Atomic Backland 80 UL Skis
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The Backland 80 UL is Atomic's narrowest and lightest touring ski in meaningful production: 1,050g per ski at 170cm, built for skiers who are counting grams and tracking vert. It's a ski oriented toward ski mountaineering, long spring objectives, and fitness-focused touring where the ascent is the primary event and descent performance, while important, takes a back seat to efficiency.
The construction is built from the ground up around the UL brief. The core is poplar and karuba wood, two of the lightest structural wood options available in ski construction, paired with a full-length carbon backbone that runs the length of the ski and does the work that titanal or fiberglass would do in a heavier build. Carbon fiberglass composite layers surround the core, with a formula updated to improve energy transfer through kick turns and add dampness at higher speeds without adding mass. The result is a ski that weighs what it weighs but doesn't ski like it's missing anything in the stiffness or edge grip department on firm, predictable terrain.
The HRZN 3D tip adds 10% more surface area at the shovel compared to a conventional tip of the same width, improving float in soft snow and reducing deflection in chop without adding tip weight, which would otherwise slow kick turns. Profile is 15% rocker at the tip, 85% camber underfoot, flat tail with Dura Cap sidewalls for edge hold on icy terrain. A PreFit skin notch cut into the tip allows Atomic's clip-on skins to attach in one motion without removing gloves. At 80mm underfoot, this is a ski that earns its keep on hard and consolidated snow, not in powder.
Worth being direct about the limits: 80mm in deep or heavy snow is a different experience than anything 95mm and above. This ski is at its best on spring corn, firm alpine terrain, and groomed or packed backcountry. Skiers who regularly encounter variable, soft, or untracked snow should look at a heavier and wider instead. The 80 UL is a specialist tool for a specific kind of objective, and it excels within those parameters.