DPS Alchemist Wailer 100 RP / Alchemist Yvette 100 RP

We’ve been fans of the Wailer since its debut in 2011, due to its ability to handle every type of snow—from powder to chop to hardpack—at a touring-friendly weight. And the new Alchemist Wailer 100 RP (the Yvette is the women’s version) retains the ski’s core DNA but adds new design elements that make it the best version of the Wailer yet.

Testers loved the superlong “effective edge,” which adds a new benchmark to the Wailer family’s legacy of versatility. Even though the Alchemist has early rise and rocker that keep it floating above powder, it lets you hold an edge much better in firm snow. That, plus DPS’s proprietary blend of carbon and aspen in the core—it keeps the ski light, but it never got squirrely on us—means this Wailer impressed even our skeptical guide, who swore he’d never ski a Wailer (too surfy, too expensive). After taking it out for a daylong tour on the Freshfield, he grudgingly admitted that it skied as good as promised.

This is also the first time that this specific shape and construction are available in a 100-millimeter-underfoot package. It’s a true all-conditions width that never felt out of place, whether we were smearing in soft snow or ripping turns. And while the cost is head-turningly high, so is the performance.

m’s four lengths, w’s three lengths