Ted Ligety and DPS Introduce a Carving Ski that Anyone Can Arc On

There’s no way I can keep up with Ted Ligety when he lets it rip down the groomer. He has two Olympic gold medals and five World Championship gold medals, and I’m not even the fastest guy in my unofficial weekly races back home. I know this, and yet, I’ve convinced myself that I can stay on Ligety’s tail as we ski groomers at Utah’s Deer Valley resort. I blame my skis.

Watch: Testing the DPS Pisteworks 79 with Ted Ligety

I’m testing the new DPS Pisteworks 79, a pure carving ski that is so fun and energetic, they have me believing I’m as fast as one of the best U.S. ski racers of all time. Therein lies the beauty of this new ski: The Pisteworks 79 makes you think you’re better than you actually are.

Based in Salt Lake, DPS is a ski manufacturer known for its innovation in the off-piste market. For the last 20 years, the brand has made fat powder skis using carbon fiber when most other ski companies rely on fiberglass. The Pisteworks 79 is their first foray into a frontside carver, and the company brought on Ligety to help design the ski. The result is a board that’s decidedly narrower underfoot and built to slice through groomers like a dad slicing through a Thanksgiving turkey.

When DPS asked me to test the ski, I was worried that the Pisteworks 79 would be more ski than I could handle. I’m a capable skier, but I don’t have a racing background, so I never learned the mechanics of a proper turn. Would I be able to handle a ski specifically designed for the very thing I’m not very good at? The answer is a resounding yes.

Also read: The Best Skis for Intermediates Ready to Level Up

I spent a day skiing the Pisteworks 79, trying in vain to keep up with Ligety, and I’m happy to report that these new skis might have been designed by an Olympian, but they were made for weekend warriors like me.

DPS Pisteworks 79 Specifications

Dimensions: 126-79-109 mm
Lengths: 160, 167, 174, 181 cm
Radius: 13.5 m (174 cm)
Weight: 1,650 g (174 cm)

$1,995 at DPS

The Build 

While the rest of the ski industry insists that fiberglass is the superior material to wrap around a wood core, DPS is leaning deeper into carbon because of its durability and superior energy return. The result is a lightweight speed demon (the 174-length skis that I tested weigh just 1,650 grams) that pops through turns and comes with a lifetime warranty.

The Pisteworks 79 was already in the works when Ligety joined DPS, but he was instrumental in enhancing the ski’s flex profile and camber. Given their carbon build, I was worried the Pisteworks 79 would be too stiff, but they flexed exactly where and when I wanted them to in each turn.

The lighter weight carbon build also gives these skis an enticingly buoyant feel. You don’t float through turns, you rebound through them; that’s the signature energy return that carbon brings to the table. Think of the carbon plates that are becoming common in running shoes and you’ll understand the springy feel that I’m talking about. The force you put into your turn comes back at you as you release and start your next turn.

The turn radius of the ski is a short 13.5 meters, which is indicative of a ski that’s built for quick, snappy work. The Pisteworks 79 is indeed lively, engaging quickly as I charged through a series of slalom turns on steep groomers. I’ve always loved swinging short turns, but I’m actively working on perfecting the sweeping arc that you see in giant slalom races.

Specifically, I’m trying to angulate more as I change direction to engage more of the edge of the ski, and the carbon in this ski gave me a helping hand in carving larger radius turns. I was able to sink deeper and commit into each turn, getting at least a fraction closer to the knuckle-drag that has become part of Ligety’s signature style.

This is all by design, as the Pisteworks 79’s material, flex pattern, and sidecut were manipulated to perform a variety of turn shapes with minimal effort. Ligety calls the ski a cheat code because it makes the art of carving a little more attainable to mere mortals like me.

The energy return of carbon is the real deal, too. I skied a full day at elevation, hammering groomers from start to finish, and I was less fatigued than I normally would be after similar efforts. Chalk it up to the light weight of the carbon skis, the energy return of the carbon wrap, or the overall design of the Pisteworks 79. It’s probably a magical combination of all of the above. Typically, I’m exhausted at the end of the day of skiing big western mountains, but I felt strong when the lifts shut down, and I wasn’t ready to go home.

Who Is the Pisteworks 79 for?

This is not an expert racing ski, but it’s also not a cruiser for beginners. It is built to move fast and carve deep, so it’s not the ideal ski for a relaxed day on the mountain. I logged every run of my test day and averaged roughly 8 mph faster than I normally ski. I never felt out of control, but I always had to stay engaged in the process while wearing these skis.

And this should be obvious based on its width, but the DPS Pisteworks 79 is not an all-mountain ski. It is a specific tool designed for one specific thing: carving groomers. The skis handled bumps fine, but I wouldn’t take these sticks off-trail or into the back bowls. I also didn’t love them on the few icy slopes I found while exploring Deer Valley. No ski is great on ice unless you have a World Cup tune, but because of the lightweight construction, these are definitely designed for the softer groomed snow you find out west.

But for those lacking a user-friendly frontside carver, the Pisteworks 79 is an attractive new option. It’s also for those of us who have come to terms with reality and realized  that the majority of runs we take are on groomed slopes. There’s no shame in that game, and with a tool like the Pisteworks 79, those groomers can become a fresh canvas for carving art.

Also, it should be noted that DPS skis are not cheap. The Pisteworks 79 lists at $1,995 without bindings. That’s almost double the price of other skis in the same carving category. But every ski is made at the DPS factory in Salt Lake, and all of their materials are sourced in the U.S. as well. I got to watch the ski-making process in person, and while there is some machinery and automation involved, the process is largely done by hand by craftspeople. Is that sort of craftsmanship worth the money? That’s up to you.

Will the DPS Pisteworks 79 help me win my weekly races and keep up with Olympians like Ted Ligety? No. But they’ll make me think I can do these things, and you can’t overstate the importance of confidence on the slopes.