fbpx

Ski of the week Fat-ypus D'riddim 2018

snow action team 09.11.2017

Thinking Japan, think Fat-ypus D’riddim as your ski. These are great handmade boards from the Breckenridge based indie ski company that’s been leading the indie ski revolution for 11 years. Fat-ypus make tough skis that last – we have been rocking a pair of 2009 D-senders for years and they are still going strong.
For the ladies, the Fat-ypus E-motion is perfect.
Now available in Australia from the indie & boutique ski experts Blackbird Bespoke Ski Co. and even better, as SnowAction readers you get a 10% discount entering code SNOWACTION5

Fat-ypus D'riddim Japan

Going to Japan? Get on some Fat-ypus D’riddim skis! © SNOWACTION

Fat-ypus D’riddim ski review and snow test

The original 5 point ski design from Fat-ypus has a lightning quick turning ski because of its shortened edge contact length, but also carves long radius turns surprisingly well. The versatile nature of this rockered powder ski makes it a perfect ski for Japan as it would need to be nimble for the trees, float in the deep, but also provide the ability to chew through the chopped up snow, pop off booters and lay a carve on the way back to the lift.
Needless to say, these skis did not disappoint.

In the deep end:
They were everything I was hoping for: wide enough for great float, held a solid line when needed while still capable of being broken loose and thrown sideways at speed. Even in the standard flex version, which gave them a lovely rebound and very playful feel, still gave them enough stiffness to handle the chop and more firm sections. (I have also skied the M5 in Athlete Stiffness layout and can attest to the ‘all-mountain’ ability of these with the extra bite they provide on the firm stuff). The D’riddum can hold precision lines through chopped up snow, and allow for the tail to be loaded up to get a lot of pop, which is not there in all skis. You can let these skis rip wide open with big GS turns and you’d be mistaken for thinking you were on a narrower GS style ski. They exibit great stability at speed which really inspires confidence and something that I totally didn’t expect from a 118 underfoot rockered powder ski.

On the rest of the hill:
The 15m radius is very apparent on hardpack and was exceptional on softer groomers. Japanese corduroy is a thing of beauty first up in the morning and it is usually ripped apart by speeding carvers in a matter of runs. So to be out there laying these over on edge and making tight turns, I was giggling all the way down. As these are wide, you have to ensure you get your weight over the steel to get them to trench, and the shorter radius was great in helping to go edge to edge. These skis were great at speed as well, with very little chatter. Due to the nice camber underfoot, these skis never felt overpowered or felt that the tails would break loose early when exiting turns. Considering the amount of rocker there is, they were quite precise for their width.

Out the back:
Teamed up with a set of Daymaker Alpine Adapters and some G3 Skins, we took them out the back on a day tour of the Hakuba Backcountry. As these skis don’t have any metal, they are pretty light for their size, and keeping the alpine bindings on there (not a set of full AT Dukes), they were reasonably adept at walking in the trail. I don’t know if I would like to walk in these for days on end, but for the touring we did, they were great.
Their performance in the backcountry powder (while not as deep as our tree day at Cortina earlier in the week) was excellent and there were tracks made deep in the countryside.

Fat-ypus D’riddim specs
For 188cm length with a 5 point design gives specs of 134/143/118/138/129.

Great Travel Insurance

Fat-ypus D’riddim snow test and review summary

What an amazing powder ski. Not only for its powder performance, but its ability to be an all-mountain performer when needed, making it very versatile.

You may think that these are possibly a bit too wide for an all-mountain ski in our firmer Australian conditions, but I feel that it would hold its own, be a whole lot of fun and get you all over the mountain. It would be an excellent choice for any overseas trips, or Australian Backcountry touring when it’s fresh, and even ripping our spring corn with ease.

Fat-ypus Emotion

Fat-ypus Emotion 2018

For the ladies, Fat-ypus E-Motion ski review

You will be really impressed by how stable and responsive these skis are in powder and crud. We have had these skis in everything from a few centimeters of fresh powder to thigh deep powder to thigh deep crud. These skis simply ride through and over anything you put in front of them. They respond to different densities of snow underfoot with stability and have never been twitchy or fished out. In untracked powder (the deeper the better) they are really smooth handling. In cut-up powder and crud you don’t get bogged down and can actually ski the stuff. To the point where you actually find yourself looking for these conditions to have fun in!

If you don’t generally do drops but find yourself looking at one, rest assured these skis provide a great solid landing. The camber in the skis allows you to carve some pretty tight turns in the trees while still maintaining control. You’ll find the only time these skis don’t perform is when your legs are too tired to actually do anything!

It’s not like we have never skied powder, crud, trees, steeps etc in the past. With these underfoot we found that we actually couldn’t wait to get off the lift and get into those conditions.

As with any sort of review, sometimes you find a weak point. Our skier did have a day on the E-motions where they had to ski some really solid, somewhat icy runs back to the car after being in powder. The skis did hold an edge but they required some wrangling as they are 112mm under foot powder skis, not designed for those conditions. That’s it, we don’t have anything else negative to say. Because of these skis our rider feels they were able to take their skiing to a whole new level.

Buy Fat-ypus D'riddim skis