The Helio 105 starts to cross the fine line of weight verses performance. While I sometimes like a ski that is a little snappier and helps me in my movements, the Helio still responded quickly to almost everything I wanted it to do. The Helio 105’s treated Brittany well on Hunstman Ridge.Last, the Helio 105’s were simply easy to maneuver. However, I wonder if a wider model, like the 116, would help dampen the impact. A bit on the deflecty side, I had trouble getting the 105’s to really charge through cruddy snow. In chop, the Helio 105’s were a little on the fringe of performance for my personal standards. After that, the Helio 105’s held their own while trying to carve my way down wind buff, groomers, and icy slopes. I realized it could have something to do with how the ski came out of the factory, so I took them to my favorite boys at Crested Butte Sports and they gave them a good de-tune. I could not get the ski to reliably hold an edge. Soaking in some cold smoke on Black Diamond Helio 105’s!However, I noticed a lot of chatter while trying to hold an edge on windbuff and groomers. I didn’t feel like the tip of the ski was vibrating much at all, which can be typical for some carbon models. Once I took them to the ski area, I was surprised at how stable they were while pointing it straight at high speeds. But, if you needed to shut your speed down for some reason, I noticed that the ski got a bit “divey” sometimes- behavior unexpected of a rockered ski. The Helio 105 performed great in powder at high speeds. Compare this to some of my other favorite skis like the BD Megawatt (178 cm – 3.2 kg or 7 lbs 1 oz), BD Boundary 115 (175 cm – 4.1 kg or 9 lb), and Blizzard Zero G 108 (178 cm – 3.3 kg or 7 lbs 4 oz)…. This is probably for good reason as the 175 cm model is only 2.9 kg (6 lb 5 oz). On first trial, I was super impressed with the lightweight feel of the Helio 105’s. Brittany testing out the Helio 105’s on Mount Shimer. Since the testing time was in early February, I didn’t really have the opportunity to test the Helio 105’s in corn, which I wish I could have, considering it’s considered a ski mountaineering ski. Through those two weeks, I tested them in a variety of conditions including powder, heavy powder, chop, wind buff, and icy snow. I was able to test a pair of Helio 105’s in length 175 cm for a little over two weeks. This is intended to reduce chatter in firmer conditions, but still keep the ski light. Basically, at the front of the ski where the construction begins to go from camber to rocker, a layer of rubber is placed into the sidewalls. And that system is present in the Helio 105’s. But, the core is now made of balsa wood, whereas paulownia wood was used for the Megawatt.īlack Diamond has been integrating a sidewall dampening system into their sidewalls on some of their models as well. Similar to Black Diamond’s previous carbon skis, the Helio 105 uses pre-preg carbon fiberglass and reinforced ABS sidewalls. Furthermore, the tail features a skin clip tab in the tail. The Helio 105 has taken on the more normal rocker-camber-rocker approach, with a rockered tip and tail, but traditional camber underfoot. For now, we’ll focus our review on the Helio 105 carbon ski. We intend to do a more detailed review of the full Helio line-up at a later time. These carbon skis will be available in widths 116, 95, and -17, and the Helio 105 has been released early and is actually available now. The Black Diamond Helio 116 on the left, and Helio 105 on the right.In its place will be the new Helio line. There are changes coming to the Black Diamond Ski line-up! These changes will impact what Black Diamond has quantified as their ski mountaineering series – specifically their carbon skis like the Aspect, Convert, and Megawatt. (Last Updated On: December 22, 2016) The Black Diamond Helio 105’s
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