Skis on the small and light end of the spectrum generally fall into two categories whose Venn diagrams seem to almost always overlap to some degree. On one side of the spectrum, we have very traditional models like the Dynastar M-Tour 88 or the Blizzard Zero G 85: Firm-snow weapons with pretty minimal capability in…
First Look: Atomic Backland 86 UL
Skinny (sorta skinny) and light skis find their way into the Teton-focused quiver.
Responses
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I have the longest (~179) of the previous gen 85 UL and don’t like them. I feel like the tips and tails don’t have any pressure on the snow.
I suspect it’s a combo of fairly high longitudinal stiffness and long length, and lack of torsional stiffness.
But, I have no experience with similar skis. If you have a chance to get on a longer size some time, that would be great to hear about.-
Slim, I think it’s a pretty “loose” ski for the category. I skied my 85UL today in a 172, and then my Locator 88 (172) back to back. Whether you want to call them “slarvy”, “loose”, or how you described; compared to the stiffer and less rockered Locator. I’m surprised at how much this ski does not jibe with a directional style. It feels like it wants to pivot and swivel underfoot. The upside, for me, is that the ski performs better than anything else in the category in 3d snow and powder. But comparatively the tails wash out more frequently than I’d like on hardpack.
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