The Rumblings

1997—DPS founder, Stephan Drake, spends his second season riding powder in Las Leñas on Rossignol Viper skis. The Viper’s are approximately 60mm underfoot. After a 100 turn face-shot run down Eduardo’s, Drake collapses in a pile of exhausted sweat at the bottom of the pitch. His pro snowboarder roommate ollies over him at 50 mph and slashes a huge wave feature. Drake immediately considers trading skiing for snowboarding—in pursuit of freedom from the fall line.

1998—Drake buys Volkl Snow Rangers and Rossignol Bandit XXX's—a notch up from the Viper’s. They offer glimmers of hope.

1999—Drake buys a forgotten pair of Atomic Powder Pluses in the backroom of a Colorado ski shop. The PP’s are 115mm underfoot and surfable; they were mostly used by heli operators for clients who “struggled” with powder. Drake takes them to Las Leñas. The thought of snowboarding is gone.

2000—Drake lands a cliff in the Aspen backcountry and accidentally bends the tips into a nice Rockered shape. Initially bummed, he rides them. The terrain becomes surfable. The fall line opens. Viola! The breakthrough.

2000—Drake continues experimenting with larger skis in Las Leñas. Snowboarders no longer own powder. Drake plays with the Nordica 105. It becomes crystallized that short, race-bred tips are relics.

2001—Drake builds his collection of Rossignol Axioms and Atomic Powder Pluses. He paints the topsheets his own colors.

2001-2003—Meanwhile in Colorado, Shane McConkey and future DPS partner/lead engineer, Peter Turner, are building the Volant Spatula. Its design characteristics are dubbed, "Reverse Camber and Reverse Sidecut." The Spatula takes powder skiing to 11.

Ski Company Beginnings

2002—Drake is riding hard with Volkl Snowboarder and former Swiss ski team member, Cyrille Boinay in Las Leñas. His skis are the same 110mm underfoot, custom-painted, bent, and rockered Rossignol Axioms. They are nine years old.

Drake and Boinay spend chairlift rides and late nights discussing the lifestyle of chasing powder. They see manufactures and media failing to represent the burgeoning way of surfing powder. At the Atenas wine bar, they agree to launch a ski brand that speaks to a a new ski culture.

They are driven by innovation. They want to employ revolutionary technology—carbon fiber.

Trekking the backcountry with skis that weigh 14lbs per pair is no longer acceptable. Light, ultra-high performance, and innovative designs are prioritized. Surfing and snowboarding are an inspiration: light equipment is the best for both energy conservation and high performance riding.

2002-2003—DB (DrakeBoinay) is formed. A vision is formed. A four-ski quiver is designed. A U.S. based manufacturing partner is secured. The goal: to build light, revolutionary carbon fiber skis with a big-mountain emphasis. 

The flagship model is the Tabla Rasa: the first 120mm underfoot pintailed and rockered ski ever made. 30 cm's of Rocker go into the design and design notes. DB's manufacturing partner can't entirely build it, but the Tabla still skis great with its long nose and setback stance. In the Tabla Rasa’s product and design description for the, the benefits of "Rocker" is promoted. The Tabla Rasa in 2002-2003 was the first introduction of the word "Rocker" to the sport of skiing. Ever.

2002-2003—Boinay and Drake meet Swedish ski photographer Oskar Enander in Engelberg. They enjoy great powder sessions and lines in classic European ski bumming fashion.

2003-2005—The DB dream has incredible potential. Preorders fly in. DB becomes a media darling (one of the very first boutique brands), but the Boinay and Drake dreamchild gets sucked down into a whirlpool as a result of a manufacturing partner who consistently fails to deliver a reliable and timely product. The usage of carbon technology in skis is not quite mature. DB disbands in the wake of ski delivery issues.

The Advent of DPS Skis

2005—Drake and Peter Turner meet in Utah. Instantly they launch into discussions of flex patterns, laminate structures, and the fire is rekindled for the perfect carbon fiber ski. Turner infamously tells Drake, "it will be no problem for us to build these carbon skis elsewhere." DPS is born, the vision to create the perfect ski using spaceage material continues, and the duo start designing an entirely new five-shape quiver of skis, including the iconic and groundbreaking Lotus 138 and Lotus 120. The Lotus 138 morphs the Tabla Rasa and Spatula concepts into the first Rockered ski with sidecut: a design that is copied by another brand within 1.5 years. The Lotus 120 shape becomes the iconic 120mm pintail design: a shape that practically every major and small manufacture now produces.

2005-2006—Production commences. DPSSkis.com launches. In the wake of the DB production disaster, DPS rushes to get skis into production. Turner and Drake sweat it out in Asia. The switch is made from Cap to Sandwich construction. “Twist” becomes the first big manufacturing hurdle. In theory prepreg carbon skis are easy to build, but that wasn’t reality. Drake works long hours in the Chinese factory for four months. His apartment has a toilet backup that fills the flat with ankle-deep shit water. 130 skis are delivered by February 2006.

2006-2007—A switch is made to a new factory in China. With it comes new manufacturing issue and ongoing challenges with prepreg carbon fiber. Bamboo sidewalls evolve as necessity. The iconic offset pin stripe designs are introduced on the white Lotus 138's, black Lotus 120's and the Wailer series. The Lotus 138's provide futuristic powder performance. The buzz builds again, just as it did with the DB days, of a company progressing the sport.

2007-2008—Year two at the ‘new’ factory. Huge startup issues remain. 14-hour days are regularity for the team. Piles of prepreg carbon are wasted. Delivery is late again. Yet, performance is unquestionable. The second year of Powder Road sessions in AK yields updates on Lotus 120 and Lotus 138 flex and rocker lines.

2008-2009—The move is made to return to plastic sidewalls. Another start-up issue forces yet another radical move in production engineering. Through the process, a huge breakthrough is made. Suddenly, pure carbon fiber skis can be made with the consistency and regularity of conventional fiberglass skis. All cosmetic durability issues are eradicated. The warranty rate on a high-end carbon skis goes below 1 percent. The future of high-end carbon skis is secured.

2009-2010: DPS introduces the Hybrid line to complement the high-end Pure: carbon+ nano line. The best skiers in the world want the finest skis under their feet. DPS is chasing full global domination.

2010: The groundbreaking Wailer 112RP is introduced. A new women’s line is also introduced; offering the highest performing skis on the planet tailored for women.

DPS relocates from Colorado and opens their corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City.