Pros: Light and very orange
Cons: An also ran in the highly contested 99mm category.
Product:
Length Tested: 184
Dimensions/Turn Radius:
Camber: Early Rise, Tip & Tail w/camber
Binding: Demo
Mount point: Suggested
Environment & Conditions:
Location of Test: Northstar
Number of Runs: 5
Snow Conditions: 20" of heavy snow
Demo or Own: Demo
Tester Info:
Username: Philpug
Age: 48
Height/Weight: 5'10" 185lb
Ski Days/Season: 60+
Years Skiing: 35
Aggressiveness: Moderate (Finesse)
Current Quiver: 12 Blizzard Bonafide, 12 DPS 112RP Pure, 12 Rossignol Experience 88
Home Area: Squaw & Northstar
Preferred Terrain: bumps, off-piste, trees
REVIEW:
We started the day with 20+" really heavy snow that could easily have been 40+" if the snow was lighter. The first runs were on the 112RP Pures which are a benchmark in the powder segment then with the snow getting skied out and packed down I switched over to the Wailer 99's. The Wailer 99's are DPS's entry into the highly contested 98-100mm category which consists of the Blizzard Bonafide, Volkl Mantra, Rossignol S3 as (as a few of the) benchmarks, truly excellent skis to go up against. The Wailer 99 is to the Wailer 112 as the Rossi S3 is to the Rossi S7 a 7/8th variant. Quite frankly, I am not a fan of the S3 and like the S3 the Wailer doesn't come near to filling the shadow of it's big brother. Skiing the 99, it was loose on the backed snow and didn't hold up the "resort" part of "resort powder" and even in the soft snow (as expected) the 99 couldn't keep up with the 112. The 99 wasn't confidence inspiring at all and while it is rarely rigid, it didn't even carve a turn as well as the 112 could. Could less early rise in the tip and tail helped the Wailer 99, I think so but not certain. I have skied the Hybrid version earlier in the year and while there was a difference there, with the 99's it wasn't so much the case.
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