Dynastar M-Tour 108: the brand’s widest “free-touring” ski.
Dynastar, a trusted ski maker for those seeking steep lines, brings a playful, and wider, ski to the M-Tour lineup.
For a few years now, my neighbor (who also happens to be a favorite ski and gear banter partner) and I have been lusting over a wider touring ski from Dynastar. All this started with a season of this neighbor touring on a pair of M-Free 108s, which had some amazing powder touring attributes (float, loose, playful, etc.) but a major downside of being extremely heavy for touring at 2200g or so. And so began the conversation and hopes for a touring version of the M-Free 108. Imagine our excitement when Dynastar announced the M-Tour 108 last spring, and rumblings began of an M-Free-inspired shape and powder-oriented touring ski. Booyah!
The tips of the M-Tour 108 feature modest rocker and plenty of float for Euro or North American powder. The ski’s dimensions run 136-108-126.
The tips felt promising, tapered shovels with long and exaggerated rocker lines that have defined so many Dynastar touring skis of the past.
A shot illustrating the M-Tour 108’s camber.
After these initial reports and many emails last fall trying to track down a set of the new skis, we finally received a set for review at the end of February. Without so much as a rocker profile photo, opening the box to see what we would get felt more exciting than ever. Starting with the tips felt promising, tapered shovels with long and exaggerated rocker lines that have defined so many Dynastar touring skis of the past. The very rearward mount point is immediately apparent to the trained eye—which I measured at 13.5cm behind center. Finishing out with among the flattest, least tapered tails I’ve seen (think Black Crows Corvus Freebird) had me pretty curious as to how the M-Tour 108 was going to ski.
The tails of the M-Tour 108 take on a more traditional “straight” shape.
The tails are not perfectly straight, but certainly move in that direction.
For what it’s worth, I was a bit disappointed seeing the shape of the new ski. On a personal level, the more progressive skis in Dynastar’s lineup, like the M-Free, are much more agreeable than the directional chargers like the M-Pros. The M-Tour 108 looks heavily M-Pro-inspired and may not be my cup of tea. On the flip side, someone who is smitten with the Corvus Freebird (again, not my cup of tea), for example, may be psyched to have a similar shape while saving 300-400g. Generally, I find skis with more directional mount points require a more forward stance and weight distribution, which is more challenging to achieve with lightweight touring boots. Directional mounts seem to work well for skiers using beefier boots, especially folks with a racing or other strong ski background.
Specs
Available lengths (cm): 171, 179 [tested], 187
Weight: verify if possible
Side cut: 135-107-125 [179]
Turn radius: 20m
Core: Hybrid Core 2.0 Light Poplar
Build Comments: PU sidewalls, fiberglass reinforcement
Shape: Flat tails, exaggerated tip rocker, tapered tip, camber underfoot
Recommended Mount Point (cm from center): -13.5
Drill size: 4.1x9mm
Similar Models: Armada Locator 104, Moonlight Mountain Gear Guide, Black Crows Corvus Freebird
Any updated thoughts on these skis? Have you taken them out and what do you think? I am a directional skier mostly but like to make all kinds of turn shapes/styles. Love the Navis, retiring the backland 107 which I never loved but certainly got the job done and was so dang light. Looking for a new ski. Your Draco review was less than inspiring… interested to know if the M tour has surprised you in a good way or skis as you predicted in your “first look”?
Hey Peter,
I did most of my early season skiing on the mtour 108 paired with the scarpa Quattro pro. After struggling to get beyond my low expectations last spring (only a handful of days with zero g peaks or backland xtds), I figured a fresh season and some more supportive boots with more aggressive forward lean made another go at posing as a strong directional skier seem worth a shot.
Big picture, they are still quite unforgiving and require a diligent pilot to enjoy, but I have had some awesome runs on them and feel like for a well practiced directional skier in sufficiently beefy boots, they have merit and fill an interesting niche. They are a blast in open terrain and with sufficient speed and confidence in tighter spots, but I have been getting my butt kicked at times navigating low tide tight spots in the trees and such.