1 / 2DPS Powderworks Lotus Tour 117
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PTO Verdict
“Buy it for the skin track, or do not buy it at all.”
Best for: A specific kind of day: skins on before dawn, an open face nobody has touched, and a descent measured in a handful of long turns rather than fifty short ones. If that is what your winter looks like — and if the climb is done by you, not a chairlift — this ski was drawn for it. It also answers a narrower question well: you already like how the Lotus rides in deep snow, but the resort version is more ski than you want to haul several thousand feet.
Not for: Lift laps. Firm groomers will feel vague underfoot, and nothing in DPS's material claims otherwise — there is no hardpack performance statement for this model in either official source. Skip it too if your descents are narrow: a 21m radius on a 117mm platform does not pivot out of trouble, and the Koala Tour 111 is DPS's own answer at 111mm and 18m. Skip it if you want the calmest possible ride through chopped-up snow at speed, because the weight you are not carrying uphill is the weight that would have damped it. And skip it if being able to reorder matters — Powderworks runs are small, and DPS does not publish how many are made.
At a Glance
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Pair It With
Compatible ski bindings.
Browse our recommended binding brands for this ski.
Description
The DPS Powderworks Lotus Tour 117 is a limited-run touring powder ski — 117mm underfoot, a 21m radius, 1,525-1,675g per ski. DPS builds it by putting the resort Lotus powder outline onto its Pagoda Tour touring layup, and its own copy states the goal plainly: the classic Lotus shape, kept light for long ascents. Powderworks is DPS's small-batch label, so this is a limited release; DPS publishes no batch size.
The layup is the Pagoda Tour CFL one: high-modulus carbon plus flax over a paulownia core, Rockwell 48 edges, a World Cup race base with the Phantom Glide treatment. That construction list has no metal layer, and paulownia is the core DPS specifies for touring — together that is what gets a 117mm ski to 1,525g in the 171cm. The shape adds a tapered pintail and 45% rocker, which DPS says helps the ski plane early and stay centered in variable snow. It also means the tail sinks instead of tracking, so a wide ski still releases out of a turn.
It suits skiers who earn their turns and want real float at the top of a skin track. At 21m the sidecut is the longest on anything DPS builds to skin on — the next longest touring shape is the Pagoda Tour CFL 94, which tops out at 19.5m. It is not a resort ski: 117mm, a layup with no metal layer, and a short effective edge give away hardpack grip, and DPS makes no on-piste claim for it. It is also the wrong shape for tight couloirs and dense trees — DPS's own 111mm, 18m Koala Tour 111 is the answer there.
Three lengths — 171, 178 and 185cm — at $1,795. The radius is 21m at all three, and only 150g per ski separates the shortest from the longest, so going longer costs almost nothing on the skin track. Sold flat: bindings are a separate purchase, and we handle mounting and the length decision in the shop.
Specs
- Waist: 117mm
- Turn radius: 21m
- Profile: Tip/tail rocker 45% / effective edge 55% (Pagoda Tour construction)
- Shape: Lightweight touring, powder specialist
- Core: Paulownia wood core
- Construction: High-modulus full carbon + flax laminate; Rockwell 48 steel edges; World Cup race base with Phantom Glide
- Weight: ~1,609g per ski (178cm)
- Lengths: 171 / 178 / 185
Details
- Type
- SKI
- Vendor
- DPS
- SKU
- S-PWLT117-171CM-PH
- UPC / GTIN
- 810182500218
171
DPS Powderworks Lotus Tour 117
By PTO Team, Based on official 26/27 DPS specs and construction data from the DPS 26/27 Workbook and dpsskis.com · Spec and construction analysis
The take
“Buy it for the skin track, or do not buy it at all.”
Start with what this review is built on. The Lotus Tour 117 comes out of DPS's Powderworks program in a small batch, and everything below is read off published geometry, the published layup, and DPS's own words. DPS does not publish a flex figure, a rocker length, whether there is camber underfoot, or the mount distance it recommends. Those four blanks stay blank here.
The Lotus Tour 117's sidecut lands near the top of DPS's 26/27 range but not at it: the resort Lotus 117 matches it at 21m, and two wider Lotus models run longer — 23m on the 124, and 32m on the 138, which its printed workbook disputes at 18m. What 21m marks is the long end of everything DPS builds light enough to skin on: no other touring shape runs past 19.5m, and the Koalas all sit at 18m. Read the sidecut before you read the waist number: Pagoda Tour CFL 112 sits 6m shorter in radius and only 5mm narrower, and it is the radius half of that pair that decides how a day goes.
Against the resort Lotus 117, the Lotus Tour 117 is the same outline with a different job. Waist, radius and the three shared lengths match exactly; what changes is underneath. The resort ski is built on a poplar core with no flax in the laminate, while this one runs DPS's touring stack. That is roughly the whole decision: if a lift is doing the climbing, the resort version's extra 165 to 275 grams a ski is not a penalty — it is damping you get for free. If you are the engine, it is dead weight for several thousand feet.
Inside DPS's own touring range the Lotus Tour 117 loses on two counts, and both are worth weighing before you commit. The Koala Tour 111 runs the identical touring stack under a freeride outline with an 18m sidecut, which is the better instrument for trees, features and anything technical. Pagoda Tour CFL 112 trades width for sidecut — 5mm narrower, 15m, spans five lengths at 1,420-1,716g, and — this matters more than it sounds — is a regular catalog model.
On sizing, DPS publishes a chart on the product page and it is worth reading before you guess. In the 162-175cm band it puts beginners and intermediates on the 171 and advanced skiers on the 178; in the tallest band, 172-193cm, beginners get the 178 while intermediate and advanced both land on the 185. The 171 never appears outside the shortest band. Since the sidecut never changes, the extra length is buying surface area and calm at speed. Our own steer: if you are between two of these, the deep-snow case for going longer is stronger here than on a narrower ski.
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: A touring binding — we do not stock one, so this is a judgement about intended use rather than a shop pick.
- A touring binding (not stocked by PTO)The intended use — skinning up
This is a dedicated touring ski, between 1,525 and 1,675 grams a ski, so a touring binding is the point of buying it — that is a judgement about intended use, not a compatibility ruling. PTO currently stocks resort bindings only, and a resort binding would erode the uphill weight advantage the ski is built around. DPS names a recommended pairing on its own product page and sells it there. Talk to us before ordering so the ski and the binding decision get made together.
DPS does name a recommended pairing for this ski on its own product page — one of its own touring bindings, sold there alongside two alternatives and a trim-to-fit climbing skin. PTO stocks resort bindings only, so we are not offering an in-store pairing for a touring ski. Mounting, brake or boot-compatibility checks and release settings are handled by a technician at fitting.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between the DPS Lotus Tour 117 and the regular Lotus 117?
- Same waist, same 21m radius, and three shared lengths — the resort ski adds a 191cm this one does not offer. Different guts. The Tour runs DPS's touring stack — a carbon-and-flax laminate on a paulownia core — and lands between 1,525 and 1,675 grams a ski. The resort Lotus 117 sits on poplar with no flax and weighs 165 to 275 grams a ski more at the three lengths they share. Choose the Tour only if you are the one doing the climbing.
- Is the DPS Lotus Tour 117 any good on groomers?
- No. Neither official source claims groomer performance for it, and the geometry says why: a wide platform, generous rocker and no metal layer in the layup add up to a vague edge on firm snow. This is a deep-snow touring ski.
- What bindings fit the DPS Lotus Tour 117?
- It is sold flat, so bindings are a separate purchase. As a dedicated touring ski it is meant to be paired with a touring binding, and DPS names a recommended pairing on its own product page. PTO stocks resort bindings only, so talk to us before ordering — a resort binding would erode the uphill weight advantage you are paying for.
- What length DPS Lotus Tour 117 should I get?
- The radius is 21m at 171, 178 and 185cm, so length does not change the turn shape — it buys surface area and high-speed calm. Weight only rises 150g per ski across the whole run, so length costs little on the skin track. We help settle it at the shop.
- What does Powderworks mean?
- It is DPS's limited small-batch label — in its own words, a special batch of limited-release skis with unique designs and constructions, built as a window into its R+D work. Two models carry the label for 26/27: this one and the Koala Tour 111. DPS does not publish batch quantities.
- Does the DPS Lotus Tour 117 have metal in it?
- Not in the layup. DPS's construction list for the Pagoda Tour CFL layup runs to five items and contains no metal layer: a high-modulus carbon and flax laminate, a paulownia core, Rockwell 48 steel edges, a race base, a textured topsheet. DPS describes the same Carbon Flax laminate elsewhere in the line as combining the energy and strength of carbon with the natural dampening qualities of flax; what nobody publishes is how much damping that recovers, and a build this light still gives some away in cut-up snow.
