It’s no secret that my two favorite skis of the season were the Black Diamond Helio 116’s and the Blizzard Zero G 108. In my mind, the Helio 116’s are the perfect blend of snappy versus damp, which is a hard blend to master in the construction of a ski. The 116’s were quick to respond – not quite as snappy as the 105’s but pretty close. At the same time, the lightness was felt on the descent too. It’s nice to have a light pair of skis under your feet or on your back while going uphill. Last, the Helio 116 is lightweight, which I obviously felt a lot on the ascent. Additionally, the ski allowed me to cruise over breakable crust with confidence. Unlike the 105, the Helio 116 did not get pushed around in heavy snow and performed as well as my most favorite skis in heavy powder, mank, and other variable conditions. The Black Diamond Helio 116 on the left and the Helio 105 on the right.The increased width also helped stabilize the ski. While icy conditions are certainly not the forte of this ski, I found that the Helio 116 remained torsionally stiff and performed reliably in some of the most heinous conditions I have ever skied in the backcountry. The increased width over the 105 is the ticket, allowing for more dampening of the ski in variable conditions. The Black Diamond Helio 116 performed exceptionally well in all conditions. I even had the opportunity to test them on the iciest steepest line I have skied in a number of years. Other comparisons are shown below.īrittany had the opportunity to test the Helio 116 in a variety of conditionsI was able to test Black Diamond Helio 116 skis in late spring in a variety of conditions from heavy spring powder to breakable crust to manky snow and lines laden with choppy debris. When comparing the 176 cm length Helio 116 with the Helio 105, the 116 is only 8 ounces heavier. At the front of the ski where the construction begins to go from camber to rocker, a layer of rubber is placed into the sidewalls. The tail is equipped with a skin clip tab that prevents the clips from sliding to the side and falling off.Ī sidewall dampening system is also integrated into the sidewalls which is intended to reduce chatter, but still keep the ski light. The tip and tail are both rockered, but traditional camber lies underfoot. Similar to the 105, the Helio 116 is constructed with pre-preg fiberglass and reinforced ABS sidewalls with a balsa wood core. Last spring I was able to extensively test the Black Diamond Helio 116 skis in a 176 cm length and found that the increased width did indeed help improve performance. At the end of my review, I mentioned that I was looking forward to testing this ski in the 116 mm width “to see if the width helps improve performance in variable conditions”. While I thought the ski performed fairly well, I’ll admit that it wasn’t among my most favorite of skis. Brittany testing the Black Diamond Helio 116 ski in the Tenmile-Mosquito Range.In early 2016, I had the opportunity to extensively test Black Diamond’s Helio 105 ski.
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