First Look: Romp Leif 120 Custom Build

The Leif Visioning

The Romp Leif 120 build is meant to satisfy dreams, specifically mine: A pow ski for pure play.

This summer Jason and I went to Romp Skis in Crested Butte to build skis to our specific desires. We each had something specific in mind. Jason’s first look is here. Me, I wanted a pure powder ski. 

I loved going to Romp. The team was welcoming, friendly, and super engaged in their work. Jason and I participated in every aspect of building skis, from dreaming to design to building. Building skis with Romp is very hands-on. More on that experience to come in future writings. 

These skis have been staring at me since our build-camp. Take a look at those top sheets! Never have I been more eager to get a pair of skis on snow. I will have to have some discipline not to destroy the bases on barely covered rocks this early season. It will be hard to resist!

Romp calls the Leif a series of backcountry-specific shapes, all featuring a longer sidecut radius, “resulting in a surfy and predictable performance.”

That description is essentially what I requested—surfy fun. And predictable equates to fun because it is confidence-inspiring, and confidence enables the freedom to play.

The Leifs can be built in 94, 110, and 120 underfoot. The narrower versions have a tighter radius, but not by any means tight.

Leif Sensations and (Off-Snow) Comparisons

Pulling on the tips of the Leifs, the skis feel quite stiff. But when I press the center of the ski, the skis seem to come alive. The tips and tails lift as the camber flattens, and I can imagine my weight spreading evenly across the ski’s platform. This should yield float. No hot spots where my weight sinks the skis or dives the tips. 

These skis have a fair bit of camber; I measure 1.5cm edge to edge, and that camber pocket is long. The skis are 175cm; the camber pocket is 115cm. The tip rocker is 35cm, and the tails are 24cm. The tails open an additional 3.3cm and the tips 2.5cm when flexed. So, standing on the skis, you have 37.5cm rocker in the tips and 27.3cm in the tails, leaving about 110cm of ski on snow. What I hope to illustrate with those numbers is that these skis ain’t reverse camber and they ain’t powder noodles.

So how will they perform?

The Igneous Raglefant was similarly cambered, stiff through much of the ski but with more tip rocker; it’s also medium-soft with a moderate radius. Result: epic pow ski.

The DPS 100 has even more camber, but very soft tips and a super-tight radius. Result: great ski in powder, though not a pow ski, but a quite versatile and friendly ski. 

The Armada Whitewalker 116 has a low camber, but is similarly stiff except for a short section of the tips and tails. An in-depth first look is here. Result: Super fun and surprisingly versatile ski, but I haven’t had it out in deep snow yet.

Fat-ypus D’vice has low camber, soft tips and tails, and a very tight turn radius. Result: super fun pow ski. Review here.

The even flex and width of the Romp Leif should allow it to ride on top of the snow, giving it the surfiness I am after. The camber could work to assist this, but their camber is the biggest question mark. While many flat- and reverse-camber powder skis are the trend, there are also great examples of cambered pow skis: Black Diamond Element from years ago, BD Megawatt from the old days, Voile V8, Ragelfant, DPS 100. And the Praxis BC. The Praxis BC is a cambered and lively bugger, super poppy from ski to ski, but not what I would call surfy.

In Spencer’s review of the Majesty Supernova, he describes a cambered powder ski that is less niche than you might think, with a more, well, I will call it, aggressive personality than a lower-cambered or reverse-camber ski. The Praxis BC had a pretty spicy personality as well. Sometimes it was a bit too outgoing a personality for an introvert like me.

My current inbounds ski is the Moment Commander. Inbounds is not touring. But the Commander, a 108-wide, stiff, cambered “charger,” has just the right balance of aggression without being overbearing. While the Whitewalkers are more playful, they can still get to the point and be precise. The magic of modern skis is that there is less to give up by going one way or the other.

In Oliver Kendall’s review of the Black Diamond Helio Carbon 108,, he also talks about camber and top-notch powder performance, but he emphasizes camber for versatility.

I am basically not interested in versatility for these skis. Or at least that is what my fingers are saying on the keyboard. We will see how that actually plays out when conditions get interesting. But certainly, what I say and mean is that I don’t want to sacrifice my snow surfing just to better enjoy that last sketchy stretch to the car. 

I’m optimistic I will get what I asked for, and a more versatile ski than I thought possible.

A prediction I feel confident about: they will climb as well as any fat ski I’ve been on. Camber is good for climbing, and there’s plenty of skin on snow. They are very light for their width and for pow skiing I don’t think they’ll need more weight on the downs.

To be sure these skis are well built. I not only watched but participated in that process, and I was really impressed. Romp says they build skis that last, and these at very least look and feel the part.

How will they ski?

As one ski said to the other, stay tuned.

The Romp Leif Basic Specs

Measurements: 148-120-139 at 175cm

Radius: 23m 

Weight: 1504/1493g