The Atomic Bent Chetler 120 has been a headliner in the Powder genre for over 15 years, and like any ski with that long a life span, it has evolved in order to survive.  But it hasn’t changed its essential character, which is an uncanny naturalness for a ski this massive. Its shape alone would give it the same flotation as an aircraft carrier, yet it doesn’t feel ponderous; quite the contrary, in fact.  Certainly, part of the reason the Bent Chetler 120 maneuvers as adroitly as a much narrower ski is the way the tip and tail are rockered on both axes, so the ski is predisposed to drift just where it might otherwise over-react or hang up.

Driving the modifications to the 2025 version of the BC 120 is Atomic’s rekindled commitment to lowering the environmental impact of ski production. The core has been re-engineered with more wood (poplar), less metal (Titanal), and less fiberglass and its noxious companion, resin. Even the decoration on the topsheet – a Chris Bentchetler original design, of course – uses recycled materials. Taken together, the changes result in a 13% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions compared to the Bent Chetler 120 of two seasons ago. The changes to the BC 120 are part of a larger effort on Atomic’s part to encourage collaboration across all brands to improve the industry’s performance in reducing its environmental impact.

All these modifications to the BC 120’s make-up don’t compromise the ski’s flotation or drift-ability, as its sidecut dimensions, HRZN 3D curvature on the tip and tail, size splits and weight didn’t change, but the core re-design compromised some of the skis’ hard-snow attributes.  It needs some loose snow under it to push against to stabilize its trajectory.  This is hardly a crime, as the Chetler 120 was always intended as a pure Powder ski (waists > 113mm), and none of the core changes have diminished that essential aptitude. It remains one of the elite in a genre that is gradually shrinking as brands thin the ranks of their fattest skis.

The gradual erosion of Powder skis’ importance is due to several factors:

• They are expensive to make and their slice of the market, oh, rich with irony, is narrow, so it can take several seasons to liquidate a production run.
• The frenzied boom in backcountry is fading, an arena that probably consumed a fair share of the total number of Powder skis sold.
• Many small-batch producers cut their chops on super-fat skis and continue to sell a disproportionate percentage of Powder skis direct to their customers. We don’t know what that number is, but it must have cut into the major brands’ share of this market.
• Powder deep enough to necessitate an ultra-wide ski is a rare occurrence, and when it does materialize, it tends to arrive in storms that eradicate all motorized access to the goods.
• Over-crowding at the major destination resorts ensure that the powder-hunting experience will resemble Hobbes’ vision of natural man’s existence, the war of each against all. One reason we see mobs of skiers trying to get to fresh powder is fat skis have made it possible for skiers of suspect skills to cope with its challenges.
• Globally, reliable powder conditions are getting harder and harder to find. It seems like it’s a less and less reasonable proposition to equip oneself for.

Lest you take me for an alarmist, there are other signs that the pure Powder ski is drifting into irrelevance. For 22/23, K2 created a 3-model series named Dispatch, that included a 120 version. All the Dispatches were dispatched after one forgettable season. Nordica used to make an Enforcer 115 and Rossignol has whittled down its Powder offering to the Sender Free 118. It appears as though the Powder category is going the same route as the medium that inspired it.