Growing up on Mammoth Mountain–home to one of the first snowboard parks in the U.S.–Chris Benchetler’s early skiing career was heavily influenced by snowboarding and art, contributing to his often-copied-but-never-replicated style of skiing. Early on, Benchetler realized he wanted to make a career out of powder skiing and, as a result, bailed on the contest scene and started chasing big-mountain lines beyond Mammoth’s resort boundaries. It was his shift to backcountry skiing that led Benchetler to design his first pro model ski, the Bent Chetler, with Atomic 10 years ago.
Not only does the 31-year-old skier and new dad contribute to the skis’ graphics and style, but he is credited with the idea of Atomic’s HRZN Tech–which takes traditional rocker, changes the technologies of ABS sidewall construction and expands it horizontally across the ski. Year after year, Benchetler works with the Atomic R&D team to further develop every little detail to make the best powder ski on the market even better and his 10-year-anniversary models are no different.
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Atomic Bent Chetler 120
The 2018-19 season marks the tenth anniversary of the very first Bent Chetler, and the powder planks have only gotten better with age—an attribute shared by its creator, Chris Benchetler. The Bent Chetler is a damn dream for surfing deep snow conditions, thanks to an ultra-light karuba wood core and HRZN Tech—horizontal rocker and lateral ABS sidewalls—in the tip and tails that transforms these babies into speed boats for the snow. Add in a carbon backbone and camber underfoot for stability, and you’ve got the whole package. “The poppiest pow ski ever,” described Adrian Bouthot. “Hops around like a butterfly but can put the landing gear down like a beast.”
Atomic Bent Chetler
The Mini Me to the classic Bent Chetler fatty ski, its 100-mm waisted clone was a shagadelic hit among our testers. “The Bent Chetler series is always on point,” said Scott Kramer. “It’s about time they created a skinnier version ’cause this baby was a blast!” Thomas Lampert added, “I would pay retail for these bad boys. They cut trenches, are super playful—just good, clean fun.” As expected, the Atomic Bent Chetler 100 employs Atomic’s HRZN Tech, horizontally rockered ABS in the tip and tail, for an increase in surface area and buttery good times. It also boasts a slightly more directional shape than its father, allowing it to truly excel across the entire mountain. Grab these new planks this fall, they’re guaranteed to make you randy, baby.
