K2 has reigned over the US market for so long its leadership has practically become a cliché. The keys to their sustained success are manifold, but from a product standpoint it’s not hard to summarize: K2’s are easy to ski. Regardless of your skill level, your terrain preferences or your gender, there’s a K2 for you and chances are you’ll love it. Given K2’s longstanding preeminence, just about every American with at least 20 years on the snow has owned a K2 at some point, creating a groundswell of skier-to-skier endorsements that has kept the K2 ball rolling even when, on occasion, it’s been slightly deflated.
Such is K2’s strength that you probably didn’t even realize it just passed through a minor dip in popularity, caused in part by consumer confusion over a line K2 had allowed to grow unchecked. If a company’s biggest problems are the result of its runaway success, they’ll probably manage just fine, as is the case at K2. They’ve already reorganized and pared down their line, setting the stage for even greater sales dominance in the future. One of the key players in K2’s rise to power, Tim Petrick, has returned to steer the ship after a relatively brief tenure cleaning up the mess left in Quicksilver’s wake at Rossignol. Petrick’s return will keep K2 on course for the foreseeable future.
Listing all of K2’s clever moves would take more space than we’re able to devote to the subject, so let’s just stick to three. One, moving production to China was brilliant. They took a lot of flak at the time, but they instantly started making better, and better finished, products. Two, they got out of racing and never looked back. They became the freeride company just when the X Games were starting to push the Olympics as the venue for cutting-edge competition. The phenomenal costs of World Cup engagement went off the balance sheet, and all resources, human and otherwise, went into making better skis for the people who actually buy skis. And three, K2 has kept a sharp focus on two areas other companies haven’t: kids’ skis and most significantly (as no one makes money on kids), women’s skis. No other brand can touch K2’s collection for women for selection and sales.
It’s not surprising that K2, the quintessential American ski brand, still makes America’s favorite skis. They understand, without need of translation, just what the American skier wants and they’re pretty darned good at delivering it.