![]() The current Helio Recon line, updated for this season, trades the paulownia for poplar and the carbon fibers for glass fibers to create a heavier, more damp and solid backcountry ski. Black Diamond is not trying to hide that fact either. I think this is a skier preference thing, and wouldn’t rule out the Helio Carbon build for an all around or spring construction for some folks. Rather unfortunate on this last decent given the ever increasing amount of tracks as we descended towards the neighborhood. The construction that gives these skis their awesome light weight and pop in pow provided unwanted feedback in less consistent conditions. The Helio Carbon 104s disliked crossing tracks even more than I did. Joe was shortly behind, face plastered with a giant smile and chunks of powder. The 132mm wide shovel responded well to being driven, and I was soon exclaiming those familiar joyous calls of a powder skier nestled between over the shoulder walls of snow. I rolled into perfectly spaced conifers and immediately knew that my day of hookie was justified. ![]() On arrival, we chose an appropriate first line given the moderate-moderate-low avalanche forecast, one that had a simple test slope and was more protected from winds. The paths and hallways through the trees quickly roll to near 40 degrees and mellow out abruptly into a large open meadow below. ![]() Our playground for the day was a short (600’ vert) bowl near and below treeline. We set out beyond the ski area boundary and put in a contouring skin track towards the powder, needing to gain only 1,000 feet over almost 2 miles. That 7-10 inches atop crowd-sourced bumps would be 12-15 inches on top of 6 feet of lightly settled north facing base in our intended zone. He and I quickly traversed across Vail’s famous back bowls, passing on powder turns that other folks may fly across the world for. My partner for the day was good friend and former ski patrol cohort Joe Golting. The paulownia core is the main difference in these forthcoming Helios from previous iterations, transitioning away from the slightly less solid balsa-flax core in the current line. BD accomplishes said weight with an engineered paulownia core and pre-preg carbon fiber layup. An impressive weight to surface area ratio for this ski with 132-104-108mm width dimensions and a full wrap ABS sidewall. The weight of the 178cm is listed as 1,450g, putting these 184cm skis somewhere in the high 1,500g range. My partner and I planned to use the ski area’s chair lifts to access that same snowy micro-climate, only in a different zone that required a more human powered approach to access the wild snow.Īs I walked through the faux Bavarian village on the side of I-70, I found the shoulder weight of the Helio 104s to be encouraging they would no doubt make the deep trail breaking portion of our day easier. The steep and shady lift accessed backcountry terrain above the East Vail neighborhood that collects Little Cottonwood-like snow totals have also lost their secrecy, regularly seeing over 200 skiers per day. It’s no secret that the pistes of Vail are an often crowded mess. Playing hookie for storm skiing is a sacred tradition for a small business owner in a ski town and one I intend to keep the tradition alive and well. I set up my crew at the day’s job site in the East Vail neighborhood and dipped away with a pair of 20/21 Black Diamond Helio Carbon 104s in tow. Forecasts called for steady temperatures and snowfall throughout the day in addition to the seven inches that fell overnight at the local ski hill. Thermometers read nill one Tuesday morning in early February with no relief in sight. The forthcoming Helio Carbon 104 where it shines, in a deeply trenched skin track lapping pristine powder.
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