did - got a second pair on warranty) it was 2008 and the only other easily available fat, straight, tip rockered ski was the DPS Lotus 120. Now you cannot move for similarly shaped, cheaper skis. Of course, PM Gear are more customisable than "custom." You can talk to them about flex and carbon/non carbon but the shapes are non-negotiable.
The only area I think where the indies are still ahead is the use of carbon fibre. Its really worth looking in that direction if weight matters to you at all. But its only really worth bothering with that if the skis are getting Dynafits.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DPS aren't custom - I think you mean Indie or boutique.
In my quiver I currently have (just from the indie brands, I also have some Dynastar and Nordica skis):
- DPS Lotus 120s, made in house I believe? New, not yet skied, but they look beautiful and build quality is great. Suspect the bases will be fast rather than strong.
- Down CD1s, made in a factory in Poland that makes skis for several other brands inc Whitedot. Ski great, excellent build quality, strong bases, very light for the size, but top sheet chips fairly easily
- 4FRNT EHPs, made by Elan. Ski great and very very well made (tech commented on how good the wood core was). Bases not as strong as some though.
- Moment Bibby Pros, (hand)made in house. Techs have commented that the wood core isn't the best, but build quality over the last four seasons of heavy use has been incredible. Top sheet chips very easily, but the bases and edges are ridiculously strong and laugh at rocks. Great ski for ALL conditions other than ice, and my go to for most conditions.
I like Indie skis, as I like straight skis and few of the big boys make skis with turn radii much over 20m. I think general build quality is pretty even between them and indies now: the big boys *generally* finish skis a little better and top sheets are more resilient, but some of the indies (specifically Moment, Praxis and ON3P) use stronger/edges and bases. I think indies still have the design edge in most cases - as they're not trying to shift huge amounts of skis to the masses they can focus designs more for specific uses and types of skier.
Companies ike Blizzard and Salomon are really starting to catch up though.
For real custom skis you'll have to go to someone like Wagner though. Or make your own with SpurArt in Innsbruck.
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I have a pair of Wailer 178 112rps (pure version) for sale secondhand if you are interested in something DPS, although as pointed out above I don't think that they are the best crud ski. They excel on groomers, pow and cut up pow.
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| clarky999 wrote: |
| For real custom skis you'll have to go to someone like Wagner though. Or make your own with SpurArt in Innsbruck. |
or Birdos in Andermatt...
As someone who owns 3 pairs of DPS skis and has fondled newer ones than the ones I own, it's interesting how the build quality has improved. My Generation 1 Lotus 120s ski really nicely but are a bit of a mess, frankly. Topsheet chips and they are super-thin so mounting them is a bit of a nightmare. They were still struggling with getting carbon to stick to itself (or something) back then. Now DPS are some of the most nicely finished skis out there and seem very robust
Having said that, my old Dynastar Legend Pros were handmade made in the Dynastar race room and don't quite have the polished look of a factory-built ski. Still beautifully made though
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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A local place that hand makes (mostly) custom skis: http://www.alpstory.ch/ - based in Gland
Cost a bomb, but I've been lucky enough to try a couple of their demos pair and wow, they were brilliant! You can get personally involved in the production too on site if you like that kind of thing.
Out of my budget for now though.
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Don't Idris do custom skis?
I [think they're based in Chamonix too and Idris is a snowHead.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@Redwine, I saw Idris's skis last season in Cham, they are awesome.
Take a good look at Whitedot, great skis and great people.............My everyday ski is Whitedot Ranger Carbonlite, and i've just got the new Ragnarok Carbonlite for pow/ charging days. Used to ski Volkl Mantra's (stiff and heavy) and Redeemers (heavy but awesome on deep powder) but this new quiver does it all (I hope!) 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Ok you are allowed two pairs of boots, and four pairs of skis, no expense spared.
What's in your roof box?
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There's a new British hand built ski manufacturer just about to go live after a couple of years of development. His name's Rupert Gammond & his brand is called Pure Freeride Design. His website goes live at the end of this month so give it a couple of weeks then check out http://www.pfdskis.com
I've been doing the base grind/edge setting work on all his prototype/early production skis & will probably do so for a while as base machines are mega bucks. Rupe's trying to make it to the Mchr ski test on the 22nd with some demo skis & I'm planning to take some to the EoSB as well.
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You know it makes sense.
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@jbob, Nice game!
Boots I'm pretty happy with just my Cochise Pro Lights. Dynafit Mercurys or Scarpa Maestrale RS would probably also work too. I don't need/want a boot quiver!
Skis:
- 184 Blizzard Cochise with Marker Lords/Salomon Wardens - bad snow resort ski
- 186 4FRNT Renegade with solid frame touring bindings - everyday resort/pow ski
- 187 4FRNT Hoji/187 Praxis GPO carbon UL core/184 DPS 120 pure/Down SD115 if/when they make a mid-180s version/Whitedot Ragnarok CL if they came in a 184ish length with dynafits for touring - haven't skied any of them yet so can't call it, but doubt I'd have a problem with any of them!
- 192 DPS Lotus 138 with solid frame touring bindings (or Beast 14s if they ski nicely) - best of days
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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This conversation might be too expensive for me.  Thanks for all the advice. Gotta do a lot of thinking before putting that much into another pair of skis, which I really don't need, but so badly want.
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