Fiddled with Hellbent's & Katana's
I looked at these 2 skis with quivering hands today and although they each looked pretty wicked they both fell a bit short of expectations.
The Hellbent has a huge amount of rocker. Much more than the lotus 138 or an ARG. And the transition from the flat section underfoot to the rocker (both front and back) is pretty much instantaneous. It just angles up...and they're soft, softy-soft. These things look like a powder only tool . In fact there's a good chance they'd be hideous on hard-pack; they look small on edge contact and large on flapping.
Having said that it was great to see some craziness on the shelf. Much kudos to K2 for putting their balls where their mouth is...? (er, you know what I mean).
The Katana was the one I really wanted to see. The first thing I looked for was the rocker and I didn't see any. I understand the rocker is slight and so I assume the weight of the ski keeps the tip lying flat. So it's there - you just can't see it. Slight trad camber from foot to tail.
The flex seems just like a big slightly softer gotama. The 'powder channel' or whatever it's called is just a piece of opaque plastic filling in a space about the shape of a shallow swallow tail. This piece sort of arches up in the center.
The durablilty of this tail piece? It isn't confidence inspiring but who knows. Normally volkl have done a good job. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I liked the look of the Katana. If you're in the market for a 100+er, put it on the list.
There's obviously a lot more to both of these skis, these are just my first impressions - for what it's worth.
