K2 Hellbent

JulianSharpe

JulianSharpe

Member
Never had them, never skied them. Would love thoughts and feedback from anyone who's been near them. There's a set come up for sale and I think they want me to buy them, so need a little justification....
 
big wide floppy pow noodles. in my mind theyre kind of a thing of the past, and the industry has settled down with the super wide super soft trend and gone back more toward the middle of the range

that said, many people love the bents and the type of skiing they lend themselves to. maybe some of them will stop by this thread to preach!
 
Been skiing on Bents the past couple seasons every time I go west. Got a couple wack ass looks from people if it didn't just dump or hasn't dumped in some time but I rode those fuckers no matter what. Gotta love the fucking rocker on those things though, you can pop up and in and out of everything, but overall they are just fucking massive and heavier than dick. After riding those bad boys for 5 days straight I could barely feel my legs. overall I love them, wish they were a little lighter and not so wide. It takes a solid day just getting used to having shit that big on your feet. If they setup isn't too expensive and you catch a lot of pow days during the year i'd pull the trigger.
 
Grabbed a pair of '09 Hellbents, 122mm underfoot before they added another 10mm, for $50 (+$20 Griffons, also mounted dead centre) in a 179 a few years back. I normally ride a 186cm K108 or 184 ARV96, so they're a little short for me.

I love them though, got a wild ass top sheet, super floppy and wide and you gotta love the rocker. TBH if you can get a deal on them I would, I used to ski em in all sorts of conditions, they're great fun for charging on despite being soft, they're just a little heavy so not so quick at times but the 80% rocker means they pivot like nobody's business.

One of the instructors I used to work with once even told me he was surprised how well i could carve them /claim but honestly I would say if you're looking at a cheap set and aren't planning on using them as your daily driver I'd cop em, they're super fun, get some great looks and when you're bombing hills and they're just flapping like all hell they're so fun. I love em, but they're a bit fucking stupid.

Hope that's a balanced opinion.
 
13966090:MF-HARP said:
Grabbed a pair of '09 Hellbents, 122mm underfoot before they added another 10mm, for $50 (+$20 Griffons, also mounted dead centre) in a 179 a few years back. I normally ride a 186cm K108 or 184 ARV96, so they're a little short for me.

I love them though, got a wild ass top sheet, super floppy and wide and you gotta love the rocker. TBH if you can get a deal on them I would, I used to ski em in all sorts of conditions, they're great fun for charging on despite being soft, they're just a little heavy so not so quick at times but the 80% rocker means they pivot like nobody's business.

One of the instructors I used to work with once even told me he was surprised how well i could carve them /claim but honestly I would say if you're looking at a cheap set and aren't planning on using them as your daily driver I'd cop em, they're super fun, get some great looks and when you're bombing hills and they're just flapping like all hell they're so fun. I love em, but they're a bit fucking stupid.

Hope that's a balanced opinion.
Click to expand...

"I love em, but they're a bit fucking stupid."

- best description of owning hell bents i've ever seen.
 
13966090:MF-HARP said:
Grabbed a pair of '09 Hellbents, 122mm underfoot before they added another 10mm, for $50 (+$20 Griffons, also mounted dead centre) in a 179 a few years back. I normally ride a 186cm K108 or 184 ARV96, so they're a little short for me.

I love them though, got a wild ass top sheet, super floppy and wide and you gotta love the rocker. TBH if you can get a deal on them I would, I used to ski em in all sorts of conditions, they're great fun for charging on despite being soft, they're just a little heavy so not so quick at times but the 80% rocker means they pivot like nobody's business.

One of the instructors I used to work with once even told me he was surprised how well i could carve them /claim but honestly I would say if you're looking at a cheap set and aren't planning on using them as your daily driver I'd cop em, they're super fun, get some great looks and when you're bombing hills and they're just flapping like all hell they're so fun. I love em, but they're a bit fucking stupid.

Hope that's a balanced opinion.
Click to expand...

Love em but they're fucking stupid

Lmaooo
 
I feel I know have my answer to anyone who ever questions the mystical canoes that are my Hellbents... thanks NS

Pick up that set man and let us know how you enjoy the sillyness
 
I learned to ski powder on Hellbents. Before I had them I hated powder.

Keep in mind I was living in the PNW and we only get heavy wet snow at my mountain. My mid 90 waist skis that were supposedly "pow skis" were not cutting it, I had to lean back so hard to stay floating. After being angry at my powder skis I spent a whole season demoing every super fat ski I could get ahold of, and one day found the K2 Hellbent. That ski was a dream come true. I was lucky enough to demo it on a day that was dumping wet 34 degree snow and they were floating like a dream, I no longer felt out of control trying to turn while flexing out my tails trying to keep my tips up. Instead I could effortlessly pivot turns through trees, slash the sloppy wet snow, and charge down slopes that would previously leave me exhausted. For once I didn't have to lean back. I was sailing by people on their skinny skis that were getting bogged down by the foot of wet snow. I will never forget that day and I bought a pair shortly after that.

I still have my K2 Hellbents and I don't think I can ever let go of them even though I've since moved on to other pow skis. They really are the best powder skis I've ever ridden for super waterlogged wet pow, they are also great for popping you over logs when tree skiing, the noses just flex you right over.
 
I bought used set from of the 2013 model year from a guy that had just broken his leg and couldn't ski anymore. I live in Salt Lake at the mouth of the canyons and can pick and choose my powder days anytime I want. I have about 8 skis in my collection, but these Hellbents are by far the most fun of all of them. I've haven't skied them in every condition but many conditions and in every type of terrain, especially the steep and deep of the Wasatch - for my money they are the most enjoyable time I've ever had on skis in my life especially of course in the powder. I probably wouldn't choose them on a groomer day but I could manage them. I ski them in tight trees in deep powder, they maneuver like a much smaller ski and they stomp landings like crazy. They are an absolute roller coaster than is better than any other powder ski I've ever ridden. They are that much fun. My brother in law skied with me today on his Mantra's and me on the Hellbents today in 12 inches of fresh silky Utah powder and he was sold just watching me ski on them - he's trying to find a pair now and he's a great skier! They make skiing powder a complete breeze and a blast. Depending on your style these things maybe your ticket to powder skiing nirvana, as a life long powder hunter these things are the ultimate pow ski in my opinion. I'm 5'9 145 pounds and ski the 177's and am totally in love with these things. Was a complete shame they stopped making them, and yes it seems like the industry is going back to 'mid-fat' but for my money and skiing style these put most of my other skis to shame and make them unnecessary. Somebody above said they are crazy or stupid - and its true - they are almost comically big but totally worth it. It's like the ski equivalent of the BMW X5 M or a Jeep Trackhawk - totally insane, unnecessary, unjustifiable and over the top but sometimes that's how you've got to roll.

**This post was edited on Apr 11th 2019 at 4:02:47pm

**This post was edited on Apr 12th 2019 at 11:08:46pm
 
14023291:erwad said:
I bought used set from of the 2013 model year from a guy that had just broken his leg and couldn't ski anymore. I live in Salt Lake at the mouth of the canyons and can pick and choose my powder days anytime I want. I have about 8 skis in my collection, but these Hellbents are by far the most fun of all of them. I've haven't skied them in every condition but many conditions and in every type of terrain, especially the steep and deep of the Wasatch - for my money they are the most enjoyable time I've ever had on skis in my life especially of course in the powder. I probably wouldn't choose them on a groomer day but I could manage them. I ski them in tight trees in deep powder, they maneuver like a much smaller ski and they stomp landings like crazy. They are an absolute roller coaster than is better than any other powder ski I've ever ridden. They are that much fun. My brother in law skied with me today on his Mantra's and me on the Hellbents today in 12 inches of fresh silky Utah powder and he was sold just watching me ski on them - he's trying to find a pair now and he's a great skier! They make skiing powder a complete breeze and a blast. Depending on your style these things maybe your ticket to powder skiing nirvana, as a life long powder hunter these things are the ultimate pow ski in my opinion. I'm 5'9 145 pounds and ski the 177's and am totally in love with these things. Was a complete shame they stopped making them, and yes it seems like the industry is going back to 'mid-fat' but for my money and skiing style these put most of my other skis to shame and make them unnecessary. Somebody above said they are crazy or stupid - and its true - they are almost comically big but totally worth it. It's like the ski equivalent of the BMW M5 - totally insane, unnecessary, unjustifiable and over the top but sometimes that's how you've got to roll.

**This post was edited on Apr 11th 2019 at 4:02:47pm
Click to expand...

If Armada can bring back the ARG maybe K2 can see the light...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top