Kore 105
The core that the Kore name is meant to call attention to is made from Koroyd, a synthetic honeycomb, and Karuba, a bantamweight wood often found in AT skis. Graphene is used in the tip and tail, making the extremities not only lighter, but inherently stronger and stiffer. This allows the center of the Kore 105 to bow more easily, a benefit when skiing on a surface that gives way when you press against it. You expect the Kore 105 to be light. But you don’t expect it be this strong. It smoothes out chunder that would treat most non-metal skis like a rented mule. Its relatively straight-waisted mid-body facilitates foot swiveling, a godsend in the trees where there’s neither time nor space to execute a carved turn. Its tapered tip isn’t itching to carve, either, but it can bank into a wind berm with the cornering confidence of a bobsled.
Pinnacle 105 Ti
The story behind the 2019 edition of K2’s Pinnacle 105 Ti is a tale of error correction, optimization and resurrection. The first generation Pinnacle 105 was on the soft side, super easy to steer but showed its frailty at speed. In 2018, K2 powered up the Pinnacle 105 Ti by increasing the Titanal dosage over the edge by 20% and pumping up the camber underfoot. The resulting stability significantly improved both calm on edge and responsiveness. It’s amazing what a little more mass will do: the new Pinnacle 105 Ti now behaves more like a Power ski than a docile cruiser, although it hasn’t lost touch with the Finesse side of its personality.
Marksman
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The Kästle BMX105 HP can carve if it must, but carving usually means hard snow, and hard snow isn’t its preferred milieu. The BMX105 HP is nearly the opposite of a carving tool despite being built from the same ingredients, contorting Kästle’s customary wood/glass/Titanal sandwich into a double-rockered baseline with only a hint of sidecut. Tapered tips and tails connected by a straighter sidecut create a platform that planes evenly though deep, uneven snow, but be prepared to exert more effort if you want to initiate a tight line on hard snow. It can get away with liking its turns long and fast because its classic construction ensures that no powder on earth can withstand it.