Ski: Stockli DP+ 186
Binding: Duke
Mount: on the line
Dimensions (these are the "plus" model): 131-101-118
Me: 5'8" 165ish, aggressive, flailing non-euro form
Days on these skis: 3 (east coastish groomer day, Tahoe January spring day, boottop tahoe pow)
Other skis in quiver: Kingswood Fat Stiffs 185, Stockli DP 174, Atomic REX 177
Soooo, I have been wanting to review these things for a while, but had basically only skied them on groomer days prior to yesterday's epic unexpected great snow day at Alpine Ghettos.
A little note, comparison to the old DP... These are a good deal stiffer, especially throughout. The old DP (at least mine in a 174) has a pretty soft tip, pretty stiff under foot, pretty soft tail. These are a bit more uniform, and definitely stiffer.
My first day on these was a groomer hardpack day. Man, I thought the old DP was stable, but these are amazing. What I found most surprising was how quick they are edge to edge considering their added girth over the old DP (especially considering these are wider). I havent skied a GS race ski in a long time, but these absolutely rail on hardpack. They were speed limitless for me.
On to the spring-ish snow. These are a bit less forgiving than the 'regular' DP, but still hold true to the Stockli dampness that I have loved in the past. The DP's I always thought were comfortable at speed in slop, and the DP+ is even better.
Given the added stiffness, I wasnt sure what to expect yesterday at Alpine in deeper snow (thought I might get some tip dive). Amazing snow and not many people around, so I had an opportunity to ski them in untouched boot top and deeper drifts, and I absolutely loved them. As fast as they are, I was actually able to relax on them somewhat in the soft stuff, and I had zero tip dive (which I have seen in the DP's, though that could have been length as much as width). They handled drops quite well, and only seemed to beat me up when I fell in the back seat due to not being in the best shape in the world. Oh, and they arent good at landing on the flat of a table top because one is going too slow... man my knees hurt.
This is still quite a preliminary review, as I only have 3 days on them, but they are a TON of fast fun, if you like stiff boards that require you to stay on top of them. Again, just amazed at their edge to edge considering how much ski they are, without feeling "turny"...
Keep in mind that some of this may have been a foregone conclusion with me, as I have somewhat of an obsession with this brand (the skis are just ridiculously solid/well built/stable/fast/fun), but I also had really high expectations... so.
