If you take a close look at the scores for the Power Instinct Ti Pro for all ten criteria (available on our members’ site), you’ll see above average scores for every criterion and a brilliant result for stability at speed, a benchmark of excellence. There’s only one area where it gets beaten up, literally and figuratively: off-piste performance. Little wonder. The Power Instinct Ti Pro is totally dialed for on-trail heroics: a system ski, it comes with a fairly high plate, the binding bumps up the ramp angle and it has a well-scalloped sidecut. These features contribute to uncanny control on groomed runs – the Power Instinct can hold an edge at speed alongside the best in the genre – but it’s as manageable as a moody cat in knee-deep crud.
Bob Gleason of Boot Doctors sensed the change in the new iKonic 84ti, calling it, “a new feel for K2, a true all mountain carver. The elongated sidecut connects immediately with substantial power. A top contender among all mountain carvers,” he concludes. By “elongated sidecut,” Gleason is referring to the fact that the widest point in the iKonic 84ti’s forebody is up in the shovel, so the edge behind it provides a continuous rail all the way into the tail. In other words, neither tip nor tail is tapered as they would be on a Big Mountain model.
All these alterations make the new iKonic 80ti a much more competent carver than the ski of the same name a year ago. It’s particularly adept at short-radius turns, but will make bigger turns if asked. All these performance improvements haven’t altered the quintessential K2 trait of forgiveness. Turns flow intuitively edge to edge with a reliable grip that inspires confidence. For providing a first-class carving experience in return for a tourist-class expenditure of effort, we award the iKonic 80ti a Silver Skier Selection.
The buzz at Nordica is all about the Enforcer series, off-trail wonders that are reviewed elsewhere in these pages. The clamor over the Enforcers has shifted attention away from what has been a Nordica wheelhouse, its Frontside carvers. That’s a pity, because Nordica continues to make some of the finest carving tools on the hill. The GT 84 Ti’s most lovable trait is how natural it feels, as though it was custom made for you. At a moderate edge angle it produces a moderate, medium-radius turn. The daily activity this rhythm most closely resembles is walking. Right. Left. Right. Left. You get the idea. It feels that simple.
Start a string of slalom turns and the GT 80 Ti shines brighter with every arc. As it picks up speed the ski becomes more energetic, moving from edge to edge with quiet assurance. The GT 80 Ti is an edge angle agnostic, willing to respond to a skier with an upright stance but ever ready to get down to business if the skier starts to lay it over. Pretty, powerful turns are second nature.
