Built to handle the entire mountain, the K2 Poacher is a twin tipped freeride ski that skis like an all-mountain ripper with even some front-side characteristics. At 96 mm underfoot, the Poacher is right in that sub-100 mm category that can do a little bit of everything. With a wood core and carbon inlays, the metal-free ski is forgiving yet responsive. Wood core skis are known for their lightweight and snappy nature, giving the skier a sense of fun and purpose out there on the hill. K2’s “double barrel” core places denser wood over the edges for control and lighter wood in the middle to lighten the ski and reduce swing weight. The twin tip shape encourages playfulness, including park and pipe skiing as well as being able to handle challenging terrain. It’s similar to the K2 Marksman, only on a narrower scale and without the asymmetrical design. For intermediate to advanced skiers, the Poacher will do everything you ask it to do, and then some.
Jason Krupsky skied the 177 cm length and scored all 3’s out of 5 except for versatility, which received a 4. That type of consistent scoring implies that the ski is a consistent product. It does a bit of everything, while leaving nothing behind. It doesn’t quite carve like a race ski or float like a powder ski, but it doesn’t have to. All the Poacher has to do is a bit of everything. Jason says it “skis well in varied terrain. It carves well enough on groomers, skis bumps well, and is wide enough for powder days and narrow enough for moguls.” It sounds like Jason and the Poacher understand each other quite well. If you have the understanding that the Poacher can do it all, but has to be told what to do, then you’ll get along just fine. If you are pushing the ski to act and behave like something it’s not, then you’ll probably get some pushback.
Also skiing the 177, but finding it shorter than expected, Justin Perry scored the skis 5 out of 5 for playfulness and torsional stiffness. He must’ve been feeling the carbon boost braid that stiffens strategic spots in the tips and tails of the ski. All other scores were 4 out of 5, including the ever-important overall impression. He said that “the ski was great and stable. They are great fun and they felt glued to the snow due to their stoutness.” Justin throws out a nice compliment here that despite the twin tip park type design, they still behave like an on-trail ski. There’s nothing better than getting on a pair of skis and having them excel at an area in which you weren’t expecting. That’s all gravy as far as we’re concerned.
The thing about twin tips these days, and we say this about the other “park” skis we review like the Nordica Soul Rider or the Volkl Revolt, is that they are so capable at so many other things. We dislike labeling them and categorizing them as “park skis” because that could potentially alienate skiers that would be well served to be on a playful, fun, and capable ski such as the K2 Poacher.
