2020-2021 K2 Disruption 82Ti

Intro

For the 20/21 season, K2 is overhauling its frontside ski lineup. The Ikonic and “Charger” skis from the 19/20 lineup are no more, and both of those lines are being replaced by the brand-new Disruption skis.

We’re reviewing several of the new Disruption skis, all of which feature some interesting technology in their construction, and we’re first diving into the most all-mountain-oriented ski in the collection, the Disruption 82Ti.

What K2 says about the Disruption 82Ti

“Equipped and ready to be ripped with Dark Matter Damping and the Titanal I-Beam, the K2 Disruption 82Ti is the all-mountain freak that’s set to blast. With a big shovel nose and versatile waist, the 82Ti can roll up on edge and spark arcs like you never thought possible.”

Not much to say here other than that K2 is not describing the Disruption 82Ti as a pure on-piste ski. It’s supposed to be an all-mountain ski, something we found to be true with the old K2 Ikonic 84 & Ikonic 84 Ti that the Disruption 82Ti effectively replaces, so let’s see how those skis compare on paper.

Construction

This is one of the most obvious areas of differentiation with the new Disruption skis. All of them feature wood cores (Aspen in most, with an Aspen / Maple core in the Disruption MTi) and most feature a strip of titanal while there are a few Disruption skis that feature carbon fiber in place of metal.

But the big curveball is what K2 is calling “Dark Matter Damping” or “DMD.” According to K2, DMD is “a process in where we sandwich a polymeric damper between two layers of high modulus carbon, and strategically place it along the ski edge.” For reference, the DMD inserts are the little black squares you can see near the edges at the shovel and tail of the Disruption 82 Ti.

Talking to K2’s designer, Jed Yeiser, he explained that the idea behind DMD is that it “increases damping coefficients at higher frequencies” while the titanal layer in the ski “increases damping coefficients most at lower frequencies.” In other words, by using both a non-edge-to-edge strip of titanal and DMD, K2 is able to dampen across a broader range of frequencies. The end result being that the ski is more damp throughout the entirety of the turn and in various conditions, making for better edge hold (since the ski is less prone to getting knocked off the snow due to vibrations) and a smoother overall ride.

Shape / Rocker Profile

This is a very traditional ski. The Disruption 82Ti has almost no tip and tail taper, extremely shallow rocker lines, and most of the ski is cambered.

Compared to the Ikonic 84 Ti, the Disruption 82Ti has a very similar shape and rocker profile, but the Disruption 82Ti has even less taper, a notably shallower tip rocker line, and a very slightly deeper tail rocker line. Compared to the Head Monster 83 Ti, the Disruption 82Ti again has less taper and shallower rocker lines.

All in all, the Disruption 82Ti’s shape and rocker profile look more in line with most narrower, piste-oriented skis than they do with slightly wider, all-mountain skis.

Flex Pattern

Here’s how we’d characterize the flex pattern of the Disruption 82Ti:

Tips: 9
Shovels: 9.5
In Front of Toe Piece: 9.5
Underfoot: 9.5
Behind the Heel Piece: 9.5-9
Tails: 9.5

Look at those numbers — this thing is stiff!

Hand-flexing the Disruption 82Ti, no part of it is even remotely soft and it’s pretty difficult to ascertain with a hand flex the areas where the flex of the ski changes since all of it is so strong.

Compared to the Ikonic 84 Ti, the Disruption 82Ti is similar in the back half, but where the Ikonic 84 Ti softened up in the tips and shovels, the Disruption 82Ti does not. The flex pattern of the Disruption 82Ti is pretty similar overall to the Head Monster 83 Ti.

Sidecut Radius

While we don’t pay a ton of attention to stated sidecut radii numbers in most wider all-mountain skis unless the radius is super long or super short, radii tend to play a bigger role when it comes to frontside skis since the shapes, rocker profiles, and flex patterns of those skis tend to be much more similar and therefore the radius becomes a more important variable. 

The 177 cm Disruption 82Ti has a stated sidecut radius of 18.4 meters, which is a bit longer than average for skis in this category. The 177 cm Ikonic 84 Ti’s radius was 17.5 meters, the 177 cm Monster 83 Ti’s is 16.7 meters, the 179 cm Liberty V82’s is 16.5 meters, the 177 cm Salomon S/Force Bold‘s is 16 meters, and the 177 cm Head Supershape i.Titan’s is 15.0 meters. So while the Disruption 82Ti’s sidecut radius isn’t crazy long, it is a bit longer than several other skis in this category and it’s the longest of all the new Disruption skis.

Weight

At an average weight of 1914 grams per ski for the 177 cm version, the Disruption 82Ti is a fairly hefty ski for how narrow and short it is. It’s not crazy heavy (especially compared to some dual-metal-laminate skis) and isn’t super far off from the weight of the Ikonic 84 Ti. But it’s worth noting that this is not a very lightweight frontside ski like the Liberty V82, DPS Alchemist Cassiar 79, or Black Crows Orb.

For reference, here are a number of our measured weights (per ski in grams) for some notable skis. Keep in mind the length differences and the fact that the skis with an * next to them include the weight of their binding plates to try and keep things apples-to-apples.

1397 & 1398 DPS Alchemist Cassiar 79, 167 cm (18/19–19/20)
1784 & 1800 Liberty V82, 179 cm (19/20–20/21)
1790 & 1828 Black Crows Orb, 179.1 cm (19/20–20/21)
1790 & 1831 Salomon XDR 88 Ti, 186 cm (17/18–19/20)
1832 & 1841 K2 Disruption 78 Ti, 177 cm (20/21)
1911 & 1917 K2 Disruption 82Ti, 177 cm (20/21)
1936 & 1942 Head Monster 83 Ti, 177 cm (18/19–19/20)
2077 & 2092 K2 Ikonic 84 Ti, 177 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2166 & 2167 Dynastar Speedzone 12 Ti, 182 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2279 & 2299 Head Supershape i.Rally, 177 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2317 & 2323 K2 Super Charger, 175 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2320 & 2359 Head Supershape i.Titan, 177 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2336 & 2350 Fischer RC4 The Curv GT, 175 cm (17/18–20/21)*
2414 & 2441 Salomon S/Force Bold, 177 cm (19/20–20/21)*
2414 & 2516 Head Worldcup Rebels i.Speed Pro, 180 cm (17/18–19/20)*
2489 & 2498 Fischer RC4 The Curv Curv Booster, 178 cm (16/17–20/21)*
*weights include binding plates

Some Questions / Things We’re Curious About

(1) K2 describes the Disruption 82Ti as an all-mountain ski, so just how comfortable does it feel when you take it off piste?

(2) How does the Disruption 82Ti compare to the K2 Ikonic 84 Ti it replaces?

(3) The Disruption 82Ti isn’t crazy heavy but K2 is talking a big game about how effective their combination of titanal and Dark Matter Damping is when it comes to reducing vibrations, so how stable will it feel?

(4) The Disruption 82Ti is a very stiff ski, so how good does your technique need to be to enjoy it? And will most people be able to bend it into tighter turns?