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January, 2025

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Hellbent not being produced as of next year

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RyandaGod
Posts: 2842 - Karma: 44
Discuss.....
Nov 20 2012 11:33PM
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Gmart
Posts: 1634 - Karma: 273
:( bring back a ski like the obsethed? That'd be cool, and no, the kung fujas aren't the replacement in my eyes. Andy mahre pro model would be cool too. Maybe an Andy pro with dimensions like that obsethed
Nov 20 2012 11:36PM
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DUKES
Posts: 5150 - Karma: 691
well petitor
Nov 20 2012 11:38PM
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Gmart
Posts: 1634 - Karma: 273
Petitor and obsethed don't ski like each other :(
Nov 20 2012 11:41PM
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ianj
Posts: 536 - Karma: 167
The way I see it, the Pettitor is replacing the hellbent.

I think companies are starting to realize that the market for limp noodle powder skis aren't as huge as they used to be, so they are producing skis such as the Pettitor, Opus, New Life etc. Still skis that kill it like the hell bent and the EP but can charge a little better (preparing for shitstorm of people saying they go HAM and charge like Chad Sayers but Switch on hellbent and EP pros)
Nov 20 2012 11:42PM
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Funnel
Posts: 7817 - Karma: 1,537
This is the answer. I went from Hellbents to JJs and haven't looked back since. Hellbents sucked for inbounds skiing.
Nov 20 2012 11:43PM
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Gmart
Posts: 1634 - Karma: 273
Hahaha derp, still hellbent is a lot wider
Nov 20 2012 11:44PM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
glad i bought mine a few years ago. i love my bents so much
Nov 20 2012 11:44PM
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Rafiki
Posts: 3858 - Karma: 2,251
i've skied with andy mahre on multiple occasions. probably one of the nicest guys i've met and it's always a good time getting shown tree runs from a pro
/claim
Nov 21 2012 2:09AM
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PeppermillReno
Posts: 4879 - Karma: -788
Yah if I was skinny and shorter Hellbents would probably be awesome but stiffer is better. I wish I had the volkl shiros they make specially for pros that have some metal reinforcement in them since they are just a tiny bit too soft at speed. I weigh 240 though its not being super gnarly.

But I think going forward I will try and pick up a pair of Katanas and Kuros for cheap and just have every Volkl powder ski and be set and not worry about other brands. Again not b/c I am super gnarly but since I am tall and heavy.

From a sales and marketing point of view I'm not surprised they'll focus more powder skis that top out at 115-120 underfoot since you can still rip groomer pretty well at that width and people can literally ski them every single day of the year regardless of conditions.


Nov 21 2012 2:23AM
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=M=
Posts: 50 - Karma: 16
Andy was skiing on a proto they made for him, in the hellbent mold, but 140mm under foot, for a little bit last winter.
The nightmahre they called it, i don't think it was ever planned to go into production though
Nov 21 2012 2:41AM
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Session
Posts: 5404 - Karma: 22,511
Fat floppy donkey dick's are an obsolete design.
Nov 21 2012 2:42AM
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SKI.ING
Posts: 2695 - Karma: 2,536
I ski JJs too, but I'm surprised you didn't get destroyed for this comment haha. Especially by Sessions or whatever.
Nov 21 2012 3:00AM
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Mag
Posts: 8155 - Karma: 14,804
I still don't know why they call it the pettitor, comPettitor woulda been much better
Nov 21 2012 5:01AM
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Casey
Posts: 7899 - Karma: 25,064
I think its supposed to be like predator
Nov 21 2012 3:02PM
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PeppermillReno
Posts: 4879 - Karma: -788
Some dude next to me on the lift had pontoons on this morning they looked like pretty good skis and nice and wide he said he liked them.
Nov 21 2012 5:45PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
fuck
ep's and hellbents were the best pow skis ive used. the new dual camber, quad sidecut 2x4 performance x factor alaska race ski bullshit everyone's building now sucks. i've demoed all sorts of new pow skis and sure for charging and groomers/all around they are "better" if you care only about performance, but ive never had more fun on absolutely every part of the mountain than i had on ep's and hellbents. they turn everything into a park, powder is fun as hell, can still charge like 95% as well as most these new skis, makes groomers and especially park like surfing and completely changes how you can ski it. i think theres a place for both, its just annoying as hell that nobody is coming out with soft, non dual camber, rockered pow skis anymore. they all have 5 camber sections, stiff as balls, and just arent as fun if you just wanna fuck around.


Nov 21 2012 6:01PM
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Forcillo
Posts: 3801 - Karma: 3,580
Opus?
Nov 21 2012 8:44PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
its a good ski, great for all around, carves good, charges well, still pretty playful. but it doesnt have shit on the original ep's in terms of pure fun, not even close.
Nov 21 2012 9:00PM
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KillaSteeze
Posts: 3329 - Karma: 351
Because its Sean Pettits Pro Model
Nov 21 2012 9:01PM
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Kreech
Posts: 4178 - Karma: 3,024
Agreed. Consumers and ski companies are starting to realize that you don't need to have a super high rocker splay and ultra soft flex to float in pow, and that such attributes are even detrimental to the performance of the ski. A ski that has a huge shovel and a super soft flex and high rocker is good at floating at slow speeds in pow, but is extremely unstable in chop and actually slows you down when you're trying to haul ass in deep pow. I remember last season on my hellbents there were plenty of times I'd be flying down a groomer/patch of hardpack and duck off trail into a deep section thinking I'd just glide right over it, only to realize I just started plowing. It was like someone suddenly threw on the brakes and my speed cut in half. Twas annoying. A slightly stiffer ski with a longer, lower rocker profile and a slightly narrower shovel and waist will plane up on top of the snow, be a lot faster, more stable at speed, more able to bust through choppy cut up powder and crud, and wont flap like a motherfucker once you pass 5 mph on hardpack. Really the only thing that the hellbent truly excelled at was ultra deep, ultra light, fluffy powder, especially low angle runs, and BC booters. Everything else was solidly sub-par on that ski.
Nov 21 2012 9:05PM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
I agree with everything in this post. I really cant imagine skiing on anything but my bents anymore. No matter the conditions i always grab em because they make me smile on every run. Im never not having an absolute on my bents. Most fun ski ive ever ridden and ive ridden a lot of different skis
Nov 21 2012 10:38PM
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Kreech
Posts: 4178 - Karma: 3,024
I had fun on bents in blower and on groomers, but they were just so much work in crud, it was super annoying
Nov 22 2012 12:22AM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
I will give you that they might not perform in some serious PNW chopped shit as well as my LL2s or gypsies but they still get the job done just fine. My mountain opens tomorrow and we got 2 feet of snow in the past 2 days. Sounds like another fun first day on my bents
Nov 22 2012 1:32AM
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Casey
Posts: 7899 - Karma: 25,064
I think it depends a lot on how you ski, two guys I ski with hated hellbents, I think they are the shit. The difference is that I like the fuck around aspect of the Hellbent, they found it limiting. I think the fact that the 189 obsethed is too stiff to nose butter or manual all the time is limiting, yeah it bombs through shit harder, which is fun as hell too, but its a give and take there really is no one ski that does everything perfectly.
Nov 22 2012 1:52AM
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Kreech
Posts: 4178 - Karma: 3,024
^yeah I definitely value a ski's ability to haul ass through any conditions. I like a playful ski too, but not a ski that's so playful that it compromises the ski's performance.
Nov 22 2012 1:54AM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
^thats like nailing a chick who is so gorgeous that you blow your load right away. Not really a bad thing
Nov 22 2012 11:47AM
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Kreech
Posts: 4178 - Karma: 3,024
Haha it's good but it could be better
Nov 22 2012 11:55AM
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manzear
Posts: 843 - Karma: 849
I just purchased a pair of 2011 Hellbents with Pivot 14 binders for $300. I thought the price was right even if I only use them a handful of times this season.

What I am hearing though is discouraging but, expected for this much width and rocker. At high speeds and sloppy snow they do not perform the best....is this why they stopped production??
Nov 22 2012 12:07PM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,201
Sad day.. The post 2009/2010 designs were less fun anyway in my opinion. I'm glad I picked up an 09 pair for this season, maybe I should stock up haha


I agree with everyone commenting on how their design has become somewhat obsolete for pow, but for everything else I think they're awesome. I wish a company would make a fat, floppy, rockered, zero camber ski (aka 1st gen bents) for park. While the bent's design may be inefficient for pow, it's basically my ideal park/all mountain ski.
Nov 22 2012 4:25PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
yeah im really considering picking up a pair of original bents this year. ive been looking fucking everywhere and cannot find a ski that can match it for width, flex, and big rocker, WITHOUT being dual camber as well. the new bents might be alright, but they have some camber underfoot and are really fucking wide, which seems like too much for park.
Nov 22 2012 6:26PM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
Had a good foot of powder today and my bents loved it. Even the chewed up shit they still blow through. but man, theres a face on my mountain nobody ever hits and its was money today. Its short so i can only get 5 turns in but getting 5 turns of untracked at 2pm on opening day is awesome. I put like 6 lines right next to one another, all identical. Opening day gold
Nov 22 2012 6:30PM
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amo
Posts: 6709 - Karma: 1,248
stoooooooked on my ghost chants!
Nov 22 2012 6:51PM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591
*cough* nightmahres *cough*
Nov 22 2012 7:12PM
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zahava
Posts: 7791 - Karma: 12,039
Yeah... Companies are realizing that it's rarely only 4 feet of fresh, people don't own 5 pairs of skis, and heavier skiers need stiffer skis.
Nov 22 2012 7:26PM
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snakerton
Posts: 2434 - Karma: 1,977
OP what's you're source?
Nov 22 2012 8:10PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
yup those are about the best ive been able to find, just havent heard much about them in the park, which, with hellbents being seriously the best park skis ever, i wouldnt want to miss out on.
Nov 22 2012 11:23PM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,201
Ya the new bents are stiffer in the tail, more directional, and just a bit too wide for park I think.. The Icelantic Gypsies look like they are a potential replacement, but I've heard they're stiffer than bents, and this year's models are even stiffer than the previous one's.
Nov 23 2012 12:22AM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
gypsies are way stiffer and the rocker profile is dwarfed by my hellbents. Gypsies are stiffer underfoot and soften in the tips and tails while the hellbent is super buttery throughout the whole ski.
Nov 23 2012 12:46AM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,201
Hellbents are actually relatively stiffer underfoot than in the tip and tail; the overall flex-pattern has a nice soft feel though.
Nov 23 2012 12:53AM
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hokkanee
Posts: 1800 - Karma: 435
pettiphile*
Nov 23 2012 1:24AM
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El_Barto.
Posts: 11661 - Karma: 24,356
Really? I guess i will have to bend mind today to see. Every time ive flexed em it just feels like the entire ski gives out and can be folded into a circle
Nov 23 2012 11:20AM
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RyandaGod
Posts: 2842 - Karma: 44
my source is 110%. Someone directly linked to K2
Nov 23 2012 11:59AM
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Twig
Posts: 6438 - Karma: 60,709
Ghost chants are like hellbents and EPs in the park but better. They feel a lot lighter but have the same sort of mad rockered feel. Personally I like Line SFBs the best for park but something really fat is fun if you don't have legs as fucked as mine.
Nov 23 2012 12:29PM
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BirtDike
Posts: 1258 - Karma: 514
i love my obsetheds. they do flap tho. super stable just doesnt "look" it.
Nov 23 2012 1:06PM
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BirtDike
Posts: 1258 - Karma: 514
haha
Nov 23 2012 1:09PM
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blindside
Posts: 5619 - Karma: 1,201
I know, I didn't think so either until eheath 'yelled' at me a couple years ago and I finally conceded that the underfoot was stiffer haha


I'm interested in the ghost chants now.. Are last year's noticeably softer than this year's?
Nov 23 2012 1:54PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
man i could see that being such a cool ski. my dream ski would be either a maiden ak, with hellbent rocker, flat underfoot, and soft, hellbenty flex. or pretty much something like 108-120 waist, big rocker, flat underfoot, and soft, oriented towards pow and park and being super playful. im surprised nothing like that has been made (other than original hellbents)
Nov 23 2012 2:20PM
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SwagtasticWalrus
Posts: 1268 - Karma: 184
Thats ok, we still have New
Nov 23 2012 2:20PM
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SwagtasticWalrus
Posts: 1268 - Karma: 184
Thats ok, we still have New Lifes! :D
Nov 23 2012 2:21PM
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XtRemE11
Posts: 5680 - Karma: 246
too stiff!
Nov 23 2012 2:24PM
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