MSRP: $810.00

Tip/Waist/Tail: 132-90-115

Length: 153, 160, 167, 174

The BrightSide is certainly aptly named. Testers couldn't help liking its chipper, tireless, and obedient nature, its endless eagerness to bounce down the fall line. It isn't edgy enough for true ice, and it can be a pushover for the aggressive set, but all in all, it's a friendly ride. Wood core, sandwich construction, huge sweet spot; stand on it anywhere and go. "Doesn't demand a lot but gives plenty." Notes: At 90 mm, the Brightside is still unusually fat for a women's ski, but K2 thinks expert women will be surprised by its hard/variable-snow performance. It's part of the Backside series of women's adventure skis, and as with all of the "Side" skis in the tour-ready Backside collection, the emphasis is on the descent rather than the ascent. It's a metal-reinforced, wood-core, women's-specific K2 Bioflex3 construction, with aspen underfoot (80 percent) for strength and responsiveness and paulownia (20 percent) tip and tail for softer flex and reduced swing weight. It weighs 1,970 grams at 167 cm. In women's skis, K2 uses thinner metal laminates than it the ones used in men's skis to reduce weight and soften flex. HybriTech Sidewall construction combines a sturdy vertical sidewall underfoot for edge grip, lightweight cap fore and aft for supple flex. K2's All-Terrain Rocker combines 70 percent camber with 30 percent tip/shovel rocker to smooth the ride, enhance forgiveness and improve soft-snow flotation. The Powder Tip is tapered so it's less easily deflected and swing weight is reduced. Tip and tail hardware is removable, and the holes readily accept pre-cut K2 skins for touring. The pink ribbon on the base signifies K2's support (at least $75,000 annually) for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Find this ski and more in our online gearfinder.

Advertisement