Gear Review
DPS Skis, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, has always been known to push the boundaries of materials and technology, ultimately resulting in high-quality, performance-driven skis. Newly updated for DPS’s 2021-2022 fleet is the Foundation 106 C2. Here’s what DPS has to say about the ski:
“The Foundation 106 C2 has undergone some key updates, making it a capable and enjoyable ski across all snow conditions. The refined shape provides for a smoother turn entry and allows you to hold speed down the fall line, while still having the option to exit into shorter turns when desired. We also significantly changed the flex profile of the ski, giving it a profile that both generates more energy and excitement out of a hard pack turn, and is intuitive and bends through all kinds of turns in variable snow.”
The Foundation 106 features DPS’ C2 construction, an all-mountain, traditional sidecut shape that uses a long effective edge and more traditional camber, resulting in a larger turning radius and a more powerful, directional ski.
I had the opportunity to test the new Foundation 106 C2 this spring, and I can say for sure that this ski lives up to the hype. The tip shovel and underfoot width of the ski made floating through powder effortless but still allowed me to sink in and get that blissful feeling that one gets when skiing deep, fresh snow. On groomed piste terrain, the one word that comes to mind with this ski is strong. I could really put a lot of force into the ski, and it was explosive and energetic exiting the turn, which is exactly what I’m looking for on a groomer. One of the things that I was most surprised by with this ski was the lack of chatter on hard snow, whether that be on the steeps or groomed piste. With a turn radius of 19m, I found the ski to be fun to make long turns out in the open, but I was also impressed by its ability to maneuver in tight trees and narrow chutes. Overall, I’m incredibly excited by this ski and can’t wait to get back out on it next winter.
DPS will officially release the ski in August 2021 during their annual Dreamtime event. When the ski is released, I’ll post my full, honest, in-depth review right here on SnowBrains.com.
