A Fat, Joyful Toy: Atomic Bent Chetler 120 Ski Review

I’m at a private backcountry ski operation near Ogden, Utah. The snow is so deep that the cat operator can barely make it to the top of our first run. Our guide directs us to a steep, treed, avalanche-controlled slope. I click into the 2025 Atomic Bent Chetler ($1,025), and within moments, I am floating and whooping through the light and fluffy Utah powder.

Soaring like a bird down the slopes, my skis sweep through turns the width of the line, rooster tailing powder to the bottom of the run. It’s not a dream, and I may have just had one of the best runs of my life.

The Bentchetler 120, skier and artist Chris Bentchetler’s pro model, has been in Atomic’s line since 2008. Bentchetler says the 2024/25 version is the harmonic convergence of art and skiing. It’s one of the best skis I’ve enjoyed clicking into for deep snow. But the ski isn’t just a fat, surfy board — it’s a joyful toy that makes you want to jump, leap, and fly your way down the mountain.

In short: I loved the 120-waist Bent Chetler for powder days and untracked lines. It’s not so specialized that you can’t rip chalky groomers between powdery wood shots. But, this is not the choice for a resort-only skier; unless you have an ample quiver with room for a ski, you might only click into a few days a year. If you’re a cat or heli-skier, or a backcountry skier who rips Teton Pass laps or regularly frolics in Utah’s champagne powder, this ski is for you.

See how the Atomic Bent Chetler 120 compares to the rest in our Buyer’s Guide to the best backcountry skis.

Atomic Bent Chetler 120 Review

First Impressions

My first turns on this ski felt familiar. I’ve been the proud owner of at least two earlier iterations of this ski. But the ski felt more powerful, grippier, and more playful at the same time.

The first day I skied the new Bent Chelter 120 was in the middle of a massive Utah storm cycle. By the next morning, it had snowed so much that resorts from the Cottonwoods to Powder Mountain were closed for days. I skied the 120 in the backcountry, side country, and in-bounds at Powder Mountain and Snow Basin.

I packed it for a Jackson Hole trip and skinned and skied it off Teton Pass and in Grant Teton National Park for a dozen days and tens of thousands of vert. On those trips, I also skied the Atomic Backland 109 and the Atomic Maven, as well as the 4FRNT Hoji — mostly because my husband insisted I give him a turn on the Bent.

Atomic’s Backland is lighter, but it’s also narrower. And if the Bent Chetler is a 16-year-old kid, the Backland 109 is more of a mountain guide. Both like to have fun and love skiing, but they express their exuberance in different ways.

The Atomic Maven was fun in the backcountry, but it’s heavier and more of a frontside or crossover ski. The Bent has a relatively traditional shape (rocker-camber-rocker), though it’s designed for skiing powder. The Hoji has lots of tip and tail rocker, and it has multi-radius construction underfoot that is anything but traditional. So, the Bent had a familiar and predictable feel while the Hoji was surfier.

Construction

The Bent Chetler 120 is built with Atomic’s lightweight poplar wood core. And for 2025, it’s just a tad stiffer than previous versions. So it’s just as good for jibbing and jumping, carving and smearing, but even more fun and responsive than previous versions. Atomic says that the new lower-impact design, core, and profile “improves float, enhances balance, and boosts playfulness.”

That was completely my experience on the skis. Compared to past iterations, this version is lively, but it doesn’t get away from you. I’m not a park kid, but these skis made me consider learning how to do a 360, just cuz.

Atomic has used its signature HRZN 3D tip in its skis for years. It’s a shaped tip that gives the ski more float thanks to its articulation. And it makes it a little more forgiving up front, too. Atomic added this performance-enhancing tip to the current Bent 120.

Atomic wraps the Ben Chetler with a capped top sheet; this adds durability and gives this fattie the grip of a narrower ski. That’s one of the construction elements that makes this ski more versatile than many ultra-fat skis on the market.

This twin-tip ski has a relatively long turn radius. The turned-up ends let you carve any shape you want with it — long, cruisy turns on open slopes or short radius wiggles through the trees. Turn with the bases flat, and this ski has a much shorter effective edge that makes it nimble (and not just for nose butters).

Design

I spoke with Atomic about the inspiration behind the design. Here’s what I learned.

“When we first introduced it, Chris Bentchetler had a vision to create a super playful surfy powder ski,” said Markus Rehri, Atomic Ski Product Manager. “It got a lot of traction in the core community because Chris skied differently from other skiers. He liked to surf and slide sideways and play. And with each version of this ski, we’ve tried to make it lighter and more playful but also more stable and versatile.

“We decreased the waist width from 122 to 120, we introduced the new HRZN 3D that cuts swing weight in tip and tail for easier maneuverability, and we stiffened up the ski underfoot to help big mountain skiers who are dropping big cliffs and need to ride out the landings, as well a skiers who are skiing super fast who need more support and stability.”

In the process, they made this ski one of the most, if not the most, versatile skis of this waist width on the market. Yes, it yearns for deep snow, but I didn’t hate life when I needed to ski groomers to get there.

Cons

You’ll want to save these skis for the deepest days. These fat boards are a quiver ski. They wouldn’t be my first choice for super long skin, for groomer runs, or for a few inches of fresh. For those conditions, grab Line’s Vision 104, which is a ski that can handle front and backside. And for days when you don’t know what you’ll find once you head out, Atomic’s Backland 109 dishes out notable float, even in cruddy snow.

If you want a low-key top sheet, these skis aren’t for you. Chris Bentchetler designs, draws, and paints the top sheet for every version of his pro-model ski. This one has both uplifting and heavy elements, though most people probably won’t psychoanalyze their top sheets.

Sustainability

The 2024 Bent Chetler uses a lower-impact design with a new core with more poplar and other wood, and less metal, fiberglass, and resin, to decrease the ski’s environmental impact. The higher-content recycled top sheet reduces the skis’ carbon footprint by 13%. A new ash wood binding mount replaces metal reinforcement, adding 10% more strength.

What Size Is Right?

The 2024-25 Bent Chetler 120 is available in 176, 184, and 192cm lengths. I normally ski a 180-ish length ski, which puts me in between sizes on this ski.

For skiing on big, open terrain, I sized up. This ski has a lot of tip and tail rocker, which makes it ski short on compacted snow, so I was still able to manage it on cat tracks and occasional groomers. In powder, the longer length was surfy, and the ski was faster.

For skiing powdery woods, I tried the 176 and was happy with that decision. The shorter length was more nimble. When I eventually bought this ski, I went with 184. But I held onto an earlier, shorter iteration of the Bent Chetler 120 for those deep woods days.

Who Is This Ski For?

I take these skis when I head West and the snow is deep. Most people will find these too wide for the average days, but they’re an insanely fun ski that will make the best days even better if you’re an advanced or expert skier who seeks out the deepest snow you can find.

The week I skied this ski in Jackson, it snowed 65 inches. The week I skied it in Utah, there was so much snow I was evacuated from a backcountry yurt by snowcat because there was too much snow!

A 120-width ski is fairly specialized because of the wide waist. This one has a lot of tip and tail rocker, but it’s not a reverse camber ski like the DPS Lotus, and it doesn’t have as much early rise tip as the narrower but still mega fun in deep snow 4FRNT Hoji 4Lock.

If you like the sound of this ski but don’t have the snow depth to enjoy it, consider the still quite wide Bent Chetler 110 or the Bent Chetler 100. They both have a lot of the playfulness of the wider ski, but they’re better suited for most days on snow, not just the really special ones.

Conclusion

The Bent Chetler 120 is a soft, fat, and playful ski that will have you laughing and whooping your way down the slopes. It can be used in more snow conditions than might be immediately obvious, including in moderate amounts of pow when you need some float. Exaggerated rocker keeps the tips up and above whatever is lurking beneath the snow’s surface to waylay you.

In the early season, when water bars are still open, a stiff ski can be jarring. This one takes the sting out of the snow inconsistencies.

But what it’s really made for is inspiration. Clipping into these skis made me want to ski more creatively. Size up or down depending on how fast you want to go and how quickly you need to maneuver.

Want the freedom to freeride and the float to skip down snowy slopes with all the style you can muster? Then, these skis are for you.