The 2018 K2 Snowboards are now on the market.
The list below shows K2’s 2018 line-up categorized by type of snowboard (by my system of categorizing, not K2’s).
There are some new boards for the 2017-18 season and some that have dropped out of the line.
New K2 Boards for 2018
- K2 Simple Pleasures (powder – short/wide)
- K2 Outline (traditional shape equivalent of the “volume-shifted” Wildheart)
The Simple Pleasures is in K2’s “Volume Shift” series of boards. These are all boards that are designed to be shorter/wider than the traditional snowboard shape. K2 have removed a fair few traditional shaped boards this year and now have quite a high ratio of short/wide boards (compared to other snowboard brands).
The short/wides are apparently equivalents of the traditional shapes, but since they have such a different feel, they don’t necessarily end up in the same categories.
But these are the following connections, according to K2:
- Joy Driver (Traditional) = Cool Bean (Volume Shifted)
- Turbo Dream (Traditional) = Eighty Seven (Volume Shifted)
- Happy Hour (Traditional) = Bottle Rocket (Volume Shifted)
- Outline (Traditional) = Wildheart (Volume Shifted)
The other volume shifters are the Party Platter but I’m not sure if this has a direct equivalent – but closest match would be the WWW, I’d say – and the new Simple Pleasures.
Drop Outs for 2018
- K2 Carve Air
- K2 Ultradream
- K2 Wow Pow
- K2 Spotlight
- K2 Panoramic (Split Board)
- K2 Fastplant Grom (Youth Board)
Beginner Boards
All of the beginner K2 boards below are also in other categories.
Men’s
- K2 Standard | Top 15 Beginner Board
- K2 Raygun
- K2 Fastplant
Women’s
- K2 First Lite | Top 10 Women’s Beginner Board
- K2 Bright Lite
Jib/Street Boards
Men’s
- K2 WWW
- K2 Party Platter | Volume Shifted
Women’s
- K2 Lime Lite
Freestyle/Park Boards
Men’s
- K2 Bottle Rocket | Volume Shifted
- K2 Fastplant
All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards
Men’s
- K2 Happy Hour | Top 10 Freestyle Board
- K2 Standard
Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards
There aren’t any K2 boards that fit this category, IMO.
All-Mountain Boards
Men’s
- K2 Turbo Dream
- K2 Raygun
- K2 Subculture
Women’s
- K2 Bright Lite
- K2 First Lite
- K2 Outline | NEW
Aggressive All-Mountain Boards
There are no K2 boards that fit into this category, IMO.
Freeride Boards
Men’s
- K2 Joy Driver
Women’s
- K2 Wildheart| Volume Shifted
Powder Boards
Men’s
- K2 Eighty-Seven | Volume Shifted
- K2 Cool Bean | Volume Shifted
- K2 Simple Pleasures | NEW | Volume Shifted
Split Boards
Men’s
- Joy Driver Split
- Split Bean
- Ultra Split
Women’s
- Northern Lite
K2 Youth & Kid’s Boards
- K2 Vandal
- K2 Mini Turbo
- K2 Kandi
- K2 Lil’ Kandi
Thanks for reading
I hope this has given some perspective of the K2 snowboard line-up for the 2017-18 season.
K2 has really focused on their volume shift line and now have 6 volume shifted (shorter/wider) options. They have also reduced their traditional shape line-up.
Overall, K2 have a good variety of boards across categories, excepting that they don’t have any really aggressive boards in their line-up. The Joy Driver is probably their most aggressive option.
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