K2 Pinnacle 88 2018 Ski Review

New for the 2017 range, the K2 Pinnacle 88 is a lightweight version of its big brother, the K2 Pinnacle 95.

While a tapered tip and tail and all terrain rocker do keep you afloat, this ski does not have as much fun on powder as the others in the Pinnacle series. At 88mm, this ski has the thinnest waist of all the Pinnacle models.

This means that it has the least bouyancy in powder, and the updates made to the wider versions make this feel a completely different ski.

This ski’s smaller waist and fir-nanolite core do lend themselves more to the piste. However, we felt that this ski didn’t truly excel anywhere, including on the groomed slopes. It was not the most fun to ski on, nor did it hold an edge quite as well as others from this range. K2 have described the Pinnacle 88 as ‘the bridge between resort skiing and freeride nirvana’ but it did not quite live up to this depiction.

If you are really looking to push yourself off-piste, explore the un-groomed areas of the mountain or develop your technique across various terrains, is probably the ski for you. For someone really skiing quite tentatively everywhere it could be appropriate, but the K2 Pinnacle 88 is definitely not the most suitable all mountain ski for an advanced skier.

Furthermore, we didn’t love the look of this one as much as we did the other models. If you are looking for a really good all mountain ski, we would recommend you head straight to the K2 Pinnacle 88’s big brothers – the 95 or the 105. If you’re a more timid, gentle skier who wants to try their hand sparingly at new terrains, the Pinnacle 88 could be a good choice.

Features of the K2 Pinnacle 88

• Tapered Tip and Tail
• K2 Konic Technology
• Fir-Nanolite Core
• Triaxial Braid
• Metal Laminate
• Hybritech Sidewalls
• All Terrain Rocker

To read more reviews of this season’s top skis, click here.