All these alterations make the new iKonic 80ti a much more competent carver than the ski of the same name a year ago. It’s particularly adept at short-radius turns, but will make bigger turns if asked. All these performance improvements haven’t altered the quintessential K2 trait of forgiveness. Turns flow intuitively edge to edge with a reliable grip that inspires confidence. For providing a first-class carving experience in return for a tourist-class expenditure of effort, we award the iKonic 80ti a Silver Skier Selection.
Part of its cachet is the allure of the unavailable. As a Sport Loft regular sighed, “I’m so happy. I wish I was made of $.” We always overrate what we know we can’t have, right? Maybe it’s the fully cambered, no rocker, no early rise, no crutches-for-the-technically-infirm baseline that devotes its full attention to holding one arc, then another, then another, all in perfect harmony with the terrain, in a string as endless as this sentence. It leaves the skier feeling, as another Sport Loft tester confided, like “I’m the best skier in the world.”
K2 didn’t change the Pinnacle 95’s basic Konic lay-up, nor did they alter the ski’s essential character traits. However the K2 crew tinkered with the particulars, the net effect is a ski with a bit more of everything: more stable on edge, more connected at the tip, more tranquil at speed, more lively out of the turn, more confident in sketchy conditions. “Much more power than its predecessor,” professes Pat Parraguirre, major domo chez Bobo’s in Reno. “Earlier turn initiation than the old ski, too,” he adds.
Some skis just aim for the next turn; Head’s Kore 117 aims for the bottom of the mountain. If skis were golf clubs, the Kore 117 would be an illegal driver. Head may have finally found the combination of materials that delivers the damping and torsional stiffness that only Titanal has provided up to now. Crud is powerless to deter the Kore 117’s dominating will. On hard snow, the Kore 117 begs to be laid over. The tapered tip isn’t much interested in this condition, but the rest of the ski grabs the snow like Gorilla glue.
It’s interesting to see a K2 on a list of Recommended Technical skis, as the brand devotes most of its energy to off-trail, freeride models. But the Luv Machine is the real deal, a carving utensil with a deep commitment to laying down ruts in groomage. It all starts in the shovel, which in contrast to the usual rockered and tapered K2 tip, connects quickly to the snow. The deep (12.5m @ 160cm) sidecut runs past the forward contact point, so if you’re tipping, you’re carving.
