DPS is jumping full on into the front-side carving ski pack. As such, it needs to compete with the likes of Volkl and Blizzard who have been making front side skis for a while now. Enter the 2019 DPS Cassiar 87.2 Alchemist. Sitting right in the sweet spot for a front side ripper, the 87.2 is a great blend of power and versatility, one that will make a lot of advanced skiers happy. Our testers generally were impressed with the performance and stability of the skis.
Probably the biggest DPS fan on our staff, Jeff Siegel wrote a huge amount of information in a small test sheet. He starts by giving the 178 cm skis a 5 out of 5 for forgiveness, meaning he was able to extrude a massive amount of carving power by flexing the entirety of the skis. His low score for versatility shows that Jeff found this to be a trail-oriented ski that is best suited for making lovely rounded carves. “Good blend of power and forgiveness. Feels soft for an expert but still performs.” He continues on to say that it’s an “easygoing frontside ski” and is “a great blend of being easy to ski, yet fun, poppy, and playful.” At the end of the review, Jeff states that the “rebound from the ski was the standout feature for me. It’s a supple spring; load it up and it will smoothly release just enough power to pop you from turn to turn without tossing you around.” For Jeff, it certainly seems like the flex and rebound closely match his skiing style.
Benny Wax also skied the 178 and loved the versatile nature of the ski. He also scored the skis 5 out of 5 for overall impression. All other scores were 4’s, so it’s safe to say that Benny liked the Cassiar 87.2 Alchemists. His quotes tell a similar story: “Hippity hop!” he says. Additionally, Benny found the skis to be “fun, quick, stable, and diverse.” It was easy for Benny to “find the sweet spot.” Also, we like hearing when skis have opposing qualities because that means that a product will have a broader appeal. Benny calls them “solid but lively.”
Echoing Jeff and Benny, Jason Krupsky found the Cassiar 87.2 to be forgiving and capable of making perfectly rounded turns. He skied the 184 cm length and had a very favorable overall impression of the skis. He called them “surprisingly stable at high speeds.” Jason skis quite fast, so hearing this tells us that, in fact, the Cassiar 87.2 can handle some serious speeds. Also reiterating what Jeff says about the “easygoing” nature of the skis, Jason plots the skis as being “perfect for someone looking for effortless GS turns. The ski turns itself.” This type of information is important to note because a lot of other front-side skis can be considered abusive or difficult to stay on top of. That does not seem to be the case with these skis.
David Raybould skied both the 171 and the 178 and found the versatile nature of the skis to really shine through. “This is a very versatile ski. Offers a lot of edge grip for a ski of this design. It has lots of rocker, no metal, wide-ish shape. You don’t have to drive the tips of the skis to get good performance, meaning it goes well on steep terrain as well as in the bumps.” David touches on some nice features of the ski, again echoing the fact that it as an easygoing ski that can handle a lot of different terrain and speeds. His turn shape impression was that the Cassiar 87.2 Alchemist “likes to make shorter turns rather than longer turns.”
It’s not surprising that a ski from DPS would earn such praise, but the fact that they’re eating into some of the bigger companies’ front side market is pretty amazing. Bu using their carbon and wood construction, they’ve created a lightweight, well performing ski that can be used in multiple applications and used by a multitude of skiers.
