K2 Charger Skis – Review
Recently I had the opportunity to ski on the new for 2011 K2 charger skis. I spent 3 days at ski Purgatory skiing in a variety of conditions and I believe I got a good feel for these amazing skis. The Chargers I used measure in at 174 CM long, with tip, waist, and tail measuring 122-74-106. This season rocker is all the rage and all of K2’s new AMP series (including the Charger) has some degree of rocker. The Chargers feature K2’s Speed Rocker and, according to K2’s website, have a 10% rocker on the front end (or “early rise” as it is sometimes called ).
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| K2 Charger |
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| K2 Charger |
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| K2 Charger Measurements |
Curious about the rocker I laid the skis out on the kitchen table and went about trying to measure the amount of rocker. I put a little bit of weight on the ski and slid a sheet of paper under the tip until it touched the front contact point. I then marked the front of the ski on the paper and measured out how much of the ski was raised off the surface. I measured 20.75cm from the tip to the ski to the beginning of the rocker which comes out to about 11.9% of the ski. Rocker, among other things, is supposed to give you better maneuverability, better control in choppy snow, better float in powder, and more forgiveness all around. Having never skied with rocker before I was curious to see how they would perform.
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| K2 Charger contact point |
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| 8 1/8 inches (or 20.75cm) from the tip to the contact point |
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| K2 Speed Rocker |
The first two days were spent on piste with packed powder/ groomed slopes. The skis performed beautifully on the groomers and were super fast. During this time I became a carve-aholic finding the skis easy to carve and a ton of fun. The rocker helped punch through the choppy stuff making me less likely to catch an edge when encountering less then desirable conditions. I stayed out of the moguls most of the time because I found the skis to be too long with no added (rocker) maneuverability in the bumps. When on groomed slopes the skis were very stable possibly due to the metal and wood laminate core. The third day we woke up to about six inches of powder and where making first tracks all day. The rocker did a great job keeping my tips above the surface but would not be my first choice in off-piste conditions.
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| K2 Charger Metal Laminate |
The Chargers were paired with the Marker MX 12.0 binding set to a DIN level of 7. The bindings did their job and released both skis when an 11 year old kid came barreling into me at high speed sending me sliding 40 or more yards down the mountain.
All and all I found the skis to be a good advanced ski with lots of room to grow as your ability improves. Officially in the all-mountain category the chargers perform best on groomed slopes at high speeds. If you like going fast as you carve up the mountain you will love this ski.
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Johnny
Great review of the K2 Charger – I really want to try these out, particularly as I have never skied on a rocker either, and am keen to try it.
Steven
Johnny,
If do try them I would love to hear what you think about them. If you are just interested in Rocker you might consider some of K2's other AMP skis. The Charger has the smallest amount of rocker in their new lineup.
Michelle
I demoed them yesterday and purchased them in the afternoon. This is my first set of ski's in 15 years and it was amazing. I flew down the slopes with ease and was easily able to catch an edge when I hit patches of ice. I went down a trail that was completely ungroomed and they handles fairly well. I love to go fast and unlike my old ski's they were completely smooth (my old skis felt like they were vibrating at high speeds)
Velissarios40
Hello.How tall are you?Is k2 charger true to size?I mean that the 174 length of this ski is really 174 cm or longer as all k2 models?Thank you in advance for your prompt reply.