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First Look: Atomic Bent Chetler 120

By

Gavin Hess

The HRZN Tech tip and a very ample shovel (and tail) make for a playful plank to ski and to oggle.

The HRZN Tech tip and a very ample shovel.

Just in time for a trip to the world’s powder mecca of Hakuba, I was fortunate to receive a set of 192cm Bent 120s from Atomic. In a winter that hasn’t had much deep powder to write home about, I am excited to have some conditions to warrant such a ski, both abroad and at…

Responses

  1. Kam DH

    I cut notches in my Bent 110 tails with a hacksaw. Saves me a lot of annoyance with the tail clips falling off using basic skins. The 110 is a pretty fun, easygoing powder touring ski albeit sort of heavier.

    1. Gavin Hess

      Interesting, I have found that the Bent 120 holds a tail clip really well with the HRZN tech tip holding it centered. I have contour skins for these.

      In Japan a few weeks back, I didn’t have any trouble with tail clip retention while my partner had constant problems with her Blizzard Canvas’s that have a similar twin tip with no special shaping/notch.

      1. Kam DH

        I’ve been using Kohla and G3 skins with my 110s. Yeah I don’t know, for some reason they fell off constantly. Sometimes I catch the big twin tails on each other in the skintrack, which may have contributed to it.

  2. Travis

    I have the Bent 110 and that ski is a ton of fun. So easy to ski and floats well too. The Bents are great skis for anyone who wants to enjoy powder but finest have much experience in it.

    1. Travis

      *doesn’t have much experience. Auto correct strikes again.

  3. Slim

    Gavin,
    Are there any reverse camber touring skis that are lighter than the 4Frnts ?

    1. Whit

      Not Gavin but Heritage Labs comes to mind.
      I’m hoping for an Atomic Backland 120ish that’s the same build as the new 109 but without camber. That’d be sweet 🙂

      1. Slim

        Thanks!
        Yes, I realized that myself just after I wrote this, when I ended up seeing Gavin’s review of that one. Oops!

        1. Whit

          Another one that came to mind is Ronin. I see he’s making a 122 reverse camber that has a light build version coming in at 1650g in the 181!
          https://www.roninskis.com/products/ronin-122

    2. Gavin Hess

      The Heritage Lab 120ST is the first thing that comes to mind. There is also the SGN Togga, which I haven’t seen in person but looks cool and a touch lighter than the Renegade. Moment sometimes makes a Meridian tour that is light-ish and looks versatile though a little more narrow at 107mm.

      That Ronin ski looks awesome, hadn’t seen it before.

  4. Steve Bohrer

    I’ve been skiing the 21/22 (I think) Bent 120 for I guess 5 years now as my deep day Teton BC ski. I’ve got the Helio 350 on them and I’ll ski them with the Transalp for more mixed conditions. But on a light and deep day, with a light boot (Travers) and the centered stance, the floaty/flying sensation is amazing. They’re relatively light, but have enough heft to handle the chopped up exits and variable snow.

    I was waiting for my boots to get some work finished and listened to a ski shop bro telling a customer that they weren’t a good BC ski cause of the short effective edge and less grip. Give me a break, on a 120 underfoot ski you’ve got a square mile of plush, regardless of the rocker. I found the Pomoca tail clip got easily kicked off so I Dremeled the tail a bit. I will say that the tail rocker isn’t ideal in deep and heavy snow like we had last week.

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