Because of the runaway popularity of the All-Mountain East genre – currently the market choice for a one-ski quiver – ski makers like to stock the category with a multiplicity of models. To avoid cannibalizing its own line, the brand needs to clearly differentiate the overlapping options. In the case of the new Mindbender series from K2, the differentiator between the 90C and 90Ti is indicated by their suffixes.  The 90Ti incorporates pricey Titanal and commands a street price of $650, while the step-down 90C substitutes carbon in lieu of metal, paring $150 off the price in the process.

The $499.95 market price for the Mindbender 90C reveals a lot about its intended target, an intermediate interested in skiing the whole mountain despite a skill set that still needs polishing. If said intermediate is what Realskiers classifies as a Tourist, someone who enjoys the outdoors and skis primarily for social reasons, the Mindbender 90C is plenty of ski. Intermediates with serious ambitions of mastering the sport, however, should beg, borrow or steal the extra dinero to move up to the Mindbender 90 Ti.