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There are skis you might glance at and forget about, and then there are skis that have become household names. Much like iconic cars or famed bottles of fine wine, there are a handful of iconic ski models throughout skiing history that have really stood out amongst a crowded field of competitors. They’re time capsules showcasing what particular flavor of skiing (and technology) was fashionable at the time.
Remember when twin tips were first invented around the turn of the millennium and brought about a revolution in how we approached skiing the resort? Or the mid- to late-aughts, when we all were obsessed with big, floppy 130mm-underfoot powder skis because a handful of pro athletes made them look cool in the movies? Things were a bit extreme for a while. But, we eventually entered an age of refinement, where designers took lessons learned from their wildest experiments to carefully create fun, innovative skis that were actually useable for everyday skiers.
During each of these eras (and the years in between), there was always a ski or two that adorned the wall of a ski shop or the pages of your favorite ski magazine, that oozed coolness and simply had an undeniable desirability. They were the ones you knew you didn’t really need but instead were just fun to look at, play with, and dream about maybe one day skiing in the conditions they were intended for.
Whether it was the introduction of sidecut or rocker, the use of innovative materials, utilizing outside-the-box shapes, or just leaning into the plain-old cool factor, here’s a list of skis that we’d consider legendary, in no particular order. Keep an eye out; you might still see these under the boots of a discerning ripper even today!
K2 Hellbent
Perhaps one of the most truly iconic skis ever made, K2’s Hellbent first showed us how ridiculous powder ski design could get in 2007. With dimensions coming in at a truly voluptuous 150-122-141 (eventually growing to 160-132-151 by 2013), comical amounts of tip and tail rocker, a very unique flex pattern, and classically grotesque K2 topsheets, these were meant for floating through the deepest snow, tricking pillows, and getting jibby in the backcountry.
While designed expressly for powder skiing, many skiers found these to be a hoot inbounds for their balance of stability, nimbleness, and stomp-everything attitude. After renaming them the Powabunga, K2 eventually discontinued these, but Heritage Labs now offers the HB122 for the diehards still left out there.
K2 Pontoon
Much like the Hellbent, K2 really thought outside the box with the Pontoon skis. Designed by none other than Shane McConkey himself, the Pontoon really did look like a water ski. It was meant to float atop deep snow no matter what and make bottomless powder skiing accessible to everyone.
Eschewing popular ski design trends of the 2007 era, the Pontoon stood out with its 160mm tip and 130mm waist, combined with a much narrower, tapered pintail rear end. That allowed the tails to sink, causing the tips to plane above the snow, greatly increasing maneuverability and nimbleness in tight terrain. These days, K2 has carried over the key design elements into the modern-day K2 Crescendo.
Salomon TenEighty
At the risk of oversimplifying, Salomon’s TenEighty skis changed ski design forever by introducing a twin-tip design. They are what most modern freeride, freestyle, and powder skis can thank for their success. When Canadian pro skier Mike Douglas (best known as the “Godfather of Freeskiing”) approached Salomon in 1998 about a new ski for competition freeskiing, he knew he wanted one thing: a turned-up tail that allowed him to ski backward. In fact, there’s actually a whole movie made about it by Salomon. The resulting ski, the Salomon TenEighty, changed how skiers approached the mountain, allowing them to ski and land tricks backward, giving birth to modern freestyle skiing.
Atomic Bent Chetler
We’d hazard a guess and say the Atomic Bent Chetler is the most recognizable pro-model ski ever made. It wasn’t the first twin-tip powder ski, or the fattest, or the one with the wildest shape, but it’s consistently been a favorite among freestyle-focused powder skiers looking for a ski that’s both extremely fun and versatile and really easy to ski.
It’s starred in dozens of infamous movie segments under Atomic athletes and begs Visionary pro skier and artist Chris Benchetler joined forces with Atomic Skis to develop the OG Bent Chetler in 2008, wanting not just a high-performing ski that catered to his creative backcountry skiing, but a literal canvas for his artistic expression on the top sheets. Today, Atomic and Benchetler continue to work together, producing his namesake ski, the Bent Chetler 120.
Atomic Powder Magic
Long before the Bent Chetler, Atomic was credited with creating the first real powder skis. Taking inspiration from the then nascent sport of snowboarding, Atomic decided that ski waist widths needed to increase. Legend has it that Atomic engineer Rupert Huber sawed a snowboard in half lengthwise and mounted ski bindings to each side to create the prototype, originally called the Powder Plus.
By 1988, the Atomic Powder Magic was born, becoming the first widely available fat ski. At 115mm underfoot, some taper in the tail, and with much shorter sizes than the 210 cm skis of the day, it didn’t look that different from many skis today.
K2 Extreme
Even with the introduction of fat skis by Atomic a few years earlier, K2 wasn’t convinced that going wider was the future. Instead, the 1990 release of the K2 Extreme went heavy on the marketing and light on the innovation. The K2 Extreme was billed as the first big-mountain ski for extreme skiing, and under the feet of legends like Scot Schmidt and Glen Plake featured in ski films and on the pages of POWDER Magazine, it quickly became the sworn go-to tool for ski bums all around the world. The funny thing was, it was really just K2's existing competition slalom ski with a new top sheet and wasn’t any different from what came before. But that didn’t matter, when the pros said it was cool, the ski bums listened.
Dynastar Legend Pro Rider
Speaking of ski bums, one of the first “it” skis for the hard-charging freeriders in places like Cham, Jackson Hole, or Alaska, Dynastar’s Legend Pro Riders were popularized by legendary TGR athletes like Jeremy Nobis and Erik Roner. These saw various design iterations throughout the late 2000s, ultimately settling on a fairly unexciting 100mm waist width.
Dig a little deeper, and you’ll notice that details like a massive 27-meter turn radius paired with super stiff dual-metal construction made these formidable freeride weapons. Even today, hop in Jackson’s tram line on a storm day, and you’ll probably still see a few old heads from the Jackson Hole Air Force rocking these to go get First Tracks OB.
4FRNT Hoji
Born from the 4FRNT Renegade and EHP (Eric Hjorleifson Pro), the 4FRNT Hoji was the direct result of Hjorleifson’s mad scientist approach to ski design in 2012. Setting out to make the best big-mountain powder ski he could, a tool to allow him to carve, slash, and carry immense speed through the technical backcountry terrain he frequented in BC.
The secret ingredient in the Hoji is full reverse camber that’s matched with the sidecut radius to create a ski that could effectively carve powder. Despite the massive 30-meter turn radius and 112mm waist, the Hojis have put a smile on many a powder skier’s face both in the backcountry and inbounds for the uniquely drifty sensation and nimble maneuverability they offer on snow. Lucky for you, 4FRNT still sells the Hoji today, and it's better than ever.
Line Skis Sir Francis Bacon
Ski design mastermind and prolific PNW-based freeskier Eric Pollard’s finest work was undoubtedly the Line Skis Sir Francis Bacon. Starting way back in 2007, the Bacons never stuck to a single design, instead changing dimensions and character as Pollard’s skiing evolved from the park into the backcountry.
Originally starting as a fat and floppy backcountry powder ski, somewhat akin to the Atomic Bent Chetler (unsurprisingly, Chris and Eric skied a lot together, mostly backward in deep snow), it soon shifted gears to become a super playful and fun all-mountain freestyle ski. With many whimsical topsheets that highlighted Pollard’s art, these were one of those skis that proverbially “turned the whole mountain into a playground.” Even after Pollard parted ways with Line Skis to found Season Equipment, the design and name still live on today.
Line Skis Pescado
Fishtail skis weren’t invented by Eric Pollard, but he sure made them cool with the Line Pescado in 2016. Designed as a directional powder-surfing tool that wasn’t just a one-trick deep snow pony, the Pescado eschewed the pivot, turn-on-a-dime, reverse-camber and reverse-sidecut trend of the previous decade. Instead, these went all-in on directional skiing, with the fish tail bringing a locked-in but surfy feel to powder skiers everywhere, and made skiing low-angle powder an absolute blast. Good news, they’re still in Line’s catalog today.
Volant Spatula
Shane McConkey was behind the paradigm-changing design of more than one ski, but the Volant Spatula was one of the first. Even today, these things would be straight-up bizarre, but in 2001, they brought about some serious revolutions in how ski designers thought about riding deep snow.
Designed by McConkey and Volant engineer Peter Turner, the Spatula was the first ski with both reverse sidecut and reverse camber, inspired directly by the shape of water skis. It became McConkey’s go-to for big-mountain antics and was featured in many film parts. They were incredibly heavy, very long, and featured a metal topsheet and enabled a new way of skiing powder that didn’t involve carving or small turns, and were shipped with a note from Shane himself that explained how to use them.
DPS Spoon
A direct descendant of the Volant Spatula, DPS skis launched one of the strangest skis we’ve ever seen in 2013: the Spoon. When DPS’s designers Stephan Drake and Cyrille Boinay (originally under the name DB Skis) launched their first ski the Tabla Rasa in 2003, they were searching for the ultimate powder skiing sensation. Eventually teaming up with Peter Turner and integrating carbon fiber and other space-age tech, DPS wanted to create highly-specialized backcountry tools.
A decade later, with the first Spoon, that design had evolved into a fully three-dimensional ski, including a boat-hull-like tip shape with bumps along the edge fore and aft of the binding, aggressive reverse camber, a horizontally rockered convex base, and reverse sidecut. As if that wasn’t enough, it boasted a waist width of 148mm. Groomers? Never heard of ‘em.
Armada JJ
Born from the same era as the Rossignol S7 and other "refined" powder shapes, Armada set out to create a fat ski that made powder skiing easy for the masses. Legends of the sport JP Auclair and Julien Regnier put their minds together to create the original and oft-imitated shape of a tapered powder twin tip, 2008's original Armada JJ. The name stood for JP and Julien and made resort powder skiing so easy that it led to speculation that locals' favorite stashes were getting tracked out because of it.
Armada ARG
There must have been something in the water in the late 2000s because the reverse camber, reverse sidecut thing was really trendy. After knocking it out of the park with the JJ, Armada joined the experimental fray with the original ARG, their fattest, most powder-specific tool. The rocker profile resembled a banana, and the reverse sidecut allowed almost automatic turn initiation in deep snow.
This wasn’t ever meant to be a resort ski; instead, it was expressly designed to be used in the backcountry while heli-skiing or cat skiing—but the tiniest section of sidecut directly under the binding allowed for occasional skiing on hard snow. The original was even called the “La Gorda.” Today, Armada offers the refined ARG 2 and ARG 2 UL skis that offer a modern take on the matter, and are still frequently seen beneath Armada athlete team riders like Tanner Hall and Todd Ligare.
Rossignol S7
After manufacturers went wild in the mid aughts, making powder skiing more approachable for mere mortals became the new name of the game. Resorts were opening more terrain, lift-access “sidecountry” skiing was rising in popularity, but taking a reverse sidecut ski to the resort still wasn’t really that fun.
Meanwhile, Rossignol and its athlete team (including Sage Cattabriga-Alosa) were quietly refining their take on a powder twin-tip ski that was actually usable outside of BC or Alaska. When the Rossignol S7 was released in 2007, they opened the powder skiing doors to the masses, quickly becoming one of the most popular wide skis ever made. The soft flex, pronounced rocker, and short turn radius made skiing deep snow easy and intuitive.
Faction Candide 3.0
When Candide Thovex joined the ranks of the Faction Skis athlete team in 2012, one of the first things he set out to do was help create a signature series of skis bearing his name and catering directly to skiers wanting to emulate his unmistakable style. The resulting Faction Candides (available in various waist widths, but all featuring more or less the same shape and construction) quickly became a cult favorite.
Made famous through Thovex’s “One of Those Days” videos, the Candide series also made innovative use of lightweight balsa wood to create a very uniquely chatter-free ride feel. Unfortunately, given the aggressive intentions of the ski, many of them broke under the feet of eager Candide imitators, but the excitement didn’t seem to fade.
WNDR Alpine Intention 110
When prolific ski industry brand builder and ski designer Matt Sterbenz stepped down from his leading role at 4FRNT Skis in 2016, the rumor mill was swirling. A few months later, he resurfaced with a cryptic new job title at a biotech company that nobody had ever heard of.
Of course, being Sterbenz, he was there to start a new ski company: WNDR Alpine. The first ski in the lineup, the WNDR Alpine Intention 110 didn’t look crazy from a shape or performance perspective, but had a trick up its sleeve. It was designed using a brand new algae-based material that WNDR’s parent company Checkerspot had been quietly working on outside the purview of ski bummery.
The Intention 110 was expressly designed to explore how to improve sustainability in the ski industry. Instead of using petroleum-based materials for the sidewall and core construction, WNDR leaned heavily on bio-based and recycled materials, ultimately creating a ski that didn’t perform any differently than what skiers had grown to love. Today, WNDR shares the tech with other brands and has gone so far as to even manufacture the Intention at a new ski factory in Dubai, of all places.
Honorable Mentions
Armada B-Dog Edgeless (2025): Designed expressly with urban skiing in mind, Phil Casabon’s pro-model Armada has no metal edges!
Armada Whitewalker 121 (2025): Sammy Carlson’s pro-model Armada, need we say more?
Armada VJJ (2012): Armada’s first women’s-specific version of the venerable JJ twin-tip powder skis, complete with a hilarious name.
Blizzard Spur (2014): An Alaska-ready carbon “touring” ski that was only available in a 189cm length with a 28m radius.
Blizzard Cochise (2011): One of the most popular skis of the mid-2010s that introduced Blizzard’s innovative FlipCore rocker construction.
Kästle BMX 108 (2014): One of the first purpose-built freetouring skis.
K2 Seth Pistol (2005): Seth Morrison’s first K2 pro model twin-tip that turned freeskiing punk rock.
K2 obSETHed (2012): Peak Seth Morrison–a massive ski with an aggressive topsheet to go all-in on the biggest, baddest, and most imaginative lines in Alaska.
Liberty Mutant (2012): How’s a 145mm waist width for the powder days of your dreams?
Line Elizabeth (2009): Eric Pollard’s Line pro model “powder” ski that was actually just a park ski in disguise.
Nordica Soul Rider (2013): Every park rat’s favorite buttery all-mountain ski.
Olin Mark VI (1981): James Bond skied these down Cortina’s bobsled track in For Your Eyes Only to escape some villains.
Rossignol Soul 7 (2013): Every dad’s favorite all-mountain ski.
Salomon Pocket Rocket (2005): Salomon’s first “fat” twin tip born from the TenEighty.
Salomon Czar (2009): Salomon gets twin-rocker right for the first time in a backcountry freestyle ski.
Salomon Shogun (2009): A fan-favorite inbounds freeride ripper from the era.
Völkl Chopstick (2009): Symmetrical sidecut and a 128mm waist made for one hilarious ski.
Völkl Mantra (2007): Did you know that these crud busters used to be a freestyle twin-tip?
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