BackUp

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

Delighted with this ski. Used it for 8 weeks in the European alps and 2 weeks in New Zealand. Great all round weapon. Floats well in powder, turns like a dream and good when things get hard and crunchy.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

I use these literally from my backdoor when it snows to trek the low hills and forest tracks around my house. This is the only skiing I do and previous attempts on older style Ski's were "difficult". These ski's are a revelation and I found myself doing turns that I could never do before. They also tele nicely through very deep powder snow and climb well on the skins I adapted to fit from the previous ski's I owned.
The Marker F10 bindings the shop fitted work well with the K2's so I'm very happy.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

I ordered this ski for a lightweight icey groomer ski to hike Snow King with. I figured this would be a perfect ski for tele drills and doing some quick boot pack laps. According to the experts this ski is not a powder ski, I found myself in 17" of in bound deep pow this weekend with all smiles. What a great teleski! I loved it, but what the hell do I know.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

The K2 Backup is a terrific ski for serious alpine adventures. It ascends with great efficiency in a variety of conditions (soft snow, hard snow -crampons-, sastrugis, steep traverses, etc...). Its presence on a backpack is hardly noticeable. Its downhill performance is exceptional in all backcountry conditions (steeps, powder, crud, thin breakable crust, etc...). The traditional positive camber gives the ski some good "pop", the torsional rigidity excellent edging, the soft tip great natural flotation, the slight rocker and progressive side cut great predictability in all conditions. If you liked the efficiency of the K2 Shuksan, Baker and Baker SL, this ski surpasses them all while retaining the same ski mountaineering characteristics. Along with the Coomback, it is my favorite K2 ski for long alpine tours. Truly awesome!

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

I bought these specifically for lift-serve tele skiing on hardpack, crud, bumps and variable conditions. They felt very stable, and I could let them run down the fall line. More than once tehy have pulled me out of off-balance situations. A real step up in terms of stablity, and very easy turning. Definitely took my skiing up a notch. Wow. I've been tele skiing for 20 years--these skis are a dream!

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

I was looking for a replacement for my venerable World Piste's, an outstanding tele ski in it's own right, and decided to roll with the Backups. I wasn't disappointed at all!

I skied mine over 80 days at Jay Peak, VT last winter. Fantastic ski for days when it's hard & fast, super fun in the moguls, handles crud well, and perfect for variable & firm Bc days. And if you learned to ski pow back in the day, it will hold its own in the deeper stuff (max. 12").

I have skis for deeper days and skis for racing, yet I find that I reach for my Backup's most days. If you need a ski for everyday Beast Coast use, or a "go-to" ski when you don't know what the Bc conditions will be, this is your stick.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

I purchased a pair of backups 2 months ago. Right on the next weekend I tried them on a great, sunny day of resort skiing. The ski seemed to work well. In the end of the day I noticed that the tip of the one ski was raised really early. It had changed shape!!! and looked like a rocker ski. I was a bit shocked since I had not even fall (except a minor one), jumped or hit anything that day. I assumed that this would be a defect of the material and that it would be covered by the warranty. But no! As the store in Germany - were I bought them online - claimed, they had checked the ski with a person of K2 and were driven to the conclusion that the ski was compressed and thus not covered by the warranty.

A material defect could happen to anyone. But when K2 says that this damage was my fault, it means that the ski can be damaged in just one day. I don't know if this was just bad luck, but since this ski is not supposed to be destroyed that easily even in the hard conditions of ski mountaineering, STAY AWAY!!

Not to mention that nobody from K2 ever explained to me how such a damage is possible to happen even if I asked.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

The mountain is a canvas and you need one brush to paint it with- pull out the BackUps. When a splitter couloir promises to be one of the best runs of your life, slice it, dice it and serve it up in perfect proportions with a ski that knows its way around the big peaks.

Comments about K2 Skis BackUp:

As a ski mountaineering guide I have to exert myself many days in a row. This requires a ski that does it all in an efficient manner- climb well, skin well, carry well, ski well, anchor well- so that I can go BACKUP the next day!