All Mountain Performance!

By Seth Morrison Ranked #7 - Big Mountain Freeride Skis October 10, 2009

From the white strip of death at Loveland to the deep powder peaks of Alaska, this is my tool of choice. Through the evolution of this ski the graphics have changed, the skis has gotten wider and rocker has been added. Year after year they get better.

Many people have the misconception that rocker is for "Powder Only". In fact its not, some rocker is made specifically for the deep powder like what you see on a Hellbent or a Pontoon. It doesn't mean those skis with that kind of rocker won't perform well on hard pack. Think of it as your ski is already bent how it would be going through the start of your turn. Rocker makes the ski react slower at the beginning of the turn on hardpack, something you will quickly get used to. K2 has made specific rocker for the skis general use. The amount of rocker on the ObSethed is just enough to give you a catch free edge feel in hardpack and crusty top skins of snow. Also enough to add to flotation initiation in powder.

Seeing its width the ski holds well on firm conditions as in groomers, you can ski bumps, but not the zipper line so much. I make bigger turns and ski the tops where the snow is usually softer out here in the west. If they are firm why bother. This ski is made to be an everyday ski, if it's super deep or you want to ski moguls all the time, you most likely want to have skis tailored for that specific part of skiing.

As for mounting, the ObSethed is 3cms longer than the Pistols and Vicious versions. The rocker is why its this way, since rocker makes a ski, ski shorter. K2 makes their rocker skis a bit longer than what the length actually says. The "traditional" point is where you want to go with if your not into being forward on the ski. After that I would not go more than plus 3 from there if your skiing out west. Most people go with "traditional".

On another note the waist width stays the same on all lengths of the ObSethed, were as other companies get narrower as they get smaller. The core profile is all that changes from the sizes. 189 and 179 are totally different in that respect, think size of the skier and making the ski forgiving for that individual.

View Details: K2 ObSETHed Alpine Ski

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