Think of your boots, bindings, skins, and skis not as four distinct pieces of gear but as a single system designed to work together, Merriman says.
Think of your backcountry ski setup as an integrated system. As Black Diamond’s ski category manager and an experienced backcountry skier himself, he’s got some insider tips for picking the perfect setup.ġ. To demystify the process and help you choose a backcountry ski setup that works for you, we talked to Andy Merriman, who’s been involved in engineering and designing skis for nearly 17 years. If you find yourself leaving gear conversations with your head spinning like a kid throwing 360s at the terrain park, you’re not alone. But it can also be pretty overwhelming.Ĭamber or rocker? Paulownia or poplar? Fiberglass or carbon? There are so many skis out there (and so many friends with really strong opinions). Making the leap is one of the most exciting parts of getting started in backcountry skiing. Want to learn all about the best new ski equipment for the 2017/18 season? Head this way to get the bumper Fall-Line Skiing Gear Guide.So you’ve been backcountry skiing a few times and you’re ready to choose a backcountry ski setup. 2018 Black Diamond Helio 95 specifications:
They’re light enough to help you get up and down in even the smallest of weather windows, with plenty of energy left to enjoy the descents. In short, you can comfortably take the Helios deep into the backcountry on long multi-day missions with total confidence that they will handle whatever conditions you come across. The harder it gets the more precise your technique has to be, and the more the lack of dampening mass starts to become apparent, but they will still dance nimbly into steep consequential turns above exposure and shut down to scrub speed smoothly when necessary. They come alive in powder and make turns of any size and speed without hooking or flinching, but handle hard snow and technical terrain with aplomb too. The results are nothing short of staggering: despite the insubstantial weight the Helios are stable, balanced and predictable. BD have made some of the most progressive powder skis of the past few years (like the Megawatt and Gigawatt), and they’ve brought some of that modern shaping philosophy to the Helio with smooth tip and tail rocker and set back contact points with generous taper.
It’s once you’ve topped out and transitioned for the descent that Helios reveal their real genius though. The low swing weight and balanced mount point make kick turns a cinch too, even on the most precarious of perches.
#BLACK DIAMOND HELIO 95 WEIGHT SKIN#
The Black Diamond Helio 95 is a mountain goat of a ski: incredibly light and surefooted on the ascent yet stable and balanced coming back downīlurring the lines between a traditional touring ski, powder ski and ski mountaineering stick, BD’s Helio 95 is a stunningly light weight (due to the balsa wood and pre-preg carbon core) marvel that somehow isn’t just tolerable in deep snow and technical terrain, but actually excels there.Īt only 1.1kg per ski the Helio 95 is a real mountain goat on the ascent, skipping up long hard skin tracks with alacrity and barely noticeable on the backpack when it’s time to get the crampons out and bootpack.Īt 95mm underfoot it’s svelte enough to hang out at even the most remote mountain huts without standing out too from the crowd and makes it easy to get an edge in when sidehilling on slick re-frozen firn, yet also means you get plenty of grip ascending at steeper angles with full-width skins and don’t get bogged down breaking trail after a good dump of powder.
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