Fiddled with Hellbent's & Katana's

[jerr]

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.

[ptex1]

Powder channel-- volkl had this same tail on their powder snowboard, no problems.

[psychkub]

These things look like a powder only tool . In fact there's a good chance they'd be hideous on hard-pack

They're no carving ski, but from the people that I've spoken with who have used them in the park, they're actually decent on hard-pack... and there's also that video out there of Pep and Andy cruising the park on a smaller version of them. Looks pretty decent to me. I'd definitely be interested in hearing more about its performance though.

[FrozenKiwi]

Its good to see some NZ shops have some interesting gear finally do you know the RRP for the katana by any chance?

[skea 457]

Its good to see some NZ shops have some interesting gear finally do you know the RRP for the katana by any chance?

NZ$1595

Importers website

If I remember rigtly the RRP on the Hellbents is ~NZ$1200

[FrozenKiwi]

Wow thats really expensive! WTF's it so expensive? the exchange rates quite strong and shipping cant be that much. Might have to stick with kingswoods there cheaper.