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.

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 HellBent is built mainly with soft snow in mind so it has the most in the tip and tail. We call it 20/40 Rocker. The tip and tail are off the snow 20 mm up and 40 cm in from the ends of the ski for maximum float. The ski is flat underfoot with zero camber. The obSETHed has a Tip and Tail 10/20 Rocker. Tip and tail sit 10 mm off the snow and the ski contacts snow 20 cm in from the tip while sitting flat. The traditional camber underfoot gives the ski better versatility in all different snow conditions, especially firmer snow. The MissBehaved and Kung Fujas have Tip and Tail 5/30 Rocker. 5 mm up, 30 cm in. This gives the skis increased advantage in pow and crud over their traditional counterparts. Camber underfoot ensures adaptability on all terrain.

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.

Torsion Box construction is the foundation for the widest range of skis designed by K2. Depending on the dimensions of a ski, and the amount of flex and torsion designed into it, one model of a Torsion Box ski can differ greatly from another. The versatility in the construction enables us to build everything from entry-level through expert skis. While there will be significant differences between a DarkSide and a MissConduct, they do share the common traits of ease, forgiveness, responsiveness, and energy that can be found in all Torsion Box skis.

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.

“Cap” skis are built with a sophisticated molding process that envelops the core and internal materials with the top layer of the ski. Capped skis share the common characteristics of being very durable and lightweight. The construction process is nearly identical for an entry and expert level ski. What determines the characteristics of the ski are the variations in the layers of the core materials. For this reason, cap skis can be used for just about any type of skiing and performance level.