1 / 5DPS Kaizen 100
In Stock — Ready to Ship
Need binding mounting?
We’ll mount your bindings and set your DIN. Free binding mounting when you order online.
PTO Verdict
“DPS draws this shape twice. This is the heavy one, and the weight is the point.”
Best for: Storm days and chopped-up leftovers at a lift-served hill. The Kaizen 100 is drawn to come around fast — DPS's largest published rocker share for 26/27, a tapered tip, and a short sidecut under an all-mountain waist. It suits the skier who steers with the whole ski and would rather spend the day in the trees than lap a firm groomer at speed.
Not for: Firm snow at speed. The construction list itemizes no full-length metal sheet, 45% of this ski is rocker rather than running edge, and DPS puts its own name behind the Kaizen 105 as the one that stays planted — its longer radius and reduced rocker are DPS's stated reason. Skinning is the other clear no: at 1,433 to 2,080 grams per ski you would be hauling a resort ski uphill, while DPS's touring line publishes the same drawing 131 to 379 grams lighter at each shared length. Anyone who wants long, high-speed arcs across an open face should also look elsewhere, because 15m is a short sidecut and this ski sits at the tight end of what DPS publishes. And if a flex number, a camber height or a mount distance has to be on paper before you buy, DPS prints none of the three.
At a Glance
Terrain
Ability Level
Pair It With
Compatible Ski Bindings
Browse our recommended binding brands for this ski.
Description
The DPS Kaizen 100 is a 100mm all-mountain ski with 45% rocker and a 15m sidecut — a powder ski's rocker share and a carver's turn radius on one drawing. That pairing is the whole character. Rocker and tip taper pull the contact point back from the shovel, which shortens the edge actually doing work and lets the ski pivot and smear rather than track. DPS puts it plainly: the rockered and tapered tip provide easy pivoting, and it floats through powder far better than the 100mm waist might suggest.
Underneath is the Kaizen layup. A Carbon Power Plate sits underfoot — an added layer of carbon DPS calls its version of power steering — over a patented dual-layer wood core of poplar and ash. Poplar is the light, springy half, ash the dense, damping half. High-modulus full carbon laminate wraps the sandwich, Rockwell 48 steel edges run the perimeter, and the World Cup race base arrives with Phantom Glide already applied — DPS's permanent base treatment, which it sells as a replacement for repeat waxing. Two of DPS's five 26/27 construction lists carry that power plate; the powder and freeride builds do not.
Buy it for soft and broken snow you ride a lift to — trees, moguls, storm days, the terrain DPS's own copy names. Skip it for firm snow at speed. There is no full-length metal sheet in the construction list, 45% rocker leaves a short working edge, and DPS itself points at the wider Kaizen 105 for grip on hard snow. At 1,677 grams a ski in the 171 this is a resort build, and DPS draws the same published shape in its touring line for anyone who climbs.
Six lengths — 153, 163, 171, 179, 184 and 189cm — at $1,795, with the radius holding at 15m throughout. Sold flat: bindings are a separate purchase, and we mount them and help settle the length in the shop.
Specs
- Waist: 100mm
- Turn radius: 15m
- Profile: Tip/tail rocker 45% / effective edge 55%
- Shape: All-mountain freeski
- Core: Poplar + Ash dual-layer wood core
- Construction: Full carbon laminate + Carbon Power Plate underfoot; Rockwell 48 steel edges; World Cup race base with Phantom Glide
- Weight: ~1,867g per ski (179cm)
- Lengths: 153 / 163 / 171 / 179 / 184 / 189
Details
- Type
- SKI
- Vendor
- DPS
- SKU
- S-KZ100-153HP
- UPC / GTIN
- 810182502892
153
DPS Kaizen 100
By PTO Team, Written from the official DPS 26/27 Workbook and dpsskis.com specs and construction lists, cross-read against the Kaizen 105 and Pagoda Tour CFL 100 pages, plus one independent thirteen-tester panel whose model year is ambiguous.
Spec and construction analysis against the DPS 26/27 Workbook and dpsskis.com · Analysis dated
These 10-point scores express PTO's editorial assessment of suitability for each use. They are not customer ratings or instrumented measurements; the analysis below explains the trade-offs.
The take
“DPS draws this shape twice. This is the heavy one, and the weight is the point.”
Set the Kaizen 100 beside DPS's touring 100 and something strange turns up. At the five lengths the two skis share, the published tip, waist and tail figures match to the millimeter, the radius reads 15m on both, and the rocker split reads 45/55 on both. The shape argument between them drops out entirely. What is left is materials and mass: this ski carries a Carbon Power Plate and a poplar-and-ash core at 1,433 to 2,080 grams per ski, the touring version runs carbon plus flax over paulownia at 1,302 to 1,601, and at the shared lengths the gap runs 131 to 379 grams. DPS makes no statement about shared tooling and neither do we — identical numbers is all anyone can say from what is published.
Inside the family the split is DPS's own doing. The Kaizen 105 page says in plain words that a longer radius and reduced rocker are what earn that ski better stability and grip on firm snow at speed: 18m and 40% against this ski's 15m and 45%. DPS's four-axis personality graphic says it more bluntly still — the 105 reads 90 toward Charge, this one reads 60. Both cost $1,795. Take the 105 if you push against a ski, the 100 if you turn it.
There is one independent panel test, thirteen tester cards, and the shape of its numbers is worth reading: float came out the high axis of the seven scored, edge grip the low one. The written notes describe early taper, a turn entry testers called ambiguous, a ski that was hard to upset, and chatter on firm snow at high speed. Three separate lines — published geometry, DPS's own family copy, thirteen strangers on snow — land in the same place on edge hold, which is more agreement than this job usually offers. Handle the rest with care: its write-up says the ski returned unchanged, while its tester cards carry the following model year, so which build was underfoot is not certain.
On length the panel scattered. Some wanted more ski, some less, some called it right where it was. Deep rocker does that — the number on the topsheet and the edge actually in the snow sit further apart than usual, so opinions spread. DPS publishes a chart by height and ability, and one line in it is telling: in the top two height bands the advanced and intermediate columns name the same length. Radius holds at 15m through the whole size run, so length here buys surface area and swing weight, not turn shape.
PTO ordered it in Hot Lap Pink, and 163cm is where we think this ski lands. DPS sells the same ski under a clear topsheet, the Carbon Reveal finish, at $1,895 against $1,795; we did not order that one.
Bindings we'd pair with it
Mount point: Flat ski — sold without bindings. DPS offers a recommended mount point in its own order flow but does not publish the distance from center or tail, so no figure is quoted here. Our pick: Look Pivot 15 GW B115 Forza 3.0.
- Look Pivot 15 GW B115 Forza 3.0Skiers who load the ski hard
Our shop pick for a ski of this width. Mounting and release settings are handled by a technician in the shop.
- MARKER Griffon 13 Bindings 2026All-mountain everyday use
A shop all-mountain option, mounted in our shop. Release settings are determined by a technician at fitting.
- MARKER Squire 11 Bindings 26/27Lighter skiers and value builds
A shop option for lighter or less aggressive skiers. The release setting is determined by a technician at fitting.
DPS tags one alpine binding as recommended in its own order flow; the three above are PTO shop stock rather than a DPS pairing. Mounting and release settings are handled by a technician at fitting.
Common Questions
- Is the DPS Kaizen 100 a good ski for groomers?
- Firm snow is not where it is aimed. The construction list itemizes no full-length metal sheet, the waist is 100mm, and 45% of this ski is rocker rather than running edge. DPS's own copy hands firm-snow duty to the Kaizen 105, whose longer radius and reduced rocker it credits with better grip at speed. Treat groomers here as the ride back, not the reason to buy.
- What is the difference between the DPS Kaizen 100 and the Kaizen 105?
- Turn shape and how hard the ski wants to be pushed. The 100 runs a 15m radius and 45% rocker; the 105 runs 18m and 40%, and DPS says that combination is what gives the 105 better stability and grip at speed. Both are $1,795. DPS's own personality graphic puts the 105 at 90 toward Charge and the 100 at 60.
- Is there a touring version of the DPS Kaizen 100?
- Not under that name, but the Pagoda Tour CFL 100 publishes the same tip, waist and tail at all five shared lengths, the same 15m radius and the same 45/55 rocker split — on a carbon-and-flax layup over a paulownia core, at 1,302 to 1,601 grams per ski. That is the one to buy if you are climbing. The Kaizen adds a 189cm the touring model does not offer.
- What is the Carbon Power Plate in the DPS Kaizen 100?
- An extra sheet of carbon that sits underfoot. DPS describes it as its own version of power steering and as the connection point between skier and ski, channeling energy in for power transfer and control. DPS itemizes it on two of its five 26/27 construction lists, Pisteworks and Kaizen; the powder, freeride and touring lists do not carry it. DPS publishes no stiffness figure for it.
- What length DPS Kaizen 100 should I get?
- Radius is 15m at all six lengths, so length changes surface area and swing weight rather than turn shape. DPS publishes a chart by height and ability that covers the whole run, and in its top two height bands the advanced and intermediate columns land on the same length. One independent panel split on the question, with testers calling the same ski short, long and true to size, so this is a good one to settle in the shop rather than online.
- What is the difference between Hot Lap Pink and Carbon Reveal on the DPS Kaizen 100?
- Topsheet, not ski. Carbon Reveal is a clear topsheet DPS offers on Kaizen and Pisteworks models so the carbon layup underneath is visible; the page serves both colorways off one spec table. The Carbon Reveal version lists at $1,895 against $1,795. PTO stocks Hot Lap Pink.
