Our test
Size tested : 170 cm
The k2 Wayback 80 is an excellent ski, both lightweight and great skiability. It is well-balanced between the two. You can’t feel the ski underfoot, yet it is pretty fluid, and doesn’t have any nasty tricks up its sleeve. It pivots very easily, and doesn’t create any problems, only “solutions”, nice and simple, allowing you to just enjoy skiing.
To enter the turn, you can enter it carving/smudging, or carving/skidding, in raised attitude or not, and with angulation, everything works. The only thing you can’t do is a real carving, which is good as it’s not meant to. But all other effects are achieved without needing big technical skills.
With an 80mm waist the K2 Wayback 80 has standard behavior for a narrow ski in deep powder.
The top sheet is tough on the top (a little less so on the sides), and isn’t slippery when you are carrying them.
The K2 Wayback 80 is’t a really flamboyant ski but you get what you pay for, which is what you you expect. It’s very easy on short turns, in and out of trees, on technical terrain where you have to make quick decisions and change direction in the blink of an eye. Putting the skis crossways is immediate. The K2 Wayback 80 doesn’t vibrate at the front, no particular noise even on hardpack snow, which is surprising because it is really a light ski. We can change the radius as often as you like: from short to wide and vice versa, it’s happiness.
It is not a ski that oversteers, it is well balanced in its ability to complete the curve, you don’t get caught out at the end of the turn, especially when you have a backpack. The only downside to this K2 Wayback 80 concerns the tail: if you really find yourself off balance at the rear, it bends a lot. A skier weighing more than 70 kilos with a loaded backpack risks deforming the ski, causing loss of control.
On the uphill, in all snow conditions it is a very efficient ski that may not have a very high-performance level, but for a ski touring program it fits the mission perfectly.
Technical specifications
SIDECUTS : 113 – 80 – 100 (all sizes) WEIGHT (of a ski without binding) : 1120 g / 177 cm RADIUS : 20 m / 170 cm. ROCKER (front) : Yes ROCKER (back) : Light CAMBER : classic AVAILABLE SIZES : 163 cm – 170 cm – 177 cm PRICE : 665€
- Overall stability 90%
- Sequencing 90%
- Floatability 70%
- Sequencing on bumpy terrain 70%
- Difficult snow 80%
- Climbing ease 80%
- PISTE Pivoting and curve initiation ease 90%
- PISTE Carving 65%
- PISTE Skidding turns 90%
