2023 Atomic Backland 100

Light, fun, and surprisingly athletic, the 2023 Atomic Backland 100 is a fantastic ski for advanced and expert skiers who are looking to blend the line between all-mountain and touring. Atomic has been involved in the hybrid game for quite some time, and in many ways, they are ahead of the curve. Skiers can feel free to use these skis as a resort-only ski as well as a touring-specific tool, or some combination of the two. A lot of it depends on the binding and boot that you combine with the skis to solidify your intended application. The most impressive thing about these skis is the amount of grip and energy that they have for not possessing metal, rather utilizing carbon in order to get the stiffness. The shape of the tail has a lot to do with it as well, with the flatter shape and low profile, the Backland 100 absolutely rips out of turns. For being so incredibly light, these skis have a strong feel to them, and that helps with the line-blurring character that they pretty much invented back in the day.

Built with Atomic’s Ultra-Light wood core consisting of caruba and poplar wood, the skis have a solid and snappy start to them. Adding the carbon backbone to the skis makes a lot of sense, as it increases the longitudinal stiffness, making the Backland 100 one of the more reactive skis in the category. We’ve seen some very high-level skiing on these skis, and it makes a lot of sense due to the carbon application. The fiberglass laminate adds to the poppy nature of the ski, giving the Backland 100 a more upscale and high-performance feel. In the 180 cm length, the skis produce a 19.2-meter turn radius and tip the scales at 1380 grams per ski. This is pretty light, and well below the 1500-gram mark that we usually use to denote a touring-specific ski. So, it has the light weight of a tourer, but also the feel and personality of a true alpine ski. It’s this blend that makes Backland 100 stand out in a pretty crowded field these days.

Ryan Darlow skied the 180, noting that while the “Skis don't feel short but they can be sized up. This is larger than my typical length and yet I felt they were perfect and would recommend.” Ryan had top marks of 5 out of 5 for overall impression, playfulness, quickness, and maneuverability. Versatility, forgiveness, and flotation all got 4’s while stability, torsional stiffness, and edge hold registered as 3’s. Ryan calls the Backland 100 a “Super fun lightweight touring ski that handled great in heavy and firm snow. Very approachable to step into and drive due to their light weight. Not very snappy or energetic but also not demanding so they make for very enjoyable turns with less effort than similar models.” It’s always interesting to see tester feedback fly right in the face of initial and introductory writeups.

If you’re in the market for a light touring ski that can have dual function in the resort, the Backland 100 is one of the best of the bunch. They’ve been making these hybrid-style skis over at Atomic for a lot longer than most, so they’ve got it pretty dialed by now. The best part is that they’ve been able to keep a steady course in this realm, showing that they had it right the first time, and now are just watching others try to catch up.