Brands send us the sticks and we spend a solid chunk of our own seasons shredding them.
The Poacher’s 96mm waist fits right in between the Domain (90mm) and the 102s.
And then there’s the cambered section, lower than the 92 but not flat like the Domain.
I actually quite enjoyed aspects of all three.
But the Domain was on the narrow side and that extruded base was too slow.
The 92 was too stiff/cambered to be playful and although it skied nicely I found it dull.
The 102 was tons of fun.
The Poacher is more or less designed to answer all of these complaints.
So does it work?
Short answer: Pretty much.
In fact, they were probably the ski which most surprised me out of anything I skied this year.
And they are nice and stable on jumps too.
But despite being on the stiffer end of the park ski spectrum, these offer so much more.
The one time you do feel the stiffness is when trying to play around at low speeds.
I noticed this most indoors at the Snow Centre where speed is in short supply.
In my experience so far, they also hold up really well.
I’ve seen minor topsheet damage but no more than I’d consider normal.
The shape, which borrows from all mountain skis, works well in soft snow too.
I had a lot of fun on them when six inches had fallen on the park.
As such, they aren’t really a park ski in the traditional sense.
More a powerful jack of all trades, jib weapon.
Sounds like they are flawless right?
But then you probably wouldn’t want a 96mm waist anyway.
But that’s about all I can come up with to criticize.
The same is true if I were looking for the narrow ski in a two ski quiver.
But basically, K2 have come up with a gem with the Poacher, I really do love them.
Try a pair if you could, you might be surprised too.
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