2024 K2 Mindbender 89Ti

The K2 Mindbender 89Ti has yoyoed up and down our rankings of the best All-Mountain East skis since its year of introduction in 2019/20, when the Mindbender 90 Ti  debuted in last place among our Recommended Finesse models. Its position changed dramatically last year, in large part due to allotting more metal to the tail, creating a solid platform that was notably lacking in the original.  The improvement was so striking, most testers lavished praise - and higher scores - on the upgraded design, putting it in sight of the podium in the crowded AME Finesse field. The Mindbender 89Ti came back to the pack this year, largely due to an infusion of new data. Last season we had to rely on an unusually small sample, but we expected the ski to be important and the verdict was so coherent we let the results stand. The influx of new data from this past season’s testing diluted the degree of euphoria the Mindbender 89Ti initially inspired in a handful of testers, but it nonetheless remains an avatar of how an All-Mountain East Finesse ought to behave. The dip in scores year to year doesn’t change the fact that the Mindbender 89 Ti represents a major improvement over the MB 90 Ti it replaced.  The Titanal Y-Beam that provides the backbone for the 89Ti’s design was significantly reconfigured. The metal laminate is still shaped like a slingshot, but the yoke in the forebody has been beefed up and the tail section re-shaped to cover a lot more area.  The result is a serenity on edge that won’t shake loose under heavy pressure on hard snow. As one of our 2023 test crew opined, “Fantastic ski. Lots of power at bottom of the turn. Stable and quick. Bit slow edge to edge but the stiff tail is easy to load.”