1 / 5DPS Pisteworks 94
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PTO Verdict
“Choose the length and you have chosen the arc DPS quotes. The other two Pisteworks print one figure each.”
Best for: The skier whose week is mostly groomers but not exclusively groomers, and who wants that written into the ski rather than hoped for. DPS's own promise for this model stops at room to wander off the corduroy when conditions ask for it, and 94mm on 27% rocker is what buys it. It also suits a buyer who has already decided what shape of turn they want, because on this ski the length decision delivers it: 165 for the tightest arc DPS quotes, 189 for the longest. And it suits anyone who specifically wants a carbon carver: the published construction runs to seven items, no metal layer among them.
Not for: Short-radius work. The tightest arc on this ski's spec table is 18m and you only get it by buying the shortest length; the 79 and the 89 exist for that job and cost the same money. It is the wrong ski for deep snow too — 94mm with 27% rocker is a frontside shape, and DPS makes no float or powder claim for it on either official source. Skip it if you want the settled, damp feel of a metal-laminate carver at speed, because one independent tester needed a bit of effort to get it on edge and read it as softer than a metal ski, and in a separate test a tester asked for more stiffness before it would grip the way they wanted. And skip it if you want the maker to settle your length for you, because DPS's chart for this ski recommends a size it does not build.
At a Glance
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Compatible Ski Bindings
Browse our recommended binding brands for this ski.
Description
The DPS Pisteworks 94 is the widest of DPS's three 26/27 frontside carvers — 94mm underfoot, five lengths from 165 to 189cm, $1,995. One column of its spec sheet is unusual: the turn radius is not one figure but a ladder, 18m in the shortest ski and 20m in the longest, with three steps between. The Pisteworks 79 and the Pisteworks 89 each get a single figure for their whole size run.
The build is DPS's seven-item Pisteworks list — a textured topsheet, a Carbon Power Plate, a high-modulus full carbon laminate, a patented dual-layer wood core of poplar and red oak, Rockwell 48 steel edges, and a World Cup race base with the Phantom Glide treatment applied at the factory. Nothing in that list is a metal layer, and the plate that sits under the boot is carbon rather than a sheet of metal. The profile is 27% rocker and 73% effective edge, published once for the model, and weight runs 1,510g per ski at 165cm to 1,890g at 189cm.
DPS files the family under frontside carving and is careful about how far it takes this one: designed, it says, for skiers who spend most of their time on-piste, but want the freedom to explore beyond the groomers when the conditions call for it. Read that as permission to leave the corduroy, not as a claim about deep snow. Made in the USA, with a lifetime warranty from DPS.
Sold flat, so bindings are a separate purchase. We settle the length question and the mount in the shop. Listed here as a pre-order in one colorway.
Specs
- Waist: 94mm
- Turn radius: 18m
- Profile: 27% tip rocker / 73% effective edge
- Shape: Performance carver, all-mountain capable
- Core: Split core — Red Oak + Poplar wood, full carbon laminate wrap
- Construction: Carbon laminate, Carbon Power Plate, Phantom-treated 4000 Series race base
- Weight: ~1,660g per ski (178cm)
- Lengths: 165 / 171 / 178 / 184 / 189
Details
- Type
- SKI
- Vendor
- DPS
- SKU
- S-PX94-178BK-PH
- UPC / GTIN
- 850061409867
178 / None
DPS Pisteworks 94
By PTO Team, Based on official 26/27 DPS specs and construction data, plus two independent on-snow tests read in full
Spec and construction analysis against the DPS 26/27 Workbook and dpsskis.com, cross-read with two independent tests · 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
“Choose the length and you have chosen the arc DPS quotes. The other two Pisteworks print one figure each.”
Start with the column nobody reads. DPS quotes this ski at 18m in the 165 and 20m in the 189, with three steps between, and that is unusual enough to be worth a minute: of the seventeen skis in DPS's 26/27 range, two publish a radius that changes by size, and this is one of them. DPS does not print the narrower Pisteworks that way — the 79 prints 13.5m against all four of its lengths and the 89 prints 16m against all four of its. So here the size question and the turn-shape question are one question, and stepping up a length moves the radius DPS prints, which it does not do elsewhere in the family.
Against the 89, DPS settles the direction on the 89's own page: the smaller radius makes that ski more playful and easier to bend. The part of the comparison that gets missed is behind the boot. The two share four lengths, and at every one of them the 94 is 5mm wider underfoot yet 2mm narrower at the tail — 109, 110, 111 and 112mm against 111, 112, 113 and 114mm. Its tail therefore stands a constant 7mm less proud of its waist than the 89's does. That repeats too cleanly to be an accident, and it sits consistently with the longer arc. It is not offered here as the cause of anything: how willingly a tail lets go also depends on rocker, taper and torsional stiffness, and DPS publishes none of those for this ski.
A waist measurement settles less than people think, and DPS's own range proves it. The Pagoda Tour CFL 94 is the same 94mm, with the same published radius at all three lengths both skis are built in, and it is 113 to 134g lighter per ski at those lengths, built on paulownia, and its published list carries no Carbon Power Plate. Same number, different instrument.
The independent evidence is split rather than mixed, and the split is the useful part. Two tests could be read in full. In the one with four testers, all on the same ski at one event, overall marks ran from 3 out of 10 to 9 out of 10; the test recorded that it held an edge better than expected and was strong on steep groomers; one tester wanted more pop from edge to edge, another more stiffness, and one found it hard to control. The second test is a separate observation rather than a second vote: lighter and softer underfoot than a metal ski, needing some effort to get on edge, and surprisingly floaty in chopped-up snow.
Treat DPS's size chart as a starting point. It recommends a 185cm this ski is not built in, and it hands beginners and intermediates the same answer in every row.
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: Settled in the shop with your boots on the counter, not from a spec sheet.
- An alpine binding, chosen at fittingA resort carver in this width
This is a resort ski sold flat, so an alpine binding is the intended pairing - that is a judgement about intended use, not a compatibility ruling. DPS marks one alpine binding Recommended on its own product page for this ski and sells it there, and it is not the same one DPS marks Recommended on the Pisteworks 79. Which binding suits you depends on your boots, your weight and how you ski, and none of that gets decided on a web page. Talk to us before ordering so the ski and the binding are decided together.
DPS does name a recommended pairing for this ski on its own product page, and offers free mounting there against a boot sole length you supply. Its own order flow requires you to acknowledge taking the skis to a service center for final adjustment before skiing, which is the right instinct. Mounting, brake-width match and release settings are handled by a technician at fitting.
Common Questions
- Why does DPS list five different turn radii for the Pisteworks 94?
- DPS publishes 18m at 165cm, 18.5 at 171, 19 at 178, 19.5 at 184 and 20 at 189. It does not explain why it draws this ski that way and the two narrower Pisteworks with one radius each. The practical effect is what matters: the length you pick sets the arc DPS quotes you, so decide turn shape and size in the same conversation.
- Is the DPS Pisteworks 94 an 18m ski?
- Only in the 165cm. DPS's own product page says in prose that the 18m radius makes it a machine for large, high-speed turns, but the spec table on that same page prints 18m through 20m and the page badge reads 18m-20m. The prose has taken the shortest size's figure and applied it to the model. Go by the table.
- Should I buy the DPS Pisteworks 94 or the Pisteworks 89?
- They cost the same and share a construction list, a 27% rocker figure and four of their lengths. DPS answers it on the 89's page: the 89's smaller 16m radius makes it more playful and easier to bend. The 94 is the wider ski with the longer arc and the narrower tail. Pick the 89 for shorter turns and less effort, the 94 for longer arcs and more room off the groomer.
- Does the DPS Pisteworks 94 have metal in it?
- Not as a layer in the laminate. The construction DPS publishes for Pisteworks lists seven things and none of them is a metal layer: the topsheet, a plate under the boot, the laminate itself, two entries covering the poplar and red oak core, the steel edges, and the race base. That plate underfoot is an added layer of carbon, which DPS calls its version of power steering. The ski does have steel edges, though, and DPS lists an aluminum tail bar in its brand-wide technology section, so 'no metal anywhere' would be the wrong way to put it.
- How does the DPS Pisteworks 94 compare with the Pagoda Tour CFL 94?
- Same 94mm waist, and the same published radius at 165, 171 and 178cm, which are the three lengths both are built in. The build and the mass are where they part. The Pagoda Tour is DPS's touring build - carbon and flax on a paulownia core, with no Carbon Power Plate on its published list - and it is 113 to 134g lighter per ski at those lengths. If a lift is doing the climbing, we read that extra mass as damping rather than a penalty.
- What length DPS Pisteworks 94 should I get?
- Longer means a longer published arc here; the 79 and the 89 each print one radius against all their lengths, so answer the turn-shape question first. DPS publishes a size chart on the product page, but read it with care: it names a 185cm that is absent from the spec table, and its beginner and intermediate columns hold the same length in every row. We settle length in the shop.
