New 2012/13 K2 Skis Prevail Among Ski-Focused Magazine Awards

Seattle, Wash. – (Sept. 27, 2012) – Sixteen different skis from K2’s new 2012/13 line collectively earned 21 formal awards this fall from the top U.S. ski-focused print magazines including Powder, Backcountry, Freeskier, Ski and Skiing.

Leading the ski industry for half a century, since 1962, K2 Skis’ celebrates the innovation and technology it has brought to the market such as applying fiberglass, the first women-specific ski, and now expertise in rocker technology. As an industry-first, K2’s entire 2012/13 collection is designed with Baseline Rocker Technology, the perfect blend of rocker and camSkiber for specific abilities and terrain. The integration across the line further solidifies the brand’s all-mountain philosophy and commitment to make skiing fun for everyone on the mountain. Judging from the outcomes of the magazine test results in all categories of skiing, K2’s Baseline Technology works and is here to stay.

“Excelling in categories across the board and being recognized by the most influential publications in all aspects of the ski industry is an honor,” said K2’s Vice President of Global Marketing, Jeff Mechura. “Baseline Technology has been a visionary for many years, and now to have a fully-integrated, award-winning line is a company-wide achievement.”

Representing each category of the K2 collection, individual skis took home a lot of glory. Rising in BackSide collection fame is the new K2 BackDrop, featuring a super lightweight construction with a fat waist and All-Terrain Rocker that makes it perfect for resort powder or mid-winter touring. Awarded Editor’s Choice by Backcountry Magazine, the BackDrop is described by testers as, “a stable front-side ski that is equally suitable for the skin track.”

In conjunction with their professional freeride skiing popularity, K2 athletes Seth Morrison and Sean Pettit, both helped design skis to match their style of skiing, resulting in high marks from the media titles. Seth Morrison’s SideSeth ski amassed the most awards including: Ski Magazine’s Gold Medal for men’s deep skis, Powder’s Skier’s Choice Free Agent Award, and Skiing Magazine’s Tester’s Choice Award. Sean Pettit’s more playful Pettitor, found in K2’s Factory Team collection and made with Powder Rocker, was recognized as an Editor’s Pick from Freeskier Magazine as well as Best Powder and Dream Trip Ski by the editors of Powder.

On the ladies’ side, the All-Mountain SuperGlide proudly boasts Skiing Magazine’s Gold Medal Tester’s Choice Award. Meanwhile, the Factory Team MissDirected was awarded a Gold Medal in Women’s Deep skis from Ski Magazine as well as a Skier’s Choice award from Powder Magazine, whose editors noted the ski for its wide-waist powder standards, yet lightweight poppy attributes giving it “freestyle flair.”

Globally, K2’s new All-Mountain Performance Bolt ski earned recognition across Europe with top honors at theISPO Munich show earlier this year. The Bolt is distinguished as the highest performance hard snow ski to date due to the combination of K2’s RoX technology, providing superior torsional rigidity, and Speed Rocker, for unshakeable hold and high speed stability. Although the Bolt did not fall directly into a testing category in the U.S. magazines, the global response lends exceptional credibility towards K2’s All-Mountain Performance skis.

To learn more K2’s 2012/13 collection, check out: http://k2skis.com/skis.

About K2 Skis:

K2 is celebrating 50 years of serious fun. Founded in 1962, K2 Ski has been on the cutting edge of industry-leading innovations and advancements for a half-century including fiberglass technology, high performance shaped ski technology, women’s specific ski technology, twin tip design and now K2’s BASELINE profiles that combine camber with varying amounts of rocker. These technologies are carrying the sport into the future by making skiing easier and more fun for everyone from the first-timers to seasoned pros. For more information on K2’s latest ski products, dealers and team activities, visit K2skis.com.