K2 Pinnacle 118 (Seth)

[Lorenzzo]

This is the buzz wide powder board here this year. Anyone been on them in real powder? Thoughts on length?

 

[Philpug]

I skied it last season. Wind buff be damned. It is a big boy ski, not a tip and tail floppy Obsethed or Hellbent, the Pinnacle 118 wants to charge, this is not the easy go lucky Pinnacle 95 or 105, it shouldn't even be called a Pinnacle it is so different.

 

[Lorenzzo]

I skied it last season. Wind buff be damned. It is a big boy ski, not a tip and tail floppy Obsethed or Hellbent, the Pinnacle 118 wants to charge, this is not the easy go lucky Pinnacle 95 or 105, it shouldn't even be called a Pinnacle it i sos different.

Will it short turn smear without squawking?

 

[Philpug]

You can work the 118 to do what you want..it will smear in soft uno for sure but might squawk on firmer snow but at that point, you should be on one of our other skis anyway.

 

[markojp]

Fondled these yesterday... Looks like a serious big kids' stick.

 

[ski otter 2]

Will it short turn smear without squawking?

I demoed it twice last year, once in 8" powder, once on old snow groomers and bumps. This ski is easy for such a powerful ski. It is a good groomer ski - if you like to go fairly fast, anyway. It will aggressive GS carve. Very stable on edge or slarved. Holds an edge easily, but can be thrown into a smooth sideways smear on a dime, very safely, at speed. On groomers. You can ski it well fast or slow, but it's a standout fast. Very forgiving.
One con: it's not as nimble as the Pettitor 122. So not a hardpacked snow bump ski, to me. I like the Pettitor in trees, but would be reluctant to take the 118 Pinnacle into tight trees, myself. Seth must be able to do it, however.

I have a friend who used it as his daily driver all last year, and loved it. Probably will use it again this year. (He previously had used the 116 width Obsethed as his dd, for reference.) He says the Annex/Pinnacle 118 is a versatile, easy to handle charger. He's 5'9", 185 lbs, no fat. In his 50s but skis fast, skilled. A lifer in the ski biz.

In deep powder he says it has a slight tendancy to tip drop/dive, unless compensated for (not leaning forward into turns as much, he says). Hope this helps. It's one of my favorite skis, and I may still get a pair myself.

(for reference, I'm 5'10", ~150 lbs, finesse skier.)

 

[ski otter 2]

P.S. You can also short turn the things surprisingly well, but not as easily as the Pettitor. And the length I was on was the 184.

My friend started out with the 193, but he said it was a bear. He settled quickly on using the 184, the same length I'd be using.

 

[Lorenzzo]

I demoed it twice last year, once in 8" powder, once on old snow groomers and bumps. This ski is easy for such a powerful ski. It is a good groomer ski - if you like to go fairly fast, anyway. It will aggressive GS carve. Very stable on edge or slarved. Holds an edge easily, but can be thrown into a smooth sideways smear on a dime, very safely, at speed. On groomers. You can ski it well fast or slow, but it's a standout fast. Very forgiving.
One con: it's not as nimble as the Pettitor 122. So not a hardpacked snow bump ski, to me. I like the Pettitor in trees, but would be reluctant to take the 118 Pinnacle into tight trees, myself. Seth much be able to do it, however.

I have a friend who used it as his daily driver all last year, and loved it. Probably will use it again this year. He previously had used the 116 width Obsethed as his dd, for reference. He says the Annex/Pinnacle 118 is a versatile, easy to handle charger. He's 5'9", 185 lbs, no fat. In his 50s but skis fast, skilled. A lifer in the ski biz.

In deep powder he says it has a slight tendancy to tip drop/dive, unless compensated for (not leaning forward into turns as much, he says). Hope this helps. It's one of my favorite skis, and I may still get a pair myself.

(for reference, I'm 5'10", ~150 lbs, finesse skier.)

Thanks for the input. For me it would be a deep or windpacked powder ski. It would be nice though to have something workable in the trees. At present I'm relying on older Cochises for trees which isn't the best tool.

At this point I'm thinking either the Seths or Atomic Automatic 109. 109 should be plenty wide for me and the Autos might be better in the trees, more playful and versatile. Then the question would be whether to get new bindings or pull them off the Cochises.

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

I liked the Auto 109 last year at SIA. Caught the rope drop on Spaulding Bowl and skied crotch deep powder. Finished with some trees and chopped up groomer. All good.

 

[Lorenzzo]

I'm getting good confirmation on the Auto 109-s, if I can't defer it to a demo I think I'll go ahead and get 'em.

They ought to be a good fresh snow complement to the Mantras.

 

[Drahtguy Kevin]

I agree.

 

[Philpug]

The Automatic series is very good, 102, 109 and the old man of the series, the 117.

 

[mdf]

I demoed all 3 and the 109 was my favorite by far. Of course, they were different lengths so that confuses the issue.