The K2 Mindbender 89Ti has yoyoed up and down our rankings of the best All-Mountain East skis since its year of introduction in 2019/20, when the Mindbender 90 Ti debuted in last place among our Recommended Finesse models. Its position changed dramatically last year, in large part due to allotting more metal to the tail, creating a solid platform that was notably lacking in the original. The improvement was so striking, most testers lavished praise – and higher scores – on the upgraded design, putting it in sight of the podium in the crowded AME Finesse field.
The Mindbender 89Ti came back to the pack this year, largely due to an infusion of new data. Last season we had to rely on an unusually small sample, but we expected the ski to be important and the verdict was so coherent we let the results stand. The influx of new data from this past season’s testing diluted the degree of euphoria the Mindbender 89Ti initially inspired in a handful of testers, but it nonetheless remains an avatar of how an All-Mountain East Finesse ought to behave.
The dip in scores year to year doesn’t change the fact that the Mindbender 89 Ti represents a major improvement over the MB 90 Ti it replaced. The Titanal Y-Beam that provides the backbone for the 89Ti’s design was significantly reconfigured. The metal laminate is still shaped like a slingshot, but the yoke in the forebody has been beefed up and the tail section re-shaped to cover a lot more area. The result is a serenity on edge that won’t shake loose under heavy pressure on hard snow. As one of our 2023 test crew opined, “Fantastic ski. Lots of power at bottom of the turn. Stable and quick. Bit slow edge to edge but the stiff tail is easy to load.”
The integrity of the ski/snow connection matters, particularly in a daily driver that will perforce be fed a diet rich in groomers. The Mindbender 89Ti retains a bias for off-trail conditions, as evident in its baseline, sidecut and build, but the extra Titanal in the latest edition makes all the difference in the world when the off-trail is iffy. The 2024 Mindbenders are archetypes of the all-terrain, in-resort ski that loves to play around in new snow but can get down to business when the untracked turns packed.
The in-resort emphasis bears stressing, as K2 has already concocted plenty of options for those willing to hike for their turns. A series launched just last year, Dispatch, targets the skier who is more focused on the quality of the descent than the challenge of the climb. While the Dispatch skier might grab a lift to access something untracked, the dedicated climber will prefer the lighter weight of K2’s venerable Wayback series.
Point being, the Mindbender 89Ti is an in-resort ski with an open mind about its terrain options. It conforms as comfortably as one can to today’s tricky mogul formations, and its slender silhouette slithers through the trenches in tight trees. Of course, it can handle powder, where its more supportive tail helps maintain a balanced stance.
Theron Lee is both a world-class ski mechanic and a technically precise skier accustomed to skiing slalom race models. He spotted the improvement in the Mindbender 89Ti from the first turn. “The ski has a lot of power underneath the foot with the new metal configuration. The tip and tail have a lot more power to them and the ski makes a very round turn, unlike in the past. The ski was a lot of fun to ski and the roundness of the turn and the power of the ski made it made it a complete jam to ski.”
While the Mindbender 89Ti busted a major move in such Power attributes as continuous carving, its calmer edge inspired an even greater improvement in Finesse properties like forgiveness and low-speed turning. In other words, the newest Mindbender has both a lower threshold and a higher ceiling than the ski it replaces. Sized appropriately, there’s no ability level it cannot serve, and serve well.
For maintaining K2’s tradition of simplifying all-terrain skiing, we award the Mindbender 89Ti a Silver Skier Selection.