Pro Rider 105

I had demoed these a year ago in powder and have commented on them in another thread, but thought after a full powder day they deserved a full review.  I bought the 192 as the last pair at the local shop in Reno, (I had my eye on them all year).  I have been skiing the PR XXL in the 187 for the last three years, for (off piste terrain). Quite a good ski in its own right, but the PR105 takes it up a notch with the flotation of the rocker tip yet retains the full bodied center and tail that can give the stability and confidence to ski right in the fall line at high speed. the comments on this ski having no speed limits are true. It just does everything a notch better than my XXL's. I had skied three runs at Mt. Rose my home area last week to get a baseline; one on a groomer with a couple inches of windpacked, one on a frozen groomer that was blown clear, and one on an ungroomed skied-out rutted advanced run with some of the wind blown in the troughs overnight providing grip, yet requiring balance. All three runs were easy to adjust and the ski worked well with a center stance and light fore pressure. I liked it in hard snow, which is important as I don't like to feel like I could loose grip if the runs have slid or are blown clear of fresh snow.  

Today was another story as the ski report listed 12-14 inches of snow overnight, 25*, with some delays on chairs opening. It was snowing heavily on the Northwest side with maybe 20 cars in the lot as the lifts opened, (deserted).  The first few runs were on cruisers that were groomed the night before but had the full-depth of snow, very light wind pack, it was going to be the best day of the year!  A few runs through the trees of Aida's and Sunset and the skis were super easy to control and I got closer to tress than I normally would and whenever the option to over turn or go straight was a choice, straghtening out the line brough these skis to another level of action.  They love it at 30 mph or above. They are also very good at 20-25 mph, which is a good clip in tight trees. The Slide side opened and I got first tracks down Golds and even though visability was poor, pushed it to 30 most of the way, incredable control and the ski smooths out any roughness or cutting of other tracks, just a great feel.  Two more hours of skiing virtually deserted powder runs and having tracks re-filled in by the storm and my confidence was just to the moon on these skis.  The Chutes finally opened about 12:30 and I just happened to pick the El-Cap gate and passed a couple cautious borders and dropped the edge and not a turn in sight and a perfect unslid slope below. From experience doing laps over the weekend, I moved left and picked up the pace into Jackpot, now I'm getting face shots and hitting 30, and still no slid areas (a couple charge holes but its perfect). People on NW chair are just screaming, I can't beleive how lucky the run choice is at this point and throw a little caution to get past a narrow spot but open it up at the bottom and glide back to the lift on the low road.  That run was off the charts, the skis were magic and the snow was perfect. A rerun down the tree-lined Captivator encountered maybe a dozen tracks and some boarders who sideslipped the snow out in a spot or two. I just rocked turns with full body angulation and had complete control of speed and line maintaining a carved ski, wow!  Final run, I took a chance on 209'r from the Nightmare gate and when I saw there were no tracks traversing left, I knew I was in for a treat, another untracked run (protected, ultralight), through the trees at 30+ and dropped into Hornet's nest to the bottom. Three non-stop runs at speed with control and the kind of excitment I have rarely gotten out of any ski in over 40 years. At 51 it's nice to find a great ski that allows me to match the level of my prime years and these are it. Nice Orange cosmetic theme with white LOL Dynastar doily-snowflake print, center graphic, timeless.

Two weeks ago I had tried the new Cham 107 and 127 skis in about 6 inches of new snow. The fact that I had only taken one run on each speaks on my opinion, ( I won't say negative on them but they are designed for a different skier type).  So in conclusion I'm glad I was able to get the PR 105, its a shame that they are already discontinued. I urge Dynastar to keep them in the line up as a "Legacy" product that a shop can special order on request. I can see myself buying another pair in a few years down the line when these are used up.  This isn't just for the signatory rider and those competing in free skiing events, its a big mountain champ for good strong skiers, something I'm afaid the new series will miss. Great job Dynastar even if this review is a year late.