![]() ![]() 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. The 105 covers more bases (and honestly is wicked fun), but the 95 is friendlier in hard snow and a bit easier to ski.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. Overall I think the Helio is an impressive ski at both sizes. The 95 is not the catch all that the 105 feels like, but it excels in its strengths : ski mountaineering, long ski tours, easy turning, light weight fun. The Helio 95 made fine and fast work both touring and turning in AK.Ĭonstruction: Prepeg carbon on a balsa flax wood core, ABS sidewall The Helio 95 at 183 has nearly the same turning radius as the Carbon Aspect (90 underfoot) at a 176 (20m vs 19m), maneuverability with less chatter and bit more ski make the 95 possibly a better version of an already good touring ski (with an extra 7 oz of weight). The tapered tail design (also with early rise), slightly smaller shovel dimension, and ultralight wood core seem to borrow what worked well with the Aspect and improve on it. Helio 105 skis powder like a big pow ski, but still manages to be remarkably carvey in making turns (perhaps a factor of the 185 size) in corn snow. Definitely a bit of chatter on hard pack (to be expected), but these feel stiff for the weight while still light. This was surprising for such a light ski, but big turns in good snow felt like the 105’s prime time. I found this to be true in just about any snow conditions. No time spent in bounds on either ski, but I took them out in variable conditions, mostly spring corn and spring pow, with a bit of hard pack and crust sprinkled in. I have done some spring skiing on these in Colorado and took these on a recent expedition to AK. The 105s I skied at a 185 length with both Dynafit Speed Radicals as well as Vipec 12s. The 95s I skied at a 183 length on Vipec 12 bindings. I ski toured both skis with both a 2-buckle boot (La Sportiva Spitfire) and a 4-buckle boot (La Sportiva Spectre). ![]()
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