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In 2004, the legendary Shane McConkey pioneered an unheard-of approach to ski design, and the K2 Pontoon Alpine Ski was born. And as the Pontoon built a legend of its own, it kept coming back every year like spring flowers, Santa Claus, and the flu. Expert riders load this ski in the car on epic powder days worth calling in sick—or quitting a job—for.
Insanely wide shovel and pin tail make the ski charge through soft snow
Full 20 / 40 rocker design makes the ski float more than anything you’ve ever ridden
Reverse sidecut in the shovel and tail, plus normal sidecut underfoot, let you navigate crud and soar in powder
Attain a new degree of nimbleness and agility when navigating trees and dicey lines
When you hit a wide open snow field, open the throttle and bask in the ski’s stability at high speeds
Just enough contact underfoot lets you ride back to the lift without hurting anyone
Bottom Line: A ski that changed the way we look at powder.
These skis are a taste of heaven for what they do: soft snow and powder. Get them! Get them! Get them!
I would say they are a quiver ski: if this is your only ski, I hope you can pick and choose your days or you have secret powder stashes hidden all over the mountain.
At 6'1 and 170lbs, I skied the 189 pontoons and found no adjustment to skiing them from my other skis (188 Armada JJ, 168 Magfire 10). I had read lots of reviews on this ski and will confirm the following: In soft snow these are indeed heaven. They have a very soft tip which cannot be sunk and just keep floating on. The length is not noticed at any point as the ski is effortless to turn. Compared to my JJ's they are heavier, but they feel light on the feet in the powder. In chopped up, the big tips seem to help the ski ride above it all. Again, soft snow makes life easy. In soft pack, THEY DO RAIL well, however you are not carving anything resembling an aggressive turn. They like going fast but after a few days I would call them confidence inspiring. They were fine on a hard pack cat-track back, carrying great speed and not having me afraid of bailing without notice. On ice they hurt your quads and your feelings, especially when trying to spill all that speed the skis made you pick up.
Bottom line: Fat float powder ski for those fresh snow days! I love playful skis and these guys keep me happy while letting me charge as well.
Video of my first runs on the 189s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZRMd2qCwPI
I have always bought Dynastar products and always will, but i just couldn't resist getting a pair of rocker skis last winter. So here is the deal.... I bought them with the 916's and hated them! But since i spent so much money on the things i kept using them off and on. On the 5th day we bonded and i fell in love. I just needed to change my style a bit. Evolution happened!! I can not recommend these skis enough.
Im considering mounting my Fritschi Freeride bindings on a pair of Pontoons. Is this crazy? What kind of brakes work? What type of skins will attach, to a shovel that big, will I have to make up a custom rig, and if so is it even practical to skin on a pair of toons?
I sure wouldnt want to be on a tight side hilling situation. I am also concerned about the touring capabilities of a reverse camber ski with the toons dimensions.
I envision using this as more of a side country access set up rather than for multi-day BC trips and would primarily use if for inbounds but would like the versatility of the AT set up. Has anyone done this?
Shane, thanks I've heard that G3 makes a skin that may work out of the box, now if I could only get my hands on a pair of the Shane McConkey tribute Toons.
I know people that have done this with Duke bindings, which seems to work pretty good for them for short sidecountry trips. You don't need custom skins per se, just the biggest ones you can get, and that still isn't wall to wall, which isn't always 100% necessary. The shovel does pose a bit of a problem for the skins, but it might work, and if not, you can pretty easily rig something for that. The reverse camber can make touring difficult, but not un-doable. You would need the 130mm brakes for the brakes to be functional, but most people on 'Toons I know don't have functional brakes.
What size Pontoons would you recommend? I am 5'7'' and 140 pounds and a very aggressive skier. I already have a pair of Seth's in the 169 so the Pontoons would just be for powder.
Go longer, Shane McConkey himself recommended that with a rockered ski you add ten centimeters to your normal ski length. There it is, straight from the man.
They're primarily your powder ski, so I'd go longer - 179's. If you ski fast and aggressively, you're going to want something longer...especially with the pin tail and rocker.
I'm pretty much the same size as you and ride around 170's for my normal every day ski, but 185's for my powder skis. Definitely worth going longer.
I'd go with the 169 again. It'll feel more familiar in tight situations since you already have 169s, and the Pontoon is so effing fat that you should have no issues sinking in powder, especially if you're a fast skier. That also means you'll be able to turn a bit better, since the 169s are lighter and easier to whip around.
I am old school read really old school. I have found nothing better for yearly catskiing trek. They need pow and crud is OK. Cat tracks not so much. Still ripping @ 53.
I currently ski the Line Prophet 100 in a 165cm length...what size Pontoon would be appropriate? Is it worth going up to the 179cm? I am 5'2" and 150lb and a mostly aggressive skier.
with out a doubt, you will love the extra length. remember you are not dealing with any effective edge, you should go BIG! I am 5'8" and 150lbs and have used the 189 and i couldn't think of going smaller.
With it's reputation at superstar status, I was finally able to try this ski last year during the miraculous April Fool's Day storm in SLC. It lived up to the hype. I could not sink this ski, even if I tried really hard. The 160mm tip and the large amount of rocker only surfs and makes crud effortless. Even doing turns on the groomed wasn't so bad as long as the middle/front of the ski stayed weighted. I do have to say that it is a softer ski though. The hardest charging did make it waver a bit. Overall, a great powder tool that inspires confidence and forces you to smile a little bit bigger.
These skis rip powder and crud. best pow ski i've skied. you can charge with all you got and never have to worry about sinking or boot drag in heavy stuff. However you are going to need a backup pair of skis for groomers and those icy days. kindda wobbly on cat tracks but try lifting one foot.. they stabilize well and it's totally worth dealing with it for the next powder run. I skied these after a 14" dump at grand targhee. best ski day of my life.
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