Stop Grinnin’, Drop Linen: The Bent Chetler Lands Stateside.
By Rocky Thompson on December 23rd, 2008
After only a week in the USA, the Atomic Bent Chetler is already stirring up serious stoke. Chris Benchetler and the Atomic R&D team spent 12 months developing this powder-freestyle directional twin, and the late release looks like an even trade for the most advanced rocker/camber design yet. Atomic’s Jordan Judd tells us, “Chris wanted the float and flex of the Thug in the backcountry, plus the pop and edge hold of the Punx, combined in one ski.” So, starting at the tip, the Bent Chetler has an early rise, reverse-sidecut profile, widening to a floaty 142mm before starting a slightly directional (8mm front/rear) conventional sidecut and camber underfoot. The same thing happens behind the binding, where the ski has a rockered, close-but-not-quite-true-twin tail. Atomic calls it “Pop Rocker,” and it gives Chris both the reverse-camber float and the hard-snow pop he was seeking. Also new is the “Step-Down” stacked sidewall which brings the durability and power transmission of vertical ABS underfoot, a half-cap in the transition areas for weight reduction and chip resistance, and thin vertical sidewalls in the tip and tail for smooth pop and crud-punching power. The reverse-to-regular sidecut and rocker/camber design might make you think this is just Atomic’s attempt at a JJ or S7 Caballero, but at 123mm in the waist and 134mm in the rear, the Bent Chetler is significantly fatter than the Armada and more symmetrical than Rossi’s pin-tailed design. Our in-house test dummies report that the Bent Chetler “skis like a JJ on steroids, with the same float as the S7 but significantly increased tail presence. You have to stand up and center yourself a bit more, but the reward is worth it if you send it switch in the deep.” Hard-snow performance is labeled simply, “sick.”
Fewer than 100 Bent Chetlers made it across the pond, and we’ll be stocking our shipment any day now. If you live in powder country and you haven’t blown your summer earnings just yet, scratch up some extra dough and get your hands on this hyper-limited-edition ski before it disappears.
Sounds like Line s Francis Bacon geometry, but with a bit less sidecut and a fatter waist. Would be a blast on powder, but with that kind of sluggish radius, I m darn skeptical of the “sick” hardpack performance.
But props to Atomic for not throwing a bunch of die-cut BS into the base of a backcountry jibber. Keep it real, and keep it easy to tune. Fresh graphics too.
[...] According to http://www.backcountry.com Atomic’s Jordan Judd says the following about the ski: [...]
Bought one of the few pairs that made it up to Canada & the more I ride them, the better they get! For such a wide & rockered, ski, I fully endorse the use of “sick” to describe hardpack performance. Powder’s freakin’ insane. On chop & crud they do feel like they’ve got suspension. And the pop-rocker’s awesome! Hit the smallest feature & I’m flying.
Coming off a stiff, traditionally cambered Teledaddy, I quickly learned what happens if you get on the tails in steep turns - Chetler Roll, AKA back summersault… gotta keep your weight over your feet.
Tech question: With so much tip rocker, should 130mm skins be okay? They won’t be wall to wall, but I don’t reckon all 142mm will be making edge contact on hardpack traverses.
Jeff