Test
The ski was skied by an 82 kg, 182 cm tall man with a sporty skiing style and a preference for freeriding. The bindings used were a Marker Griffon (rental) and a Dynafit Beast 14 (on various mounting points). The ski was used on approx. 20 days in the 16/17 season on the piste and off-piste. The conditions for touring and off-piste skiing were quite varied. There was a bit of everything, but unfortunately only a few really deep powder days. The length of 184cm has proved its worth for me. If you're focused on freeriding, the ski shouldn't be much shorter.
Downhill
The Marksmann is immediately appealing during the first turns on the piste: of course, it's a far cry from a piste ski, but it's still fun without being too spongy. Even on faster descents, the Marksmann remains quite stable (especially compared to skis with a similar shape and width). Although the rocker starts to flutter at a certain speed, the ski as a whole remains calm.
The first wow factor comes as soon as you jump over a crest or small edge. The Marksman has plenty of pop! This is where the ski shows the character that K2 promises: it is very agile and invites playful runs.
K2 is known to state the real length (= projected length) of the skis. The 184 cm of the tested Marksman may seem a little long compared to skis from a manufacturer that specifies the length of the running surface. However, thanks to its tip and tail rocker, the Marksman is very easy to turn, which means that the perhaps somewhat underestimated length should hardly be a negative factor. As a result, it is easy to turn and easy to control even in mogul-like, rutted channels or narrow treeruns.
With a length of 184 cm and a center width of 106 mm, the lift is not quite enough to allow a rider weighing over 80 kg to make carefree high-speed pow turns. You need to have a bit of riding experience here to be able to follow your friends with the +190 cm and + 115 cm center width slats. The ski rides well in tracked snow and is hard enough to remain stable. The Marksman also swallows big cliff drops, as K2 team rider and New Zealand PowderGuide local Pete Oswald clearly demonstrates.
K2 specifies a wide range of possible mounting points for the Marksman due to its freestyle affinity. There is 7.5 cm between the freeride mounting point and the center of the ski. Even if you want to learn a trick or two as a freerider, you should think carefully about how far you go with the mounting point towards the true center, because the usual freeride riding characteristics change significantly by just 1-2 cm. K2 gives here a good overview of possible mounting points.
During the test, the Marksman proved to be very durable. In K2's image video, Pep Fujas says that the ski was designed with the following goal in mind: "to beat the hell out of it". Involuntarily, the ski also had to endure a few stress tests in this category due to the low snow depths during the test period. Even though the scratching noises and impacts were ominous, the scratches and quirks were relatively small. In the past, rough stone contact often caused irreparable damage to the sidewalls of some of K2's lightweight freeride skis. The Marksman seems to be cut from a different cloth here and meets the specifications of team boss Pep Fujas.
Ascent
The trend towards downhill-oriented pin bindings and ever more activity in the off-piste runs of the ski resorts invite you to equip skis that are not necessarily designed as touring skis, such as the Marksman, with a touring binding and set off in search of an untracked "playground" in the backcountry. Despite the light wood in the center of the core, the ski weighs 2177 g per ski (measured at 184 cm), about 300 g more than, for example, the Pinnacle 105, also from K2 (1875 g at 184 cm manufacturer's specification). This extra weight is of course noticeable on the ascent. In combination with a downhill-oriented binding, you quickly end up with considerable extra weight compared to the trendy freetourers, for example. This is why you shouldn't plan a traverse or Trans Alp with the Marksman, but a few detours into the backcountry will certainly pay off thanks to the good downhill performance! The longer inside edge is a positive feature, not only on the descent, but also on tougher traverses on the ascent, as the loaded edge is also longer here. Due to the pronounced tip and tail rocker, the use of twin tip skins has proven its worth.
