K2 HellBent Skis
The Hellbent was a landmark ski and this review caught why: it was one of the skis that convinced ordinary skiers that a very wide, heavily rockered powder ski was fun rather than specialist equipment. Reverse camber, an enormous shovel, and a ski you steered from the middle of your foot instead of the edges.
It is out of production, and the reason it matters is what it started. Nearly every all-mountain ski sold now has some of the Hellbent's DNA: rocker at the tip, a wider waist than anyone would have chosen in 2005, and a shape designed for smearing turns rather than only carving them.
If you are shopping for what this ski was for, the category is now called a powder or freeride ski and the criteria are:
- 105mm and up at the waist for snow deep enough to justify a dedicated ski.
- Tip rocker with a little camber underfoot, unless you genuinely never touch hard snow. Full reverse camber like the Hellbent's is now a niche within a niche because it is hard work on the way back to the lift.
- Length longer than your everyday ski. Surface area is what floats you, and a rockered ski skis shorter than it measures.
One thing the original review was right about that gets forgotten: a ski this wide needs a binding mounted and a boot stiff enough to drive it. A soft boot on a fat ski is the most common way people conclude they do not like powder skis.
Part of the guide to ski and snowboard.