The Atomic Bent 100 is an amazing ski because it keeps getting better, but somehow it hasn’t changed. This is a rare feat in the ski world these days. The nuts and bolts stay the same for this upcoming 2024 season, but the artwork changes, drawing in new skiers and Bent fans from all over the world. For years, this has been a benchmark ski in the ~100 mm twin tip category, and that does not change for this upcoming year. Chris Bentchetler has done a phenomenal job keeping this ski line fresh while keeping the main ideas and themes the same from tip to tail. This ski has a huge range of skier types, from emerging freeride and freestyle skiers of all ages all the way up to pro-level skiers looking to blend the all-mountain and the park. The creativity of the art aligns quite properly with that of the actual ski, as the flex and performance allow for high levels of skier input and ski feedback. It’s floaty when you want it to be, yet it still hooks up and delivers strong energy in an on-trail format as well. Propelling forward into 2024, we’re getting sharp new look with the same great character.

Construction-wise, this ski’s beauty lies in its simplicity, and it’s very reliant upon tradition. We’re not getting a whole lot past a light poplar wood core in this ski. That’s pretty much it. It creates a light and maneuverable product, tipping the scale at 1700 grams in the 180 cm length, and that’s definitely on the light side for a ski this wide. While the HRZN tech in the tips and tails falls a bit more into the shape and profile component of the ski, it actually makes some sense to discuss it here as well, mainly because it affects how the cap merges with the sidewall. Atomic’s Dura Cap construction takes advantage of the grippy and solid sandwich style of ski building and meshes it with a more maneuverable and energetic cap build. That cap feeds into the HRZN tech seamlessly, keeping the side profile of the ski very thin at those points. There’s not a whole lot of material here, so it makes sense as to why these skis are so incredibly floaty and smeary.

Meshing build with shape and profile makes a lot of sense in a ski like this because it’s so incredibly smooth from tip to tail. Surprisingly, there’s a fair amount of camber underfoot and not a ton of rocker. Atomic calls it a 70% camber with 20% rocker in the tip and 10% in the tail. These numbers aren’t terribly indicative of the playful and drifty character of the ski in soft snow—normally if we see numbers like this, that’s more in line with an all-mountain profile. It works in the Bent, though, as the tips and tails are flexible enough to bend to the whim of the skier without getting hung up. If the ski was stiffer and heavier, that rocker profile wouldn’t be quite as effective. As such, this opens the ski up to a variety of skier styles and levels. You can either use it as a poppy and energetic on-trail ski or let it do its thing in softer snow and trees. It’s that type of character that makes for a successful ski, and the Atomic Bent 100 has certainly embodied that trait.

As with most skis that blend and blur lines in the industry, the Bent 100 is at its most powerful when it’s on the feet of a range of skiers. We’ve seen teens using these in the park and freeride competitions. We’ve seen middle-aged dads (me) using them to ski with their kids in the woods. We’ve seen more conservative skiers operating effortlessly on powder days. It’s all good when it comes to the Bent 100, and that attitude will certainly carry into at least the 2024 ski season.