Featured Image: by Christian Raguse
Lengths: 177, 182, 187, 194 cm
DIM: 143-116-132 mm
Radius: 22.5 @ 187 cm
You can learn a lot about a ski by the skier who headlines it. Enter new K2 athlete Sam Kuch, a revered ski-film star from Nelson, BC, whose famous video edit Matchstick Productions titled “Is Sam Kuch the Best Skier in the World?” Kuch requires a ski that can stomp everything from rodeo 7’s and dub 10s off backcountry booters to complex pillow lines and big cliffs on alpine faces. The ski needs to float in deep Kootenay powder, respond instantly in tight trees and maintain stability at high speed. It needs to perform at the highest level but maintain a playfulness that helps Kuch turn any mountain into a park. Kuch has found all that and more in the K2 Mindbender 116C.
“It’s fat enough for deep pow, and with Spectral Braid construction, it’s stable and stiff enough to play around on the hill in any conditions,” says Kuch. “It’s held up to some big drops and saved me in some sticky situations—I rely on a stiff tail to save me on flat landings. It’s still damp—if you’re chattering through bumpy snow, you’re not going to get thrown around. I focus on being fast and poppy in my skiing—it excels when I’m charging, and it’s light and playful in pillows. It’s such a sick ski to accommodate both types of skiing.”
The new Mindbender 116C, part of the four-year-old Mindbender collection of skis and boots, updated its shape and rocker profiles to maximize float, stability and maneuverability. The ski features K2’s patented Spectral Braid technology, Bio Resin and Uni-Directional Flax. And for female chargers, the Mindbender 116C W is constructed identically.
Sean Fearon, Design Engineer behind the new Mindbender C collection says part of what makes the construction so special is the Uni-Directional Flax. (That’s right, the same superfood you put in your smoothie.) Derived from the stalks of flax plants, this lightweight and sustainable natural-fiber reinforcement fabric improves the ski’s ability to track in variable terrain, improving suspension and composure.
During Fearon’s first year at K2, he was tasked with a side project to design the most sustainable ski without cutting on performance. “We explored Flax because it’s slightly more sustainable,” says Fearon. “It ended up unlocking a special feel on snow for us.”
Fearon says flax is a great contrast to Titanal, an aluminum alloy known for its inherent damping properties. “Flax exhibits a different dampness—an energetic and lively side without being flighty,” he says. “It’s like more plush suspension on your mountain bike.” Imagine a smoother and quieter ride through chopped snow.
Women like McKenna Peterson, Anna Segal and Krystin Norman tested the shorter lengths of the ski in Revelstoke, while men like Kuch, Vail’s Mike Porter and Telluride’s Greg Hope skied the longer lengths. The consensus? Amazing versatility. Kuch’s one pair of Mindbender 116C’s lived in his truck or his ski bag all season, all over the world.
“It’s an approachable ski that also suits someone like Sam,” says Fearon. “He’s skiing a production ski, not some special one-off. He’s taking giant hits in soft snow—the ski takes impacts, absorbs and keeps him on top.”
Kuch, who lives only a half a day’s drive from the K2 factory in Seattle, is excited to get involved in ski design. He’s played with different rocker profiles, changed the tail, added tail rocker and more. “It’s fun to play around,” says Kuch. “But, honestly, the original shape has been perfect.”
