2013 Atomic Automatic Review: Versatile Powder Ski
The 2013 Atomic Automatic looks like it's going to be one of the hot skis this year - for good reason.
Atomic says it blends the playful powder surfing Atomic Bent Chetler with the hard charging straight lining power of the Atomic Atlas.
We say it's one of the most versatile fat big mountain skis out their, and a real candidate if you want to ski a fat ski everyday.
What you end up with is 130-117-119 dimensions, titanium, tip rocker and a little tail rocker with camber in between.
Here's what Sierra Jim has to say about the ski:
And Philpug gave the Atomic Automatic this review over at epicski.com:
"The Atomic Automatic was the braincild of a few too many beers in the Atomic skunkwerks when the bright idea was suggested that, what if we combine the playfulness of the Bent Chetler with the power of the Atlas? The answer was "Automatic" ... a great ski, and where sometimes these combinations don't come out that well, Atomic struck oil with this one. The Automatic with its early rise tip, camber underfoot, then a mild rise in the tail (much less than the Bent Chetler that wants to be skied switch as much as forward) makes a ski that skis 70 percent like the Atlas and 30 percent like the Bent Chetler, which is a good thing. Where I liked the Automatic was the playful versatility that is in the class of the Blizzard Gunsmoke, Line Prophet 115 and Salomon Rocker2 115 - but the Automatic had the edge in hard snow and mixed snow performance, putting it as a winner in this class."
But don't just take our word for it.
Here's what Backcountrymagazine.com had to say about it:
"With what Atomic calls Powder Rocker - progressive tip and tail rocker with camber underfoot - and a layer of titanium, the Automatic, testers found, lived up to its name. They widely praised it as 'fun and lively in powder, and damp and stable enough to plow through crud.' ... While the Auto was most at home in powder, it surprised testers with its performance on the firm stuff. Said one of our hardest chargers: 'All-mountain, all resort, all the time!'"
*Sierra Jim and Philpug are Start Haus employees (and bigwigs over at epicski.com) and are provided skis to demo for these tests, but their experience makes them some of the best ski testers in the business.