As the brand perhaps most responsible for making rocker a required design feature, K2 isn’t shy about applying it in liberal amounts. The front rocker of the revised Pinnacle 105 extends nearly to the toe piece – on a model that K2 contends has more camber and less rocker than it did in its introductory year. You’d think such an elongated rocker would impair any kind of snow connection on surfaces harder than eider down.

Not so. The new Pinnacle 105 blends its rocker and camber zones so well that the simple act of tipping it over a tad connects an edge that feels comfortably complete. “Very carvy for the amount of rocker,” declaims a Boot Doctors’ tester. “Holds an amazing edge.” That these comments pertain to a ski 105mm underfoot is amazing indeed.

The Pinnacle 105’s better grip isn’t all due to tweaking the baseline; a construction change that added 20% more mass over the edge is a major contributor to the ski’s clean, continuous snow connection. Every tester attested to this K2’s expanded performance envelope, citing its groomer chops as the unexpected bonus that elevated the 2018 Pinnacle’s overall score and shifted its style from Finesse to Power.

But don’t worry K2 fans; the Pinnacle 105 is still ease incarnate. The added heft along the perimeter notwithstanding, it still doesn’t feel heavy or slow to edge. If anything the new ski is even easier and quicker than the old if only because the edge is calmer.

All the ballyhoo over the Pinnacle 105’s carving capacity shouldn’t obscure the obvious: this is a superior off-trail ski in a width that optimizes performance in most off-piste conditions. In other words, it’s the wheelhouse ski in the Pinnacle family, where the baseline, the construction and the wide-body sidecut all harmonize their strengths.