One of my favorite bump skis that wasn’t intended to be a bump ski was the K2 Shreditor 102 (circa 2105). Of course it couldn’t be as quick a real mogul ski edge to edge, so it did most of its navigation by smearing through the troughs and slinking around the lumpy bits. The new Reckoner 102 is in several respects the same ski, albeit embellished in ways its ancestor was not.
The similarities are hard to miss. The shape of the 184cm is identical save for a tip that’s 3mm wider on the Reckoner, giving it a marginally (.7m) snugger sidecut radius. Both Shreditor and Reckoner rely on braided fibers to control flex and torsion, with the Shreditor using a Triaxial braid of fiberglass and the Reckoner using Spectral Braid spun from carbon. Both vintages use Aspen in the core, although the Shreditor complemented it with featherweight Paulownia while the Reckoner uses Aspen in concert with denser fir. Both have relatively low camber underfoot, use a reinforced sidewall for added resistance to ski-on-ski damage and both, of course, are twin-tips.
What the Reckoner 102 brings to the party that the Shreditor could not is Spectral Braid, a variable-angle braiding technique (Patent Pending). As applied to the Reckoner, Spectral Braid uses a tight weave underfoot that opens up as it moves to tip and tail. This makes both front and rear rocker zones soft and compliant, helping the Reckoner 102 switch from forward to reverse in a twinkling.
The archetype of the Reckoner 102’s quintessential customer is captured in the catalog photo that sets the tone for the 3-model Reckoner family. Its youthful protagonist is leaping backwards over a rock outcropping in a tuck position that allows him to increase the insanity of the exercise by grabbing hold of his skis. I doubt there are a great many readers of these words who could maintain this pose if they were plastered to the planet, much less suspended several yards above it.
Mercifully, the Reckoner 102, like the Shreditor before it, doesn’t need to be skied upside down and backwards to be enjoyed. If you like a ski that’s playful, poppy and super simple to drift, it can serve as an all-mountain ski for some who is aerially inclined. If you want to take your Pipe & Park skills to the sidecountry, the Reckoner 102 wants to come with you.
K2 is keenly aware that Shreditor 102’s target customer is a spirited youth, so it keeps the street cost down to a skinny $599.95 that’s not so brutal on the family budget.