Our Adventure skis use an Aspen/Paulownia blend core. Lower-density Aspen and even lighter-weight Paulownia allow us to reduce the weight that results from the added surface area of wider skis. In addition, the Bio Core is 15% lighter than the fir/aspen blend traditional in our all-mountain skis.

All of our Adventure skis come with flat tails because they add tremendous utility to a backcountry ski. By allowing you to easily plunge the tails into firm snow, you can build anchors, stake out your tent, or merely secure your skis while retrieving something from your pack, none of which is possible with twin tips or kick tails.

Hybritech blends the race room performance of sidewalls underfoot with the ease and forgiveness of cap construction in the tip and tail. Offered exclusively on the Side series, Hybritech makes skis strong, accurate and powerful underfoot, while maintaining smooth initiation and easy exits from turns.

In a rockered ski design the tips and tails are turned up like a water ski. In this case FCP and ACP are no longer the contact points when the ski is lying on a flat surface. Rocker enables the ski to float on top of softer snow without the tip diving since the ski naturally wants to elevate or plane with this design. There are varying degrees of rocker but in general the larger the distance off the snow, the more soft snow focused the ski becomes. We quantify Rocker with three specific characteristics. • Location: The region where the rocker is located. • Height: The height (mm) of the rocker off the snow • Length: The length (cm) of the rockered region.

The tails of our Adventure skis come with a concave notch to ensure the skin clip, regardless of size, stays securely centered on the tail.

The widest point of this tip is the forward contact point as opposed to 7cm in front of it like most of our shaped skis. This design makes the ski more stable and predictable because it won’t hook or grab erratically in windblown snow and other variable conditions that you’re likely to encounter in the backcountry.

K2 men’s All-Mountain models use fir and aspen for their inherent strength, durability and energy. The new Adventure Series skis use an Aspen and Paulownia blend. All women's skis use a combination of fir and spruce in a unique Bioflex core process. Spruce is used as a lighter weight alternative to solid fir. The Bioflex and Aspen/Paulownia cores also feature a bamboo stinger for additional strength without adding weight to the ski.

Unlike the cap construction, the contents of a sidewall ski are protected and sealed in by a vertical material on the perimeter of the ski that is separate and distinct from the top material. The sidewall material is placed directly above the edge for additional reinforcement and support. This type of construction tends to have a more precise transmission of power due to the vertical nature of the construction process.

All Adventure skis come with holes drilled in the tip and tail that facilitate building a quick, solid rescue sled, or the construction of a ski anchor. The holes come with plugs that can be removed with a simple twist of a flat head screwdriver. These holes also function as skin attachment points for our new skins.

All SIDE skis, and select BACK models come with varying degrees of shovel rocker, but normal cambered tails. Shovel rocker improves the agility of big skis by enabling them to initiate quickly, and easily adjust turn shape. The normal cambered tail makes it easy to scrub speed in powder, and increases versatility by providing better accuracy and hard snow performance than a fully rockered ski.

Triaxial Braiding was developed by K2 in 1988 and is still the best way to apply fiberglass to a wood core. This process consists of sending a milled wood core through the patented Triaxial Braiding machine, where interlocking strands of fiberglass wrap the core. This unique method produces skis that have a great deal of torsional or twist rigidity and strength, while maintaining the lively innate flex characteristics of its wood core.