1 / 2DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94
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PTO Verdict
“Bought for the edge, not the float. DPS's own conditions dial puts its three other Pagoda Tours past the middle of its Firm-to-Soft dial and this one below it.”
Best for: Skiers whose touring season is more often firm than deep. This is the narrow, low-rocker end of DPS's touring line, and the numbers point the same direction its copy does: the highest effective-edge share DPS publishes outside its carving skis, the smallest rocker share of any Pagoda Tour it builds, and a waist that keeps the ski quick to set on a refrozen traverse. It suits long alpine days, spring couloirs and technical descents where you would rather have edge under you than surface area, and it stays light enough at 1,437 g in the 171 that the ascent is not where you pay for it.
Not for: Deep snow. DPS makes a float claim for the 100 and builds the 112 around surfing, and for this one it claims neither — a 94mm ski carrying the smallest rocker share in the Pagoda Tour family has little to lift with when the snow gets soft. Skip it for cut-up afternoons at speed as well: a paulownia core and a layup with no metal sheet or plate do not have the mass that settles a ski in refrozen debris, and the flax DPS credits with damping carries no published figure. Skip it if you want a quick, short arc: this ski reaches 19.5m, the longest radius published anywhere in the family, and the two 15m Pagoda Tours are the 100 and the 112.
At a Glance
Terrain
Ability Level
Pair It With
Compatible ski bindings.
Browse our recommended binding brands for this ski.
Description
DPS builds the Pagoda Tour CFL 94 as the narrow end of its 26/27 touring family: 94mm underfoot, a turn radius that climbs from 17m at 157cm to 19.5m at 185cm, and 1,319 to 1,566 grams per ski across five sizes. DPS files it under Touring and aims it at backcountry skiers who prefer a narrower platform but still want confidence on steep, firm or technical terrain. Its own summary calls it directional, drawn for fall-line descents and deliberate, controlled skiing.
The layup is DPS's Pagoda Tour CFL stack, printed as five items: a textured topsheet, a high-modulus carbon-and-flax laminate, a paulownia core, Rockwell 48 steel edges, and a World Cup race base carrying the Phantom Glide treatment. DPS credits the flax in that laminate with natural damping, set against what the carbon contributes in energy and strength. The published laminate is carbon and flax rather than a metal sheet or plate, and paulownia is the core DPS specifies for its touring build, which is how a 94mm ski arrives at 1,437 grams at 171cm.
The profile is where this one parts company with its siblings. DPS prints a 25 to 35% rocker share and a 65 to 75% effective edge share, and among the fifteen models in its 26/27 book that publish a rocker figure, that is the smallest rocker share printed outside the three Pisteworks carvers. DPS points the ski at long alpine missions and technical backcountry lines, and says it keeps its edge grip in chalk, crust and refrozen snow. It publishes no float claim for this model.
Five lengths — 157, 165, 171, 178 and 185cm — at $1,695, sold flat. Because the radius moves with the size, going longer changes turn shape and not only edge length — on the two 15m skis in the family, a longer size leaves turn shape alone. DPS also sells a climbing skin pre-trimmed for this model, as a separate purchase. Bindings are bought separately; we handle mounting and the length decision in the shop.
Specs
- Waist: 94mm
- Turn radius: 17m (157) to 19.5m (185)
- Profile: 25-35% tip/tail rocker / 65-75% effective edge (DPS prints a range)
- Shape: Lightweight touring, firm-snow oriented
- Core: Paulownia wood core
- Construction: High-modulus full carbon + flax laminate; Rockwell 48 steel edges; World Cup race base with Phantom Glide
- Weight: ~1,437g per ski (171cm)
- Lengths: 157 / 165 / 171 / 178 / 185
Details
- Type
- SKI
- Vendor
- DPS
- SKU
- S-PT94-157RD-PH
- UPC / GTIN
- 853557004676
157
DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94
By PTO Team, Based on official 26/27 DPS specs and construction data from dpsskis.com and the printed DPS Workbook · Spec and construction analysis
The take
“Bought for the edge, not the float. DPS's own conditions dial puts its three other Pagoda Tours past the middle of its Firm-to-Soft dial and this one below it.”
DPS's own product page reproduces a passage from an independent review, selected by DPS. What follows is read off published figures and DPS's own words.
The number carrying the argument is the effective edge share. DPS gives this ski 65-75%, against 55% on both of the 15m tourers in the family and 60% on the 105. Of the fifteen the printed workbook gives a figure to, that is the highest share outside the three carving skis, and DPS files all three as frontside carvers, not touring skis. DPS does not publish what the percentage measures, so take it as a published share and not as a contact length.
Weight is the other half, and it wants reading carefully. Nine of the seventeen models offer a 171, and at that length this is the lightest of the nine at 1,437 g a ski — 86 g under the next one, and 113 g under the resort-built ski that shares its waist. It is not the lightest thing DPS prints, though: the CFL 100 lists 1,302 g in its 153. Take the matched length over the model minimum.
Two DPS documents disagree about this ski, and you should know which one we followed. The printed catalog puts 195m in the 178 radius cell where the website puts 19m. It also prints a weight column of 1,698 to 2,103 g that is character for character the column printed for the Lotus 112 on another page; its 171cm cell reads 1,867 g, which is 344 g above the CFL 100's 1,523 g and 336 above the CFL 105's 1,531 g at the one length all three share. We publish the website figures. That is our call, not a correction DPS has issued.
Sizing needs care here, and DPS's own chart is part of why. It runs by height band and ability level, and it argues with itself where the bands overlap: an intermediate at 178cm lands on the 178 in one row and the 185 in the next. That is not a chart to settle a length from on your own.
So: DPS makes a float claim for the 100 and builds the 112 around surfing; for this one it claims neither. If your season is spring couloirs, refrozen mornings and long alpine days, that is the reason it exists. If your days are mostly deep ones, the 100 or the 112 is the better $1,695.
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 — the pairing the ski is built for, not a shop pick.
- A touring bindingThe intended use — skinning up
This is a touring ski between 1,319 and 1,566 grams a ski, so a touring binding is the point of buying it — that is a judgment about intended use, not a compatibility ruling. A resort binding would spend the weight advantage the ski is built around. DPS names a recommended pairing on its own product page and sells it there, along with a skin cut for this model. 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, offered there alongside a second. PTO stocks resort bindings only, so we are not offering an in-store pairing for a touring ski. Mounting, brake-width match and release settings are handled by a technician at fitting.
Common Questions
- Is the DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94 good on firm snow?
- That is the job DPS drew it for. Its page claims the ski holds its edge on chalk, crust and refrozen surfaces, and the geometry backs that up: a 65-75% effective edge share is the highest DPS publishes outside its carving skis. What DPS publishes no figure for is hardpack grip.
- How much does the DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94 weigh?
- DPS lists 1,319 g at 157cm, 1,386 g at 165, 1,437 g at 171, 1,496 g at 178 and 1,566 g at 185 — per ski, not per pair. One caution: the printed 26/27 catalog shows a much heavier column for this model that duplicates the Lotus 112 page, so the website figures are the ones to use.
- What length DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94 should I get?
- Think about it differently than you would on its siblings, because the radius grows with the ski: 17m at 157cm through 19.5m at 185. Length buys arc here, not only edge. DPS's own chart runs by height and ability and disagrees with itself where the bands overlap, so bring your boots and your usual terrain to the shop and we will settle it there.
- Does the DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94 have metal in it?
- Not as a laminate. The construction list has five entries: a textured topsheet, the carbon-and-flax laminate, the paulownia core, Rockwell 48 edges, and a race base treated with Phantom Glide. Stiffness comes from carbon and flax instead of a metal sheet. The steel edges in that same list are metal, and DPS describes an aluminum tail bar across its whole range, so a flat 'no metal anywhere' would be wrong.
- What does the flax do in a DPS Carbon Flax laminate?
- DPS says on this ski's own page that the laminate combines the energy and strength of carbon with the natural dampening qualities of flax. That is the manufacturer's claim and it is worth knowing, but DPS publishes no figure for it. A build this light still gives some away in cut-up snow.
- How is the DPS Pagoda Tour CFL 94 different from the CFL 100?
- Same layup, same price, different job. The 100 runs 6mm wider on a 15m radius at every length with a 45% rocker share, and DPS says it floats without giving up edge hold. This one is narrower, holds 25-35% rocker, and gets a radius that changes with length. At the 171 they both offer, this is 1,437 g against the 100's 1,523 g.
