Powder Review: Atomic Bent 110
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In a nutshell
While it can be a little challenging to define the Bent 110’s place within the greater Bent family, at its core it’s a pretty versatile, very playful ski that’s about as happy walking uphill as it is riding chairlifts, all it asks for is a steady diet of slashes and lips.
Length Skied: 188 cm
Weight: 1860 g
Stated dimensions: 134-110-125 mm
Stated Sidecut 19 m
Recommended mount point: -3 cm
The Atomic Bent 110 is available now.
Intro
When Atomic introduced the Bent 100 in 2018/19, fans of the brand, and Chris Benchetlers skis, immediately started asking when a Bent 110, aka the Atomic Blog reborn would show up. It took a few more years, but for 2022/23, Atomic finally came out with a Bent 110, and fans of playful, versatile skis all collectively got very, very excited.
The Atomic Blog was the ski that made skiing click for me. It made skiing fun, and somewhat intuitive. I have a lot of history with Atomic’s 110ish underfoot playful offerings, so I was excited to get time on the new Bent 110
On paper, it’s an interesting hybrid of the more directional Bent 100, and the uber-playful Bent 120. It’s light, but not too light, rockered, but not too rockered, and of course, it features beautiful topsheet art by Chris Benchetler.
Length/Mount Point
I skied the 188 cm Bent 110, both with tech touring bindings, and alpine bindings. I’m not really tempted by the 180 cm version, it skis very short, but there were times, when touring, when I found myself wishing for a 184 cm version. That said, for my size (6’1”, 200 lbs) the 188 is bang on 90% of the time. This is a very easy ski to turn, so if you’re between sizes, consider sizing up.
The Bent 110 has a recommended mount point of -3 cm from true center, and that’s where I skied it. For pure inbounds skiing, I could see myself jumping back to -4 or 5, since isn’t a ski that’s going to change its character drastically in a negative way with a little bit of mount point fiddling.
How does the Bent 110 do in the conditions it was designed for?
Sometimes, while skiing the Bent 110, I found myself asking what conditions it actually was designed for. And that question is core to my experience with the Bent 110. The 120 is easy, it’s incredible in fresh snow, and still really fun in chopped up snow. Similarly, the Bent 100 makes itself known: it’s a great all-mountain ski for someone who likes to play around but isn’t much of a park rat. So where does the Bent 110 fit in?
Well, the Bent 110 is stiffer than the 120, and a touch heavier, and the 188 cm version does handle higher speeds in worse snow a bit better than the 184 cm 120. But, if the assignment is to ski fast in variable but still soft snow, I’d choose the 192 cm 120 over the 188 cm 110. It’s not quite as agile, but it’s close enough, and it provides a better platform to stand and plow on. (To be clear, that’s all relative, none of these skis truly plow compared to heavier, less rockered alternatives.)
But in tight trees, or steep chutes, the 184 cm 120 is easier to turn and move around on than the 188 cm 110, so I’d rather ski that sort of steep, tight terrain on it. And while touring, the 184 cm 120 is just a touch lighter, and feels about as versatile in typical western backcountry conditions.
So, what is the Bent 110 good at? Well, it’s fun in pow for a 110 underfoot ski. And it’s moderately capable in chopped up and variable snow, although I do find its speed limit quickly. That combination does make it a great choice for folks who don’t quite need a 120 underfoot ski, but want a more playful ride than the Bent 100. And it does definitely feel more playful and park oriented in some ways than the Bent 100, so if you want an all-mountain ski that’s also fun on the occasional jump and rail lap, it could be a solid choice.
Similarly, if you’re looking for a very versatile touring ski that can handle some inbounds skiing, some pow touring, and light mountaineering missions, the Bent 110 could fit the bill.
To see how the Bent 110 compares to other all mountain skis, check out our roundup of the best all mountain skis.
What compromises does the Bent 110 make?
The biggest compromise the Bent 110 makes is its weight. It just gets slapped around by variable snow a little more easily than most brands’ 110ish underfoot playful all mountain skis. That means it’s more suited to touring than those other options, but if you want to absolutely mob the day after the storm, make sure you bring your a game and a centered stance if you want to ski the Bent 110 hard.
It almost feels like the Bent 110 could either get 200ish grams heavier, and be a playful all-mountain crusher, or 200ish grams lighter and be a really cool touring ski. That fact that it isn’t either of those things though, makes it pretty versatile.
What would a perfect day on the Bent 110 look like?
Click into your hybrid bindings (Shift makes a lot of sense for this ski) or your pins (so does the Backland binding, if you mostly tour), and grab first chair. Head out the gates, and ski boot to shin deep pow all day. Maybe drop a few cliffs, duck through a few chutes, straightline out onto the apron. Then head back inbounds, and ride chairs for a few hours, making sure to jump off of everything, finishing up with a few laps in the park.
