Three seasons ago K2 radically revised its ski design, ditching more than a decade’s worth of dampening material and generally paring away excess weight wherever it could. By its own estimation, it went a little too far, so last year K2 reduced the rocker and bolstered the construction of its new star, the Pinnacle 95, with more mass, metal and camber. None of these improvements altered its flagship’s easy-going nature, so the renamed (but not re- redesigned) Pinnacle 95 Ti remains mindlessly simple to ski.

One reason the Pinnacle 95 Ti earns elevated scores for Forgiveness is it doesn’t need a high edge angle to hold, so Finesse skiers can tootle along with their feet comfortably underneath them and still ride a secure edge. It doesn’t try to impress with lightning reflexes or bulldozer power, but seduces its pilot with smoothness.   It doesn’t try to take charge of the proceedings, but goes with the flow, adapting both to terrain changes and the skills of its pilot.

Viewed through the prism of terrain preference, the Pinnacle 95 Ti displays a penchant for powder. The 2019 iteration holds better on hardpack than the original, but boilerplate is not its bliss. Fresh snow or anything close to it elicits its best behavior: round, medium-radius turns that move confidently through crud and competently, if not exactly nimbly, over and around moguls.

Because the Pinnacle 95 Ti isn’t as torsionally rigid as an AMW Power ski, it doesn’t feel as wide as it measures. It also continues the K2 tradition of ease of operation, rolling instinctively to the edge yet able to drift on demand. Its forgiving nature makes the Pinnacle 95 Ti is an ideal introduction to the All-Mountain West genre for someone who’s never been on a ski this wide. It holds well under light pressure and doesn’t require polished technique to be steered effectively. For all these reasons we again award the Pinnacle 95 Ti a Silver Skier Selection.