Touring backcountry skis
Product 2024
Woman, Man
The Atomic Backland 86 SL embodies qualities of accessibility and performance, seamlessly intertwined. Two qualities that could potentially be at odds with each other, yet this isn’t the case with the Backland.
Lightweight and nimble, it reveals its effectiveness immediately without requiring any adaptation period. Carving turns with it is a joy, with remarkable edge grip in all conditions. Whether on hard snow, groomers, steep slopes, or even near ice, the Atomic Backland 86 SL provides great stability.
Producing a spatula effect during entry into turns that one wishes to extend with carved turns might not be immediately evident (it requires a bit of skill). However, once positioned and initiated into a pivot, it carves the radius well. Pressure on the boot tongues is key to its control.
Returning to a central position, the Atomic Backland 86 SL automatically carves a superb turn. Whether taking a little or a lot of angle, there’s no compromise in grip with the Atomic Backland 86 SL.
However, we encountered more difficulty in elongating the turn radius. It’s easier to induce oversteer. To induce understeer, it needs to be flattened more. Transitioning from edge to a skidded effect poses no problem. The more traditional pivot is also very easy and executes quickly. An intermediate-level skier quickly grasps its operation and can utilize the Atomic Backland 86 SL effectively. To summarize: performance on the edge and relative ease in skidding.
In challenging snow conditions, amidst clumps, you discover an effective, lightweight tip that’s thin on the sides: you hardly feel it. Nevertheless, it remains effective, particularly with very good stability in a straight line. It filters well. It adapts to skiers of different sizes, more or less physical.
The edges do not extend to the sides of the tip, towards the top of the ski. This might raise concerns about fragility. A lightweight ski for ascents. With its slightly hollowed sidecut, its grip is less effective than a pure “touring” ski. However, its intrinsic skiability qualities more than compensate for this aspect.
An excellent ski for everyday ski touring, capable of handling various tasks. Excellent stability, accompanied by accessibility and a good level of performance. Weight kept in check on ascents.
We used this equipment over a long period of time
These are our thoughts after intensive use:
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