2021 K2 Disruption MTI Alliance

K2 has come out with some new frontside rippers and aggressive lady skiers could not be more stoked about it. They've done a great job drawing a line between a race ski and an all-mountain ski, and the Disruption line fits right in. The MTi Alliance is the narrowest and highest-performing of the group, coming in at a paltry 72 mm underfoot. At this width, you're closer to a hockey skate blade, and the resulting balance point can be tricky. As a result, most skiers who are looking for a front side carver will generally gravitate to something a bit wider, and that's okay. The 72 is much more like a real-deal race ski versus a recreational carver, so skiers should definitely make their decisions accordingly. 72 mm underfoot has a lot of positives, but it's kind of a one-trick pony in that regard-not a whole lot of versatility built in, if any at all.

But what it is built for, it certainly excels. The wood core is bolstered by K2's titanal I-Beam which runs mainly the central chord of the ski, extending to the edges in the underfoot area. This makes the ski incredibly stable and responsive but since it's not a full metal sheet, it doesn't weigh nearly as much as a more dedicated race carver. K2 also uses its Dark Matter Damping material in the tips and tails. This lighter-weight material absorbs a lot of the vibrations at a fraction of the weight. It is very impressive how stable and smooth these skis are for their weight-and that's what K2 was all about doing with these Disruption skis. Rather than paring down a race ski, K2 started from the ground up and created a silky-smooth operator with the Disruption MTi Alliance. We were able to get one staffer on these skis this winter, and we're also happy to have K2 athlete McKenna Peterson's feedback on the skis.

K2 Alliance skier McKenna Peterson is mostly found crushing the huge mountains of Montana on much wider skis, but we all have to have a quiver, and pro skiers like McKenna have the skills to rip any ski out there. She notes about the MTi: "Ex-ski racers and the entire population of Sun Valley are stoked on this ski: a hard-charging carver that lays trenches at any speed. The ski is so incredibly smooth that you feel just as confident making a super-g turn at 50 mph as you do making a slalom turn at 10 mph. The way this ski arcs and transitions from turn to turn feels effortless, almost like you are floating over the corduroy as you would float through powder." And I'd like to think that the floaty feeling she's talking about is mostly due to the lighter weight of the ski. While a true race ski would dig deeper into the snow thanks to the additional weight, these K2's find a more artistic way of cutting up the groomers.

Allison Ruschp is no stranger to the local ski bum race circuit, and she notes that the K2 Disruption MTi Alliance would make a fantastic ski on a race course as well as Stowe's early-morning groomers. In fact, we had a couple of our shop's employees use the men's version (same ski) in said ski bum races, even earning a top-3 finish (which is actually quite impressive). She calls the skis "sooo fast" in only the way that she knows how. But for any skier looking for that front-side carver with race potential, the MTi is actually a very strong contender, especially for skiers who either don't need or want that heavy race build.