2021 K2 Mindbender 85

Right in the middle of all things related to skiing, you'll find the K2 Mindbender 85. I'm not sure you could come up with something more average if you tried. In fact, this is the most average ski that has probably ever been invented. If you could somehow convince all ski companies to stop all production and just settle on one ski to make for the whole world, from beginner to pro, it'd be something like the Mindbender 85. I do not mean this as a slight to K2 or this ski, it's actually really impressive that they made this thing. It looks good, skis fine, and has tremendous value. It's a Toyota Corolla. A solid C+ on the final exam. A .250 batting average. An 18 handicap. It's middle America. Its human name would be Joe Smith. Again, nothing against the skis in the least, it's just really humorous when you get on this thing and go, "okay, great! Skiing is fun on this thing!" And that's about it. For skiers looking for honesty and simplicity, there's something very refreshing about the K2 Mindbender 85.

Starting with an Aspen wood core, the skis are on the lighter side of the spectrum, but when you add K2's triaxial fiberglass laminate, you do get a bit of extra weight. Since they're not putting any of their fancy carbon in the ski, it ends up being on the heavier side for what it is, but in fact, that helps the performance, especially for larger skiers like myself. Although, I can't quite ski on it because it tops out at a 177, whereas the 185 would be more my style. Regardless, I really liked the energy coming out of the ski, and since it's built more like the 90 Ti versus the 90 C, I had more success on this versus the Carbon version. But that's just me, at 220 pounds, the lightness of the C was a bit prohibitive. But not so with the 85. Additionally, the Slantwall technology gets you up and off the ski a little bit, and gives you some extra leverage over the edges. Just a bit more material underfoot, and you've got a boost in performance that goes a long way for the majority of skiers out there.

By using the shaping and profile of the wider Mindbender skis, the 85 actually ends up being pretty darn versatile for a variety of conditions and terrain. While I wouldn't take it straight to the biggest stuff on the mountain, it'll handle quite a bit of challenging aspects of the hill. The tips of the skis are blunted, and this reduces swing weight and puts more of the available mass closer to the midpoint. Mild taper increases the float, making the ski plane better than its average 85 waist width would indicate. Pretty standard in the tail, with some rocker and taper, it generates a friendly end to the turn with some decent energy.

At the end of the day, we should be worrying more about having fun on the mountain rather than what skis we're on. If they could do it on wooden planks with leather boots and cable bindings back in the day with a smile, we can certainly do it here, today, on some much nicer gear. Even 20 years ago, if you hopped on this ski, you'd think you were in some type of crazy time-warp. The K2 Mindbender 85 is a great ski, and we should all be so lucky to get to ski on them. It's all about perspective and altering your mindset.