Every All-Mountain East ski is an amalgam of on- and off-trail traits, but usually one genetic strain is more dominant than the other. In the case of the K2 Pinnacle 88, the essential orientation is off-piste, with only its narrower footprint and a ribbon of metal around its perimeter to aid in navigation on groomers.   Considering its well-rockered baseline, it’s remarkable that the Pinnacle 88 can carve on prepared slopes as well as it does.

But if you’re keeping the Pinnacle 88 on-trail, you bought the wrong ski. This ski is most in its element in new or recently new snow where its spatulate tip conforms to all it encounters. Easy to handle whether skied from an upright stance that borders on the inert or directed by a more dynamic skier, the Pinnacle 88 is particularly well suited to skiers who are ready to mix up their terrain diet by adding some off-trail exploration to the menu.

The middling skier who’s bored with the “meh” experience of making windshield-wiper turns on groomers should strap on a pair of Pinnacle 88’s and take a walk on the wild side where grooming machines never tread.