2018-2019 Whitedot Director, 191cm
Available Lengths (cm): 151, 161, 171, 181, 191
Blister’s Measured Length (straight tape pull): 189.8cm
Stated Dimensions (mm): 136-107-126
Blister’s Measured Dimensions (mm): 135.5-106.5-125
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski: 2160 & 2190 grams
Stated Sidecut Radius: 25 meters
Core Construction: Poplar/Ash + Carbon Fiber Stringers + Fiberglass Laminate
Tip & Tail Splay: 69 / 57 mm
Traditional Camber Underfoot: 0 mm
Recommended Mounting Point: – 4.55 cm from center / 90.3 cm from tail
[Editor’s Note: Our review was conducted on the 14/15 Director, which was not changed for 15/16, 16/17, 17/18, or 18/19, apart from graphics.]
We’ve had our eye on Whitedot for a while, and we have been receiving more and more requests from readers for reviews of Whitedot skis. So we’re going to be testing at least four models this season.
Whitedot and the Whitedot Director
Whitedot Skis is entering its fourth year of producing skis and the company states that they believe their current lineup to offer “some of the most well rounded skis on the market.”
We’ll get started with one of Whitedot’s best selling skis, the Director, about which Whitedot has this to say:
“Stepping into one of the most heavily contested areas of freeskiing is the new Director. Its ease of use in the most difficult conditions and its appeal to a huge range of styles and skiers is its big draw so it needed to retain these features whilst still [remaining] one of the most versatile skis in our lineup.”
Whitedot’s goal for the Director was to create a ski that “will work equally well in the backcountry as it would across the wide spectrum of conditions to be found on the frontside of the mountain.”
As for who this ski is for, Whitedot says, “the Director is one of our models that is a favourite of our big mountain team through to our park riders looking for a ski to jib on those deep days.”
So, “playfulness” and “versatility” seem to be the important key words. Can the Director really be both a backcountry jib ski for deep days, yet still handle a full range of conditions on the frontside, too? That seems like a pretty tall order.
Whitedot Director, Generation Two
For the 14-15 season, Whitedot states that they’ve revised the rocker profile, flex pattern, and shape of the Director, while mainting its 107mm waist width.
They also say that they’ve increased the effective edge to 1,580 millimeters, to improve the Director’s hard snow performance.
We’ll say more about the Director’s effective edge below, but let’s get on to the Director’s camber profile and flex pattern.
Flex Pattern
Pretty stout. Compared to the 14/15, 185cm Blizzard Cochise, the tails of the Cochise and Director feel similar, though the Cochise’s tails become stiffer, quicker, as you flex into the tail. As for the shovels, it’s once again close, but the Director’s are a bit softer.
I.e., while in the same ball park, the Cochise is a bit stiffer all around than the Director.
Camber / Rocker Profile
This is where we should probably stop talking about the Cochise.
Because despite the fact that these two skis are almost exactly the same width underfoot, and have a similar flex pattern, and have a similar sidecut radius (Cochise: 28m, Director: 25m), and have very little traditional camber (the Director is described as having “0” camber, and our pair has a touch—maybe a millimeter; the Cochise now has a 1-2 millimeters), these two skis have very different rocker profiles, and the rocker lines and tip and tail splay are perhaps the most surprising design elements of the Director.
In short, this ski has a pretty deep tip rocker line, and a very deep tail rocker line for a 107mm-underfoot ski with a flex pattern that is this stout.
While the amount of tip splay on the Director is pretty substantial (65mms), the amount of tail splay is surprising (54mms), and probably more analogous to fatter pow skis in the ~116-120mms underfoot range.) The Cochise, by comparison, has only 7mms of tail splay, and 55mms of tip splay.
That’s not some inherent problem, of course, but the amount of tip and tail rocker helps explain how Whitedot could legitimately talk about a ski this relatively skinny as a “backcountry jib ski for deep days,” while the Director’s relatively stout flex and sidecut radius help explain why they could position it as a big mountain ski, too.
Mount Position
One other point in favor of the Director’s utility as a jib ski is its more progressive mount position: -5 of true center.
Many jib skis are mounted ~3cms behind center, while traditional, directional skis are frequently 7-8cms behind center. The Director splits the difference.
So while it seems like the Director may prefer a more centered, neutral stance, we’re curious to find out how tolerant it is of a more forward / drive-the-shovels style.
It will also be interesting to see how accommodating the Director is of a more forward (-3cm) or more traditional (-7cm) mount point, to push the ski to an even more new school or more old school feel.
Comparisons?
Honestly, nothing very close comes to mind.
Fatter skis like the Volkl One or the 12/13 Down Countdown3 or the 194cm 4FRNT Devastator bear some resemblance, but not enough that I’m inclined to go into any detail yet. We’ll wait till we get these on snow.
Predictions
So while I’m not entirely sure what we have on our hands here, I would be willing to wager that, for its width, the Director will be quite good in pow.
I am also willing to wager that it will perform well in tracked up pow / soft chop, given that it isn’t terribly light and it doesn’t have heavily tapered tips.
The bigger question for us is how well this ski will handle more firm, variable conditions, especially in uneven, bumped-up terrain or firm steeps.
We’ll see.
Some Initial Thoughts on Sizing (191 vs. 181) and Effective Edge
In other cases where a ski comes in a ~181cm or ~191cm, we’ve been known to pine for something in the 185-187cm range.
But in this case, the 191 seems like a very easy, unproblematic choice. First, it comes in a hair under 190cms on a straight tape pull, and again, this ski is heavily rockered. While Whitedot says that the Director has 1580mms of effective edge, we’re unsure how they got to that number.
When the Director is set on its base and pushed flat (and this ski is basically already flat – “0” camber), we measure a short 965mms from the rocker line of the tips to the rocker line of the tails.
And then, when the ski is put on its side and tilted up to a 90° angle, we measure 1550mms.
Either way, the point is, everything about this ski would encourage sizing up rather than sizing down.
Bottom Line
It’s going to be fun to get on these. The Director is a really nice looking ski, the bases have a nice structure to them, and it looks like someone has sweated the details.
Now we just need to go see what the Director really can do.
NEXT: Will Brown’s First Look on the Whitedot Director
Really excited about what you at Blister have to say about these skis! Awesome that you are adding more brands to your encyclopedia of ski reviews. I’m also curious if your going to review any G3 skis this year, as there seem to be a lack of good reviews elsewhere, for G3 and Whitedot.
Thanks!
Really looking forward to seeing your review of these skis, I skied a pair earlier this year and loved them so interested to see your comparisons to other skis I haven’t been able to try yet.
I dig the White Dots. I’ve been on the Preacher, and it is badass.
The Directors sound pretty similar to the Praxis MVP, a comp ski that prefers to play, slash, or huck, and not much in between. In the 187 MVP, there is 48 cm of tip rocker and 40 cm of tail rocker, 7 cm of tip splay and 5 cm of tail splay, 110 underfoot, 26m radius, and no metal (unlike the Cochise). Any thoughts on that comparison?
Hmmm, there certainly do seem to be a number of similarities on paper, Metres. I’m still not prepared to assume that the MVP & Director will feel similar on snow, but is interesting that the Director has even more tip and tail splay than the MVP.
But long and short, I think you’re right to bring up the MVP. We shall see…
Have spent some time fondling the Ranger is a store. Is that one of the 4 you have to take a look at?
We have some test pairs of the Carbonlite versions of the White Dot Director, Redeemer, Ranger and Preacher this season and will let people know what they’re like…Since riding many production and proto White Dots since they started out back in 2009, we get the impression they want a ski with a wide range of terrain capabilities…not really excelling at any one particular situation, but being friendly and capable all over the mountain. Really nice bunch of guys behind White Dot. They want to make skis people enjoy and aren’t afraid to tinker with designs to make them do what people want. The new Carbonlites with carbon and flax fabric layers are very, very light. Stay tuned. Looking forward to Blister’s comments after spending more time on the Directors in more kinds of snow…Thanks for the preview and initial observations!
Am I the only one thinking that it sort of seems like a mini Blister pro? And from the review has at least some of the same attributes? Maybe it’s just the forward non-tapered, squared off tips, rocker profile and off-piste chops that makes me think that, dunno, but…..
Hey Pat,
The Moment PB&J is really more of a mini Blister / Bibby Pro, I’d say. And the biggest difference between the PB&J and the Director (that I’ve noticed so far), is that the PB&J feels a lot more conventional on groomers. It has a noticeably shortened effective edge, but a good amount of traditional camber underfoot and a sidecut radius that feels a little tighter to me than the Director’s; the PB&J hooks up and carves more readily than the Director. The Director is also a bit wider than the PB&J, but you’re not wrong to see a resemblance between the two, by any means.
Best,
Will
How about Ragnarok?
We finished up a review of the Carbonlite C3 version of the Whitedot Directors in short lengths (171cm and 151cm for the vertically-challenged…awesome kid ski in that length). Last season we tested a set of “standard” and “Carbonlite” versions of the Redeemers side-by-side and found the CarbonLites to be much more responsive, agile and sporty than the standard layup, but at the cost of some higher speed crud-cutting and stability. The standard layup also has the ability to absorb a higher level of input pressure from the skier before it gives-way. In essence, the Carbonlite versions are more backcountry-oriented or for lighter, less muscle-heavy resort skiers.
I usually agree with Blister’s descriptions of ski handling nearly 100%, and it feels like the Carbonlite version of the Director has some definite differences from its standard layup version tested here. It is definitely not a hard-charging ski, but more playful and fun, with excellent vibration control and balanced feel in powder and cut-up treelines. If anyone is interested in seeing the review of the CarbonLite Director, it can be found at:
http://exoticskis.com/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=362
As an intermediate skier, who still has lots to learn, but would like something in the 105-110 range, would this be a good choice or should I look at the Helix and Sick Day 110 as well as the Director and Supernatural 108? How would those all compare?
First of all, this was a phenomenal review by Will. It’s not that often I see a 6 page review on this site, so that immediately caught my attention and I have since purchased the 191 Directors this fall for use as my mid-fat in Colorado. I picked the ski to fit in between the Moment PBJ and the OG Bibby.
Quick overview of me for ref:
* 6’3″, 190#
* Look Pivot, 140 @ 11.5 DIN
* Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper
After 43 days on the mountain (mostly Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper), I have ridden the Director 37 times. It is by far my favorite ski, even more than the critically acclaimed Bibby. I have avoided full reverse cambered skis in the past because they typically came with inconsistent flex patterns and/or soft flex patterns, early taper, and a short turning radius. This ski is damp, quick, and rages in pow. As Will mentioned, as long as there is a little bit of the soft stuff to push around this ski excels… esp. for my style, which is defined by an appreciation for drifty turns and blowing up pow stashes at high speeds. The combination of dampness, late taper, and the camber profile gives me tremendous confidence because I know I can shut the ski down relatively quickly without it folding on me. Moreover, it allows for a huge variety of turn shapes (moguls to GS). I ski a lot of side-country and trees, so quickness is critical, but I also do not want to compromise too much in the way of stability for straightlining after an air or nuking it through chop. The Director is the perfect combination, especially for resort pow days where by the afternoon its a little too tracked out for me to be really stoked on muscling the 190 OG Bibby through tight trees (the Bibbs still dominate the chop though). I am convinced there is nothing quite like reverse camber and hope to see more chargy skis with this design concept. I wish they made it in 118-120mm underfoot for those truly deep days! My guess is the 128mm Redeemer is excessively fat and will be cumbersome in the air. So, do you have any other recommendations? Are there any other skis are out there around 120mm with reverse camber, stout flex profiles, large turning radii, late taper and progressive mounting points (-3 to -5cm from TC)? Thank you.
Best,
Andrew
Hey Will, Great review on the Director, I have been skiing the 182 Belafonte as a daily driver in Tahoe, and also switching up with the PB@J and 184 Bibby. I picked up the 181 Director to replace the PB@J’s since I found them good but not great in most conditions. WOW – I was blown away by this ski, first off the build quality is unreal, top notch.
Secondly they ski insane, I found just like Andrew above mentioned, in just a tiny bit of soft snow they come alive, carves, drifts, slashes, super super fun ski, even in the thickest Sierra cement they blow right thru it, 2′-3′ chop it dont matter. you can drive the tips or ski light and neutral, their like the Bibby in that sense, they just dont care. They turned out to be just what I was looking for a playful Belafonte, that can still charge.
Are you going to review the new Moment Meridian? which seams VERY similar to the Director in shape, and rocker profile, and after talking to Luke, the Moment sounds even stiffer. Thanks Again for the great reviews.
Andrew, to address your point on the Redeemer, I ski the 180cm length as a tight tree/ small area powder ski. im only 5′-6″ and 160lbs, but I would say it’s not cumbersome at all, its actually pretty quick and playful, and has a TON of float, since the wide point is pulled back from the tip and really carries its width behind your foot, and its plenty stiff enough to charge thru the chop later in the day, if you like the Director, you will like the Redeemer, they have a VERY common feel.