Big-Mountain Lovers Won’t Find A Better Age-Busting Ski.
Credit: K2 Skis
By age-busting, I mean the K2 Pinnacle 105. makes everything easier — and it made me feel about 20 years younger.
The Pinnacle 105 is on SeniorSkiing.com’s list of best Big Mountain skis for seniors in the West. If you’d like to receive the list, click on this link and subscribe on the form in the right column or the pop-up which will appear on the page. After confirming your subscription, you can access the list of senior ski recommendations in the Subscriber-Only menu under Community.
Stats on the ski
I tested the Pinnacle 105s in wildly different conditions in Washington state: during a huge powder dump at Crystal Mountain and on a crispy-firm groomer day at Stevens Pass. The skis crushed everything they came up against.
I took them everywhere—on steeps, chutes, bumps, at high speed, in funky avalanche debris—even a nasty rain crust. They offer a level of control I’ve never experienced on any other ski, and at the same time they felt lively, quick and fun.
The Pinnacle 105 (MSRP: $900) is part of K2’s freeride line for men. The profile for the ski is 137-105-121 with a pronounced rocker tip, and K2 promises this is your “go anywhere, do everything ski.” I’m 5 foot 11 inches, 150 pounds and skied the 177 centimeter length.
Even though this is a wide ski, it’s surprisingly light. K2 keeps the weight down with what it calls Konic Technology. Without getting too gear-nerdy, this involves reducing the weight of the ski where you don’t need it to be strong (the middle and extremities) and reinforcing the areas where you do need strength (the edges). The overall effect is to reduce what’s called “swing weight” from edge-to-edge.
I’ll admit I was dubious. I figured they would be great in powder, but I’d give up power and stability on firm snow. How wrong I was.
In powder
I hit perhaps the best day of the year at Crystal Mountain. Overnight, 12 inches had fallen on top of 40 inches the previous two days.
Talk about epic.
My first turns were amazing. The wide profile gave the ski incredible float and control. No need to stay back—I found myself charging all the time with ease, subtly controlling speed with simple edging and weight shifts.
On steeps, it was truly eye-opening. I could fly when I wanted, slow down to negotiate a chute or a drop, then turn on the gas and start flying again.
As slopes became skied out, broken snow was easily blasted away by these powder monsters. It was all too fun and easy.
Firm and fast
During a second day of testing at Stevens Pass, things couldn’t have been different. Rain had fallen several days previous, then frozen into a crust. On top of the rain crust, a little new snow had fallen and been skied off.
It was a groomer day for most skiers, but I took the Pinnacles off-piste into bumps and steeps. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous on my first turn over a crusty bump on a double-black diamond drop, but the 105s dug in with surprising power.
But it wasn’t all about the power — they could also be incredibly quick edge-to-edge. Whether I was carving wide-radius or fast, snappy turns, the overall feeling was of incredible control.
Next, I went for speed. Most of the freeride skis I’ve tried don’t track when you turn up the speed, but the 105s were nothing short of amazing. Arcing at high-speed or making short radius turns felt equally stable.
Bottom line: Who will love this ski?
The Pinnacle 105 excels for advanced skiers who spend most of their time off-piste in the west.
Great post. I think I may have been at Crystal and Steven’s on the same days as you, how funny is that. I’m 69, skiing on some old Head Monster 177’s. thinking I may try out these K2’s, had a pair back in the 70’s.
could not agree more .rented the pinnacle 105 in the same length, as an 80 yr old iwould not have e been able to handle the back bowls in vail with my old so called powder skis. this ski is on my buy list was sold out in the vail area at the time
In your estimation what is a good ski for some one who skis mostly blue but some blue black. I do not like to ski real fast and like control.
I am 5feet10 at 200lbs.
Thanks
Timothy
Hi Timothy, Suggest you check out the PDF “Best Skis for Senior Skiers” on the site. It describes ski characteristics suitable to older skiers (softer flex, etc.) and identifies skis from the 2016-17 products most suitable for older skiers. Note that it does this by region and type of skiing. That said, it’s always good to demo skis at an area to see what works best for you. Doing it at the area let’s you take a few runs, switch to another pair, try those, switch again, etc. If the skis you select will be the first new ones in several years, I’d recommend taking a lesson with the stated goal of learning how to use the new equipment. Please let me know if this is helpful, and, if so, your experience with the new equipment. Jon
I”m pretty small, 5’6 at 140 LBS, my current ski is a salomon Lord 85 underfoot at 160 , I think the 105 might be too much for me as an all mountain ski… what do you think of the Pinnicle 95 at 170, do you think it would be as good as the 105, or a maybe a better ski for me? Thanks
FYI: was also thinking of the salomon QST 92
I skied on the 105’s all last winter and loved them. I think you would not have a problem with them as they are really forgiving. Great for grommers and that new fluffy stuff. You should note that K2 comes out with a new 95 version of the ski. I tried this out last spring and found it to also be great. I think they both are great for us older skiers…keeps you young.