Ski: 2024-2025 K2 Reckoner KF, 184 cm
Test Location: Crested Butte Mountain Resort, CO
Days Skied: ~10
Available Lengths: 172, 177, 184, 191 cm
Blister’s Measured Tip-to-Tail Length (straight-tape pull): 184.1 cm
Blister’s Measured Weight per Ski (184 cm): 2176 & 2185 grams
Stated Dimensions: 137-114-134 mm
Blister’s Measured Dimensions: 137-113.5-133 mm
Stated Sidecut Radius (184 cm): 23 meters
Measured Tip & Tail Splay (ski decambered): 68 mm / 64 mm
Measured Traditional Camber Underfoot: 3 mm
Core Materials: aspen + “spectral braid” + flax + carbon & fiberglass laminate
Base Material: sintered
Factory Recommended Mount Point: -4.2 cm from center / 87.9 cm from tail
Boots Used: Lange Shadow 130 LV, Atomic Hawx Ultra 130
Bindings Used: Tyrolia Attack 14 AT
Intro
As we discussed in March, K2 updated almost all of their freestyle skis for the 2024-2025 season, including several brand-new models and revisions to existing skis.
One of the new products is the pro model of K2 athlete, Karl Fostvedt, and the 114mm-wide Reckoner KF is a bit different from the rest of the Reckoner line — and the rest of the market.
So, is the Reckoner KF some sort of bizarro ski that only a pro like Karl could enjoy? As soon as we got on it this past season, we quickly realized the answer was a resounding no — while it is an unusual ski, it can be a really fun one for a lot of non-pro skiers out there. Let’s dive in:
What K2 says about the Reckoner KF
“The Reckoner KF is the brainchild of Karl Fostvedt himself and designed for advanced skiers who demand the best. With a soft flex and twin tip shape, this ski is perfect for hitting big jumps, deep landings, and a playful approach to the biggest lines on the mountain. Featuring K2 Carbon Braided cores, Uni-Directional Flax, Spectral Braid, and a full aspen wood core. The Reckoner KF is the premium choice for freestyle skiers looking to push their limits.”
Construction
The Reckoner 110, 110 W, KF, and 124 all feature fairly similar core constructions, but the KF has some unique elements.
Check out our writeup on the 24/25 line for more details behind this tech, but the highlights include FSC-certified aspen wood cores wrapped in fiberglass (K2’s “Triaxial Braided Core”), the brand’s “Spectral Braid” for fine-tuned torsional stiffness, their higher-strength, less-environmentally-harmful “BioResin,” and wider “TwinTech” sidewalls.
However, where the other Reckoners feature carbon stringers integrated into the Spectral Braid pattern, the Reckoner KF features a whole sheet of wall-to-wall, unidirectional carbon fiber (apparently a first for the brand), with the goal of increased pop / rebound. To balance out all that carbon and improve damping, the Reckoner KF also comes with a sheet of unidirectional flax.
To quote the K2 designer behind the new Reckoners, Sean Fearon, “Karl wanted a trampoline and that was the best way we could give him one — a soft flex pattern and a boat load of carbon.”
Shape & Rocker Profile
The shape of the Reckoner KF looks fairly common for a freestyle-oriented, 114mm-wide ski. There’s some early tapering at the tips and tails, but it’s not super dramatic. Overall, the Reckoner KF’s shape looks fairly similar to several comparable skis, such as the Moment Wildcat, RMU Apostle 114, and DPS Koala 111.
Now, once you take a look at the Reckoner KF’s rocker profile, things get a bit more unconventional. The Reckoner KF has very deep tip and tail rocker lines, and both the tips and tails are quite splayed out; its rocker profile is pretty similar to the widest ski in the Reckoner line, the Reckoner 124. That said, the Reckoner KF does feature some camber between those very deep rocker lines.
Flex Pattern
Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the Reckoner KF:
Tips: 6
Shovels: 6-6.5
In Front of Toe Piece: 7-9.5
Underfoot: 10
Behind the Heel Piece: 9.5-7
Tails: 7-6
This is a very soft ski overall. It’s stiff around the bindings, but it’s pretty consistently soft between that area and the ends of the tips and tails. The transition between the stiff midsection and the soft rest of the ski feels pretty smooth, but compared to most skis, it gets stiffer more slowly as you move from the tips or tails to the middle of the ski. This is a key part of the Reckoner KF’s overall performance, which we’ll get into below.
Sidecut Radius
The 184 cm Reckoner KF’s stated sidecut radius is 23 meters, which is a bit longer than average for this class, but not super out of the ordinary.
Mount Point
The Reckoner KF has a recommended mount point of about -4 cm from true center, which is more centered than average, but fairly typical of a freestyle-oriented ski. That said, this ski also has two lines marked ahead of the main recommended mount point; those sit around -3 and -2 cm from true center.
Weight
The 184 cm Reckoner KF weighs about 2180 grams per ski, which is a touch on the heavier end of the spectrum, but not wildly so.
For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences to try to keep things apples-to-apples.
1802 & 1819 Line Vision 114, 183 cm
1833 & 1894 Head Kore 111, 184 cm
1835 & 1820 Armada ARV 116 JJ UL, 185 cm
1859 & 1864 Ferreol Surfeur 112, 184 cm
1863 & 1872 Atomic Bent 110, 188 cm
1885 & 1914 Moment Wildcat Tour, 190 cm
1895 & 1906 Folsom Trophy Carbon, 188 cm
1905 & 1919 J Skis Slacker, 188 cm
1938 & 2008 Volkl Blaze 114, 184 cm
1941 & 1989 Atomic Bent Chetler 120, 192 cm
1948 & 1957 RMU Professor 111, 188 cm
1973 & 1997 Salomon QST X, 184 cm
1998 & 2024 Head Oblivion 116, 189 cm
1998 & 2026 Armada ARV 112, 185 cm
2008 & 2049 Black Crows Corvus, 186.2 cm
2011 & 2023 Dynafit Tigard 114, 188 cm
2026 & 2118 Icelantic Nomad 112, 188 cm
2043 & 2046 4FRNT Inthayne, 188 cm
2060 & 2075 4FRNT Hoji, 184 cm
2070 & 2103 K2 Reckoner 110, 184 cm
2078 & 2091 Faction Studio 3, 184 cm
2078 & 2131 Moment Countach 110, 188 cm
2082 & 2089 Blizzard Rustler 11, 186 cm
2086 & 2088 Nordica Unleashed 114, 186 cm
2086 & 2125 RMU Apostle 114, 184 cm
2117 & 2132 Atomic Maverick 115 CTI, 185 cm
2163 & 2166 Moment Wildcat, 184 cm
2176 & 2185 K2 Reckoner KF, 184 cm
2180 & 2195 DPS Koala 111, 184 cm
2196 & 2211 Rossignol Sender Free 110, 184 cm
2222 & 2278 Prior CBC, 184 cm
2259 & 2279 Black Crows Anima, 189.2 cm
2260 & 2293 Line Bacon 115, 188 cm
2288 & 2291 Volkl Revolt 114, 184 cm
2318 & 2322 Line Blade Optic 114, 186 cm
2343 & 2360 J Skis Friend, 189 cm
2423 & 2446 K2 Reckoner 124, 189 cm
2420 & 2576 Heritage Lab HB122, 189 cm
2457 & 2533 Rossignol Sender Free 118, 186 cm
2534 & 2543 Heritage Lab FR110, 193 cm
Now, let’s get into how all of this adds up on snow:
FULL REVIEW
Luke Koppa (5’8”, 155 lbs / 173 cm, 70 kg): We started testing a bunch of K2’s new Reckoner skis near the tail end of this season, and we were fortunate to get the Reckoner KF in a very wide range of conditions, thanks to a couple late-season storm cycles. Fellow reviewer, Dylan Wood, and I both skied the Reckoner KF, but apart from one day of shooting photos, Dylan didn’t spend as much time on it, so I’ll be summarizing our thoughts here.
Powder & Soft Chop
At 114 mm underfoot, the Reckoner KF might be called a “water ski” by some folks and “not a true pow ski” by others. In reality, it’s a very fun option to take into fresh snow, though I wouldn’t be inclined to label it as a “powder ski” — not because it performs poorly in deep snow, but because of how versatile it feels in other conditions.
In untracked powder, the Reckoner KF floats quite well when you ski it with a fairly centered stance, and it’s really easy to slash and slarve around. This ski’s very deep rocker lines and soft flex pattern do a good job of keeping the Reckoner KF from submarining down through the snowpack, but it does this best when you’re skiing it fairly upright / not trying to drive its shovels very hard. I think this stance will feel very intuitive to folks who are coming from pretty playful skis with fairly centered mount points; you’ll probably need to adjust your technique a bit if you mostly ski very directional, rearward-mounted skis.
As the powder gets cut up, the Reckoner KF arguably becomes even more fun. Not because it’s a super stable ski that blows through chop, but because it’s an extremely playful ski that wants to jump off and/or slash everything.
The Reckoner KF’s soft flex pattern and significant rebound / pop are two of its defining traits, and soft chop is the perfect arena to showcase them. When there are tons of piles of snow to pop off — and soft runouts following them — the Reckoner KF is a blast.
It’s incredibly easy to bend and load up the front or back of this ski to get more air off any lip, no matter how small or large, and it’s eager to slash sideways when you need to shed some speed or just want to throw some snow in your face.
Maybe more surprising is how predictable the Reckoner KF can feel at speed. Again, it is not a charger that naturally blows through chop with minimal deflection. But I think K2 and Karl did a great job of making a ski with a notably soft flex pattern that does not seem prone to unpredictably “folding” at speed. Rather, the Reckoner KF tends to bend and absorb impacts in a predictable fashion, conforming to the snow and, in turn, decreasing the overall force that would otherwise be transferred to the skier.
However, skiing stance and style are again factors here. If you try to ski the Reckoner KF like a directional ski with a -10 cm mount point, driving the front of it hard through deep chop, you’ll likely find yourself lurching forward and experiencing an “over the handlebars” sensation.
But if I ski it fairly centered (still with a good bit of pressure on the front of my boots), I actually think the sweet spot on this ski is quite large. I ski it more conservatively in chop than I would on heavier, stiffer, and generally more stable skis in this class (e.g., Moment Wildcat, Volkl Revolt 114, Rossignol Sender Free 118), but I didn’t find that I had to dial back my speed as much as I first expected when I hand-flexed the Reckoner KF.
A lot of this also applies to other “soft” snow conditions, such as spring slush — the Reckoner KF is a ton of fun there, too, for the same reasons as soft chop and untracked pow.
In sum: the Reckoner KF is a great choice for skiing soft snow in a playful manner, whether that means finding airs and transitions or just slashing and sliding everything in front of you. But it manages to do that while also being pretty capable in more cut-up snow once you get used to how the ski likes to be skied.
Firm Chop & Crud
My thoughts on this section mirror what I said about how the Reckoner KF handles soft chop. I.e., this ski doesn’t stand out for its inherent stability or high-speed composure, but it’s really playful and maneuverable while still being fairly predictable in rougher conditions.
In firm, inconsistent snow conditions, I found it best to skid and slash my way around aboard the Reckoner KF, still always staying on the lookout for takeoffs (ideally with somewhat smooth landings / runouts). The Reckoner KF does offer pretty nice suspension, since it’s not wildly light and its soft flex pattern takes the edge off most vibrations / impacts coming from the snow, but that soft flex pattern and the ski’s deep rocker lines mean that it gets deflected a fair bit when trying to make bigger, faster turns in rough snow.
I’m sure we’ll see Karl nuking through those conditions on this ski, but I’m not Karl, and odds are, neither are you (if you are, hi, Karl!). But for us regular humans, the Reckoner KF requires a lighter touch in really nasty snow; if you want a ski that encourages you to keep skiing hard in cruddy conditions, I’d look to something heavier, stiffer, and less rockered.
Moguls, Trees, & Tight Terrain
I love skiing the Reckoner KF in all sorts of tight terrain. Pretty much all of this ski’s design traits are things that tend to make a ski feel maneuverable — deep rocker lines, moderate weight, soft flex pattern, progressive mount point, etc.
In bumps, trees, and tight steeps, the Reckoner KF requires very little effort to pivot and slash around, and its low swing weight means it’s similarly easy to flick around from the ankles (it feels lighter than its on-paper weight might suggest). Its energetic flex pattern also makes it easy to load up and gap between obstacles, and its tail is very forgiving if you get backseat.
That said, it’s again worth touching on skiing style and stance. The Reckoner KF’s centered mount point and soft flex pattern mean that you have to ski it fairly balanced and upright, rather than relying on the front (or back) of the ski for a bunch of support.
But as someone who skis a huge range of skis, from center-mounted to very directional, I found the Reckoner KF very intuitive. I quickly got used to the stance it encouraged, and it’s not a case where I feel like I can’t use the front of my boots at all; I can still drive it a bit, and I also rarely felt like there was “a lot of tail” behind me, despite the centered mount point. But directional skiers who are considering the Reckoner KF as something “different” to add to their quiver should expect a bit of a learning curve.
Groomers
All of the new 24/25 Reckoners carve surprisingly well, given that they’re pretty rockered, not super stiff, freestyle-oriented skis. The Reckoner KF is no exception.
For its width — and especially given its rocker profile — the Reckoner KF does a more than adequate job of keeping groomers from feeling like an afterthought. Its soft shovels are easy to bend and use to initiate carves; the middle of the ski provides respectable edge hold for a 114mm-wide ski, and the same rebound / pop that makes it so fun off piste is also present when carving it hard on piste.
In general, the 184 cm Reckoner KF feels capable of making tighter turns than I initially expected after seeing its 23-meter stated sidecut radius. It can crank out fairly tight turns when you want, but if you lay off its soft shovels, it doesn’t feel hooky when making longer-radius arcs. I prefer the Reckoner 110 and 102 on firmer groomers, but the Reckoner KF is still quite fun on piste for what it is.
Playfulness / Freestyle
The Reckoner KF is “playful” in just about any interpretation of the word. It’s very easy to bend. It’s very easy to slash. It skis (and lands) switch well in soft snow. It’s extremely poppy. And it’s very balanced overall.
The Reckoner KF isn’t the absolute best option if you specifically like to make really tight carves between features, but even for that niche, its soft flex pattern helps counteract its longer sidecut radius to keep it engaging at slower speeds.
All in all, this is one of the most playful skis I’ve skied in this class. It’s made me ski more playfully, attempting more butters, spins, and slashes than I normally would on even similarly freestyle-oriented alternatives.
Much of this comes down to the Reckoner KF’s flex pattern, construction, and the type of pop they can produce. Many skis that are as soft as the Reckoner KF feel similarly easy to bend, but don’t produce nearly as much rebound after doing so (i.e., “wet noodle” flex). Stiffer skis don’t typically feel as poppy at lower / slower inputs, but can produce a ton of energy when you are able to bend them. The Reckoner KF manages to be really easy to bend at a variety of speeds, while still producing a ton of rebound across that range — a rare feat that left me inspired to seek out all sorts of new gaps and transitions that wouldn’t be possible on other skis.
The other thing to note about the Reckoner KF when it comes to overall playfulness and freestyle performance is that, due to the same flex pattern that makes it so eager to butter and pop off stuff, it also requires more balance on landings.
In soft snow, I thought the Reckoner KF’s sweet spot for landings was actually pretty big / forgiving — I didn’t really have to change my usual approach / stance. But the firmer or more variable the landing, the more I had to focus on landing centered, otherwise this ski can be prone to wheelie-ing out if you’re backseat or throwing you over the front if you land too nose-heavy.
Who’s It For?
This section feels a bit less straightforward than it is for many skis we review. On one hand, I think the Reckoner KF is quite versatile, especially relative to how wild its design looks on paper. On the other hand, the Reckoner KF’s unique ride may be a bit polarizing.
So, to start, I think the Reckoner KF should definitely be on your list if you’re looking for a soft-snow ski that stands out for its overall level of playfulness. The Reckoner KF is the epitome of playful, being extremely easy to bend, offering tons of pop, and feeling surfy and balanced in all conditions.
For certain folks, that could mean that the Reckoner KF is your main ski. I mean, I still see people rocking K2 Hellbents as their daily driver, after all, and the Reckoner KF is actually quite fun across most conditions.
But I think it’d be easier for me to recommend the Reckoner KF if you have a quiver of skis with at least one narrower option for when conditions are firm and/or you want to ski a bit harder, so that you can reserve the Reckoner KF for when conditions are soft-ish and/or you want to play around more.
I’ll reemphasize our notes above about the stance / style the Reckoner KF encourages, but I think it’ll be pretty intuitive for most folks after a day or two of adjustment. So I could totally see it having a place in the quiver of directional skiers who value having skis that are very different from what they usually ski. And it’d be an even more obvious choice for folks who tend to like similarly freestyle-oriented skis and are looking for a particularly surfy, playful, and lively one.
Bottom Line
It’s quite the challenge to make a ski that’s both very different from the rest of the market and still feels like a cohesive product that can be enjoyed by more than 1% of the population.
K2 has done that with the Reckoner KF. It’s an unusual ski that can be unusually fun in a wide range of scenarios, from popping down powdery pillows to buttering and slashing spring slush. Provided you’re willing and able to adjust to its soft flex pattern, centered mount point, and deep rocker lines, the Reckoner KF is an incredibly playful ski that can still be skied pretty hard and fast.
Deep Dive Comparisons
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Deep Dive: K2 Reckoner KF
We compare the K2 Reckoner KF to the K2 Reckoner 110, K2 Reckoner 124, K2 Reckoner 112, Moment Wildcat, Line Bacon 115, DPS Koala 111, Armada ARV 112, Icelantic Nomad 112, RMU Apostle 114, Head Oblivion 116, RMU Professor 111, Rossignol Blackops 118, Moment Deathwish, Rossignol Sender Free 110, Meier Leeper, Faction Studio 3, Prior Northwest 116, Black Crows Anima, Blizzard Rustler 11, Volkl Revolt 114, Line Optic 114, & Salomon QST Blank.
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Can we get a high-res background image of that sequence shot of Dylan please?
I wonder when was the last time we had one of these softer, deeper-rockered skis fold up in chop at speed? Or be uncomfortable on harder snow?
My theory as of late has been that in the last few years ski construction has become better and these softer skis are not as bad for all-round skiing as they used to be. If you’re ok with going a bit slower and popping a bit more, they have become way more capable than the floppy sticks of yore
Great review – I wish I had the regular powder access to get me some of those! Excuse the unrelated question – What’s the orange jacket Dylan’s wearing?
Thanks! That’s the Stio Figment jacket & bibs.
@Luke, this sounds like it will be on your “receivers quiver” next year! Sounds like it’s right up your alley. And really cool to have something different that still works well in many cases, not just in some extremely niche context.
It’ll definitely be a contender, though, I got on a lot of skis that I loved this season so it’ll be a tough decision next fall. But yeah, I think it’s a really cool ski. Paul Forward is also working on his Full Review of the Heritage Lab HB122, and it sounds like he’s been really liking that ski for similar reasons — should be posting that in a few weeks.