These Luxe DPS Skis Designed With An Olympic Legend Are A Carving Cheat Code

Superior skis designed in collaboration with two-time gold medalist Ted Ligety.

I recently visited Deer Valley, Utah for carve alongside two-time gold Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety, testing out the new skis he developed with DPS Skis—a high-end company headquartered in in nearby Salt Lake City. Pisteworks skis are designed to thrive on-piste, i.e. the groomers, with insane maneuverability on harder snow. It’s the narrowest and tightest turning ski that DPS has ever made, and like all their skis they are extremely light. I was surrounded by advanced and pro skiers, but these skis self-adjust to whatever level of skier you are—supercharging your turns whether you’re hard charging or just taking it easy. Deer Valley is Ligety’s home resort, and he drew crowds of fans whenever we stopped on the slopes. Watching him ski all day, I didn’t blame them. 

One activity of the day in which I was able to go toe-to-toe with Ligety was lunch, where we got to chat about his work developing the Pisteworks 79s at Deer Valley’s 1980s-themed bar, The Sticky Wicket, a burger and Shotski spot with a Hot Tub Time Machine vibe. “I like to call the Pisteworks 79 a carving cheat code,” says Ligety, who says the design makes them easy to “ski and arc” no matter what your ability is—whether you’re pulling world-class g-force turns or you just want to take smooth turns down the groomers. “It’s playful and versatile, yet planted to give confidence,” he says, “You can whip tight turns together, and it’s stable at speed in long turns.” 

A performance ski that either an intermediate or a pro skier could both enjoy is rare for the ski industry. Ligety explains that what makes it different from other skis is the way that DPS uses carbon fiber to tune the characteristics they are looking for, whereas a traditionally constructed ski is more limited in terms of specific use cases. 

In Ligety’s role as Head of Product Development for DPS, a lot of his work happens on the mountain, where he rides on prototype skis with various sensors mounted on them. The combination of DPS’s cutting edge carbon tech with Ligety’s senses earned over decades as a pro skier are a killer combo. Ligety is no stranger to product R&D, both from his skiing career and as the co-founder of SHRED, his company that makes goggles, sunglasses, and helmets for skiers, snowboarders, and mountain bikers. But it’s in his role at DPS where he’s able to get the closest in his post-retirement days to the way he helped develop racing skis as a pro—and now with the even better tech on tap.  

“One of the things I missed about ski racing since I retired was R&D involvement in developing race skis,” says Ligety, “so it has been fun to work with the DPS engineering team to bring some ideas on ski construction and shaping I’ve had and bring them to life.” 

I toured the DPS factory in Salt Lake City’s hip Granary District to see how their skis are made. It was my first time in a ski factory and the way DPS does it, it was far less assembly line and far more bespoke than I expected. “People think you can just stamp something out, but it’s not like that at all,” says Thomas Laakso, SVP at DPS Skis.

“Every ski is touched at least 30 times.” And you feel that when you’re touring the factory. There are many hands on deck here, and none of the jobs look easy. We walked through the stages of production, starting with the cutting of the wood cores, then watching craftspeople laminate the bases, steel edges, sidewalls, binding reinforcement plates and two layers of carbon fiber laminate. 

DPS skis have always been at the forefront of carbon fiber, which is not only light and strong but will never fatigue over time—unlike traditional ski-making materials like metal and fiberglass. This means that they will last longer, which helps offset the more premium prices of the skis. When you see them getting made, it’s easy to see where your money goes. 

All DPS skis are treated with Phantom Glide, which may sound like something for a bedside drawer but it’s a permanent base treatment that DPS developed that replaces the need for waxing your skis. This is important not just for better speed on snow, but also for the environment, since ski wax ends up in lakes and rivers when the snow melts every spring. You may not be able to ski like Ted Ligety in this particular lifetime, but with these skis, you can at least look like him on a chairlift—then attempt to channel your inner Ligety on the way down. $1,995