2012-2013 DPS Lotus 138 Pure

Low Speeds

The Lotus 138 is designed to be skied fast in steep terrain. More than other shapes, however, it allows you to ski fast because it’s so easy to shut down, yet it still permits you to ski slow when you need to. You can be rocketing down a huge Alaska face carving big arcs but still have the ability to roll your ankles and smoothly transition into long drifts down the fall line to feather turns or scrub speed.

That same carvy, loose surfability made them an excellent choice for steep, tightly spaced tree skiing in Japan. I could come barreling through the open sections, but still have a blast slowing down and wiggling through the tight spots.

This is another place where I found the Lotus 138 to differ from the 196cm Praxis Protest. The Lotus 138 is at least as good as the Protest at high speeds, but significantly more manageable at lower speeds.

Maybe most telling is my experience skiing the Lotus 138 and the Protest back-to-back days with the Dynafit TLT5 Performance boots. I’ve been constantly surprised how skiable the 138 is with this superlight boot. The Protest, however, was much more challenging with the TLT5 even in soft, cold snow at low speeds.

Other Types of 3-Dimensional Snow

The Lotus 138 is remarkably versatile. I’ve used them as my primary ski-touring boards for the past two seasons all over Alaska, and there is rarely a day until spring skiing starts that I wish I had a skinnier or more traditional ski.

Breakable wind / sun / rain crust is much easier on these than traditionally shaped skis because the tips won’t hook or lock into a turn. On the 138s, I just stay centered, roll the ankles, and ski almost like I’m in powder. As long as the snow is soft enough for the ski to break through the crust, I don’t think there’s a better ski made for weird, crusty snow.

Air

In more dense, maritime snow, I’ve always felt like landings on superfat skis are a little harsher than skinnier pow boards. I don’t jump off big cliffs, but for 10–20-foot airs at speed to soft landings, the stiff flex seems to make up for the pintail and keeps me upright even with a heavy pack. I have gone over the bars a few times, but I blame that more on user error.

Hard Snow

News flash: the Lotus 138 does not excel in hard snow. It will skid and edge in a predictable manner down hard wind board when working down ridges to get to good skiing, but it’s definitely inferior to a skinnier or more traditional shape. The low swing weight and rocker makes it passable in the top sections of wind-blasted couloirs where quick turns are essential, but it’s a little unnerving jump turning on a ski this fat on hard, steep snow, especially with tech bindings. Compared to Praxis Powderboards, the 138 is substantially better, but both skis will mainly just skid in hard snow.

Groomers

I have skied only a few groomer runs ever on the 138, and they do OK. On a couple of early mornings of skiing in Japan, I couldn’t resist trying to arc them down some freshly groomed runs and, with just the right balance point, could push them into reasonably cleanly carved turns. The Praxis Protest (196cm) has a bit longer sidecut section, narrower waist, and tracks better on groomers, although they don’t shine here, either. The Powderboards are more challenging than 138s or Protests on groomers or cat tracks because of a very short effective edge of the continuous reverse sidecut.

Resort Skiing vs. Backcountry Skiing

Outside of Japan, I don’t ski these much inbounds. Alyeska has great terrain and deep snow, but after the first couple of hours it gets hard to find untracked snow.

I know people who really enjoy these skis in crud and feel like the stiff flex is great for crushing tracked up, soft snow. But to me, the 138 requires a more upright stance and skidded turns at the resort if the base is hard, because the width and short contact area get deflected pretty easily when trying lay them over. (To my mind, there is a big difference between “slarving” or drifting in soft snow, versus skidding and sideslipping on hard snow.)

Furthermore, the low weight and stiff flex that make the Lotus 138 so reactive and powerful in powder, make the ski ride a bit harsh and jarring in dense, set-up, maritime crud. In colder, low-density, tracked snow of Japan, however, they were still very fun, and I could slide or carve them through the trees at high speeds without getting knocked around.

I do think they are better than other superfats I’ve used, like the Moment Comikazi, perhaps because of how stiff the DPS skis are laterally. Conversely, they do not cut through crud as well as the 196cm Praxis Protest, which is less prone to deflection and has a damper feel and longer effective edge. In tracked out conditions, I personally prefer long skis on which I can drive the tips and knife through the crud instead of bouncing over it, so I have the most fun at Alyeska on my 193cm Cochise or the Rossignol Squad 7s. Even the skinnier- but-still-fully-rockered 187cm 4FRNT Hoji tracked up snow a lot better for me than the Lotus 138.

Uphill

I tour a lot, and I’ve spent a ton of time skinning on the 138, about 100 days total on the two pair I’ve had. The weight—or lack thereof—for a ski this big is an obvious boon, and it still amazes me every time I pick them up.

I have heard people’s concerns that highly rockered skis don’t skin well because of the reduced contact patch, but I can say that from breaking trail in deep snow to following the iciest of skin tracks, I don’t feel like the rocker affects skinning for me at all.

They definitely do suffer, however, when sidehilling on windboard. So cut your skins carefully, and consider at least loosely buckling your boots to get a little extra leverage while edging on hard snow. (And they still do better on this stuff than my buddies’ splitboards, for what it’s worth.)

One Other Caveat

The Lotus 138 is my favorite AK ski ever, but I want to mention one other limitation. A lot of the biggest terrain in Alaska will often have runouts that have been accumulating natural slough all season. The snow can be hard and bumpy, and sometimes you’re hitting it while going really fast trying to stay ahead of your own slough.

Stay centered over the stiff platform of the 138, use the shape to start brushing speed when you need to, and you’re going to be high-fiving your buddies five seconds later.

But get backseat with the stiff, exaggerated pintail and a heavy pack, and you might find yourself tomahawking across the runout. (Don’t ask me how I know that.)

Durability

Rocks are part of the game, even in our super deep snowpack, and I’ve hit quite a few on the 138s. The edges have endured some hard hits and are intact without compression. I’ve also had a few core shots on each ski and have seen a few carbon splinters, but without much consequence.

I did get one weird dent in one of the bases as part of a core shot, but DPS HQ looked at the pics and said the ski is structurally fine. I did a base repair, and have skied them a bunch since then without evidence of problems.

Bottom Line

If you ski a lot of powder, or if you tour mostly to find soft snow, I don’t think there’s a better ski on the market than the DPS Lotus 138. They are expensive, and there are lots of great skis on the market, but if I’m standing at the top of anything with powder or breakable crust, the Lotus 138s are what I most want on my feet.

 

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