K2

There are a few new developments in the ski sector that should be of interest to PowderGuide readers. In addition to a few new touring models, most companies have tidied up their freeride portfolios. Roughly summarized, most of the new top models come in medium widths around 105mm, with Titanal for lift-assisted skiing, as well as without Titanal and in similar, lighter versions as touring models.

With the Mindbender series, K2 has skis in its programme that basically work in all conditions or at least in a wide range of snow conditions and types of use. Of course, it also depends on the width and construction whether the skis have their centre of gravity in powder or rather on the piste, but we tested whether the skis really work everywhere using the Mindbender 99 TI as an example.

The Mindbender 116 is the widest ski in the new Mindbender series from K2. Thanks to a Paulownia core construction, the ski is relatively light for its width and therefore versatile. We are giving away a Mindbender 116 in 186 cm length with special edition topsheet design!

Just like last year, the ski brands represented at the trade fair are becoming fewer and fewer. After the absence of the major Amer Sports brands Atomic and Salomon (and therefore also Armada) since last year, Black Crows, for example, is now also missing.

After Deeluxe, Burton or Fitwell have had specific splitboard snowboard boots on offer for some time, K2 has now also been offering a boot with a Vibram sole and rear sole edge for two years with the Aspect. There have been minor changes for this season, but they don't fundamentally change the boot. Find out how it performed in over twenty days of use on-piste, off-piste and in the touring area in our test.

In the second edition of our Conditions Reporter interviews, Rinaldo Borra (username borrarinaldo) introduces himself: The long-time mountain guide and coffee lover lives in Grindelwald, but travels with his guests throughout the Alps.

With the Catamaran, K2 is introducing another asymmetric backcountry ski alongside the Marksman, which was released last season. The ski with a 120mm waist width replaces the Shreditor 120 (Pettitor) in the playful powder ski category. As with the Marksman, freeski legend Pep Fujas was in charge of the development. Find out what the completely new development has to offer and how it compares to its predecessors and competitor models in this test.

The new 16/17 season K2 Marksman is designed as an all-mountain freerider with a penchant for freestyle. The ski, with a center width of 106mm, was developed together with K2 Factory team boss and freeride legend Pep Fujas in the K2 development laboratory with the marketing idea "Area 62". The idea of a universal "shred ski" that is fun in powder as well as on runs on and off the piste is appealing and in times when more and more skis with a 102 mm center width are on the move in the parks, it seems that its time has come. In the following gear reviews, we'll let you know whether the Marksman delivers on its promises.

As was to be expected, there are hardly any innovations or groundbreaking new products in the ski sector for the 2017/18 season. Ultimately, almost all manufacturers are taking up the ideas from previous years and presenting them in the form of further expanded freetouring series. They try to differentiate themselves from one another through various lightweight construction methods and sometimes incorporate complex designs into the ski structure, or offer a cheaper price point or entry-level model. Flagship models are given an asymmetric sidecut with an asymmetric tip design, which is presumably a foretaste of the ski design in the coming years. As we saw last year, powder twin tips continue to die out for many major manufacturers. There are more and more directional, lightweight skis with center widths of 90-110mm or for "bad snow".

The Full Tilt brand, part of Line Skis and K2 Skis, started reissuing the old Raichle Flexon 3-piece design several years ago, serving the park and freestyle-oriented backcountry skier market quite well. The design with a separate and replaceable tongue, which offers progressive flex behavior, has proven to be forgiving and yet precise. While the last width of the original Flexon mold was limited to 98mm, Full Tilt now has its first self-developed boot model in its range: the Descendant series with a 102mm last width appeals to customers with wider feet, uses proven technologies and tries to improve known weak points.

Part 1 of the ISPO Report 2016: You could almost copy the text of last year's ISPO article, because the biggest trend in ski models is still: 15% lighter. Sometimes even 20%, but mostly with the same shapes. Balsa or paulownia wood in combination with carbon or particularly light fiberglass, depending on the price range, promise the same performance with noticeably less weight on the foot. Weight is now being saved on all wider ski models, not just the uphill-oriented ones.

Like many freeride boots, the Pinnacle 130 from K2 offers walking function combined with a stiff flex. The top model in the K2 freeride series also has tech inserts built directly into the shell and can be fitted with alpine and touring soles. With different last widths and the high-quality INTUITION liner, it is also possible to adapt the boot to individual foot shapes.