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Got the new DLPs out for a rip this afternoon. I took my Spliffs out for a couple of laps first as a baseline (dropped the DLPs off for a hotwax first, so I had a bit of time to kill anyways). It was definitely a Spliffy type of day, with a foot of snow in the last 48 hrs; I was almost tempted to keep riding the Spliffs, but hey new gear!
First impressions: First off, the watercolour graphic on these boards is beautiful. Having Dave stare back at you when riding the chairlift is like a challenge to give'r (and grow facial hair...). As soon as I was off the chair, the improvement in skating ability over the Spliffs was obvious. I do a lot of hikes and traverses on this hill, so that's a bit of a bonus.
Dropped down a moderately steep groomed-ish blue run to start with. I think I said "F*ck Yeah!" out loud about halfway down the first pitch. The DLPs instantly brought back my favorite skiboard technique, which I had forgotten about: slingshot hop-carves. This is where you make a short, quick and edge-in carve that slingshots you up and to the side, then land on edge into the next carve, and so on. It looks a bit like this:
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Very fun and makes for a lot of turns down the hill. Conditions were pretty soft with a bit of a packed base underneath, so when I tried making more sustained carves, I noticed the tip shovels digging in pretty aggressively and throwing me for a loop. I didn't play around much with that respect, so I need to learn the boards a bit. I'm pretty sure they'll carve like they're on rails once I get the feel for them and how to weight into turns. Took a few small jumps along the side of the lower part of the run, and the landings were rock-solid and very centered/stable. The Spliffs ride out easy, but can be a little squirmy underfoot when landing on packed snow.
Second run was a gully-type black run (where I broke my M7), basically a funneled fall line with lots of moguls. These tend to scrub out fast, so I went there looking for a bit of harder snow in the mogul troughs. It wasn't really icy, but the DLPs sure rode differently and probably better than my Spliffs. The Spliffs are so forgiving that it's usually a matter of guiding them where you want to be and just riding out the changes in pitch and direction; with the DLPs the edges bite in and actively make turns, allowing you to carve with the middle portion. When there's no powder and the mogul fields get scrubbed off, I like to use a tip-turn technique where you lift the tails and mid-section of the board off the ground and pivot on the tip. I think the DLPs are going to shine at this.
Run three was my favorite line down Terra Ratta... cliff-zone double black glade running at its finest. I was a little hesitant to run this line on the first day out on the new boards. It involves a small drop that shoots you out between a couple of rocks onto a steep pitch, then crank a left over a drop to miss the trees, aim it down, drop and then ride a good glade line straight down. Super fun, but needs a few solid landings and accelerates you pretty quickly. Deep snow was a potential confounding factor here, as I'd had a few tip catches transitioning into deeper snow on my first run (caught the tips on the Spliffs a bit on this run earlier). No problems! Might have been a cleaner run than on the Spliffs, and the big rear shovels on the DLPs seem to allow you to actually carve the underlying base a bit when you get backseat in moderate pow. With any other boards I've been on, it's usually more of a ruddering action instead of an edge effect. It can be a bit of a liability if you're not on top of it... I did get tossed a couple of times trying to turn out of a landing while backseat.
I did have them set up a bit more boot-centered than I ride my Spliffs... (about a 1/2 inch). I ride my Spliffs about 6 notches from the full setback on my Receptors). Not sure how much of a difference that will make. They seem to handle fine in moderate powder so far, and I'll be Spliffing on deep days in any case.
Long story short, if the Spliffs are a 4x4 truck, the DLPs are a rally car. Fast, super responsive, able to take some rough stuff, but might flip you into a tree if you don't stay on top of them.
They're pretty much exactly the boards I was looking to add to the quiver. Is it sick that I'm (almost) wishing for less powder so I have an excuse to ride them now?
First impressions: First off, the watercolour graphic on these boards is beautiful. Having Dave stare back at you when riding the chairlift is like a challenge to give'r (and grow facial hair...). As soon as I was off the chair, the improvement in skating ability over the Spliffs was obvious. I do a lot of hikes and traverses on this hill, so that's a bit of a bonus.
Dropped down a moderately steep groomed-ish blue run to start with. I think I said "F*ck Yeah!" out loud about halfway down the first pitch. The DLPs instantly brought back my favorite skiboard technique, which I had forgotten about: slingshot hop-carves. This is where you make a short, quick and edge-in carve that slingshots you up and to the side, then land on edge into the next carve, and so on. It looks a bit like this:
(
......)
(
......)
Very fun and makes for a lot of turns down the hill. Conditions were pretty soft with a bit of a packed base underneath, so when I tried making more sustained carves, I noticed the tip shovels digging in pretty aggressively and throwing me for a loop. I didn't play around much with that respect, so I need to learn the boards a bit. I'm pretty sure they'll carve like they're on rails once I get the feel for them and how to weight into turns. Took a few small jumps along the side of the lower part of the run, and the landings were rock-solid and very centered/stable. The Spliffs ride out easy, but can be a little squirmy underfoot when landing on packed snow.
Second run was a gully-type black run (where I broke my M7), basically a funneled fall line with lots of moguls. These tend to scrub out fast, so I went there looking for a bit of harder snow in the mogul troughs. It wasn't really icy, but the DLPs sure rode differently and probably better than my Spliffs. The Spliffs are so forgiving that it's usually a matter of guiding them where you want to be and just riding out the changes in pitch and direction; with the DLPs the edges bite in and actively make turns, allowing you to carve with the middle portion. When there's no powder and the mogul fields get scrubbed off, I like to use a tip-turn technique where you lift the tails and mid-section of the board off the ground and pivot on the tip. I think the DLPs are going to shine at this.
Run three was my favorite line down Terra Ratta... cliff-zone double black glade running at its finest. I was a little hesitant to run this line on the first day out on the new boards. It involves a small drop that shoots you out between a couple of rocks onto a steep pitch, then crank a left over a drop to miss the trees, aim it down, drop and then ride a good glade line straight down. Super fun, but needs a few solid landings and accelerates you pretty quickly. Deep snow was a potential confounding factor here, as I'd had a few tip catches transitioning into deeper snow on my first run (caught the tips on the Spliffs a bit on this run earlier). No problems! Might have been a cleaner run than on the Spliffs, and the big rear shovels on the DLPs seem to allow you to actually carve the underlying base a bit when you get backseat in moderate pow. With any other boards I've been on, it's usually more of a ruddering action instead of an edge effect. It can be a bit of a liability if you're not on top of it... I did get tossed a couple of times trying to turn out of a landing while backseat.
I did have them set up a bit more boot-centered than I ride my Spliffs... (about a 1/2 inch). I ride my Spliffs about 6 notches from the full setback on my Receptors). Not sure how much of a difference that will make. They seem to handle fine in moderate powder so far, and I'll be Spliffing on deep days in any case.
Long story short, if the Spliffs are a 4x4 truck, the DLPs are a rally car. Fast, super responsive, able to take some rough stuff, but might flip you into a tree if you don't stay on top of them.
They're pretty much exactly the boards I was looking to add to the quiver. Is it sick that I'm (almost) wishing for less powder so I have an excuse to ride them now?
).
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