Powder Review: Atomic Bent 100
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In a nutshell
The Bent 100 will work well for traditional skiers who want to try a more freestyle-inspired ski that still feels somewhat familiar, or more playful skiers who want something that’s still lightweight and versatile but has a little more backbone to charge in soft conditions. It’s a ski that’s approachable without being too easy to overpower.
Length Skied: 180 cm
Weight: 1784 g
Stated Dimensions: 129.5-100-120 mm
Stated Sidecut: 19.5 m
Recommended Mount Point: -5.5 cm
The Atomic Bent 100 is available now.
Intro
The Bent 100 sits in the middle of the Atomic Bent family, which ranges in width from 85 mm to 120 mm underfoot. The Bents are Atomic's playful, more freestyle-oriented line, and include unisex options in a variety of widths. I've spent a lot of time on Atomic's previous Backland and Century skis, which used to be similar to this category, so I was excited to get out on the Bent 100.
Atomic calls the Bent 100 a “go-everywhere, do-everything all-mountain ski.” It’s intended to be the most well-rounded ski in the Bent line, more capable in soft snow than the narrower models but more directional and stable than the 110 and the 120.
Length / Mount Point
At 5’5”, I’m usually on skis in the 169-175 cm length range, but the Atomic rep who is around my height said that she had been enjoying her time on the 180 cm Bent 100 so I figured I’d give it a shot. Getting on a longer ski made for a pretty joyful romp around the mountain for me, although it was not without its challenges.
I rode the Bent 100 at its recommended mount point of -5.5 cm, and it worked well for me there, but Atomic offers a wide range of recommended mount points on this ski, and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend that more playful, park oriented skiers mount it a few cm forward, or more directional folks a few cm back. This is a ski with a big sweet spot.
Where does the Bent 100 shine?
In open terrain combined with soft snow, the Bent was a real delight. This ski in the 180 cm length likes to go fast, make big turns on groomers, and straight line off piste in tracked out powder. With a lot of tip out front adding stability and float, it lands nicely in powder and absolutely blows through soft chop. The Bent's light weight and generally easy to get along with nature means that it's pretty intuitive to ski fast, even if you're not usually that aggressive of a skier. But when speeds do get high, especially in tracked snow, it's not as stable as heavier, damper options. It has a tendency to get bucked around, especially as the snow degrades from soft and light to more dense. The flip side is that it's not as demanding as those heavier skis, and is easier to play around on.
Where does the Bent 100 make some compromises?
While I felt invincible in open terrain thanks to the extra length of the 180 cm Bent 100, when I took it into tighter trees and firmed-up moguls, I struggled to make lower speed turns and found the ski bucking me when I wasn’t doing a good job of driving it. This is probably partly due to the length, and I would be interested to see how the 172 behaved in similar situations.
I also found that it wasn’t very poppy off little lips and needed more English, or just a lot of speed, to get in the air. Once I managed to jump it, the Bent 100 paid off by feeling composed and comfortable on landings, especially in powder.
Similarly, while it’s easy to ski fast in good snow, its lower weight does start to make itself known when your legs are getting tired and you’re trying to drive it through variable snow.
For comparisons to other all-mountain skis, check out our roundup of the best narrow all-mountain skis.
What would a perfect day on the Bent 100 look like?
My perfect day on this ski involves meeting up with a bunch of ladies and ripping wide-open resort laps in soft snow, pushing each other to go faster each time down the mountain.
