K2 Dispatch series

[altacoup]

K2 skis come way too sharp out of the plastic. Why put a race tune on a pow ski? That said I really want to try the 110 and 120. But almost impossible to justify as I bought some faction la machine max when they were $300 from Sierra and they’re awesome in pow and light.


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[ASmileyFace]

Anyone else see these things break yet? Both pairs of 110s I mounted broke right at the spot where the titanal hex shape ends near the tip. Both pairs broke at slower speeds catching buried branches and shrubbery. Both skiers claimed that snapping them was a freak accident. But, figured I'd ask the collective to see if anyone else has seen this.

I was really thinking of going with the 110 for my soft snow touring rig for next season but between the weird topsheet softness and seeing both pairs I mounted snap I'm hesitant.

[Benneke10]

a friend of mine had this happen a few months ago, said he got 10 days out of them before they broke

[jacob_dbu]

I haven't had any issues with mine yet, probably have 15 days on them. But the topsheet definitely is soft. I wish they reduced the camber a little bit and gave it a little more sidecut...but then I guess it's a different ski. It needs a little more sideways-ability at low speeds. At high speeds they rip, but in the backcountry there's a lot of noodling that goes along with it all. I recently moved the mount point from -9.2cm to -8.1cm. Only have one day on the new mount but will report back when I get more.

[griffinmyers]

had this happen

Mind being more specific? Sometimes skis have durability issues; sometimes we provoke their destruction.

Re: topsheet softness, does anyone think it's an actual concern? It's definitely different (maybe intentionally? think I remember them bragging about some fancy underfoot material to help with dampness).

I've only gotten a few days out on the 120 (186, on the line, ATK FR14). Did a trial run inbounds on a hardpack day. In no way can I imagine these being a good 50/50 ski (or maybe I just really disagree with the concept of a 50/50 ski). The ride was quite harsh (stiff, light, in ZGTPs, what did I expect) if the surface wasn't soft. They're probably decent in resort chop, but again, light. There's just so many better tools for the resort.

They tour uphill *really* nicely. Very light, huge skin surface area. One day was high danger low angle meadow skipping. Other folks on the skin track were giving up and going home... just so much to wallow in and hard to get any speed. The D120s killed it here: immediately planed to the surface, quickly built up speed, totally intuitive underfoot. Coming from ravens I was in heaven, both due to the newfound fore/aft stability and width.

Another day was variable crust on solars and a few stashes of preserved north-facing powder. Completely predictable in crust, didn't hook up weird. Ripped powder.

Excited for deep winter days on these next season. Need to get them really up to speed on something steeper in good snow. Might also try some spring days on 'em, why not!

[Benneke10]

He said he hit a rock but not the level of impact where a broken ski would be expected.

[CHAIR_97]

Mind being more specific? Sometimes skis have durability issues; sometimes we provoke their destruction.

Re: topsheet softness, does anyone think it's an actual concern? It's definitely different (maybe intentionally? think I remember them bragging about some fancy underfoot material to help with dampness).

I've only gotten a few days out on the 120 (186, on the line, ATK FR14). Did a trial run inbounds on a hardpack day. In no way can I imagine these being a good 50/50 ski (or maybe I just really disagree with the concept of a 50/50 ski). The ride was quite harsh (stiff, light, in ZGTPs, what did I expect) if the surface wasn't soft. They're probably decent in resort chop, but again, light. There's just so many better tools for the resort.

They tour uphill *really* nicely. Very light, huge skin surface area. One day was high danger low angle meadow skipping. Other folks on the skin track were giving up and going home... just so much to wallow in and hard to get any speed. The D120s killed it here: immediately planed to the surface, quickly built up speed, totally intuitive underfoot. Coming from ravens I was in heaven, both due to the newfound fore/aft stability and width.

Another day was variable crust on solars and a few stashes of preserved north-facing powder. Completely predictable in crust, didn't hook up weird. Ripped powder.

Excited for deep winter days on these next season. Need to get them really up to speed on something steeper in good snow. Might also try some spring days on 'em, why not!

Ski was never intended to be 50/50
From inception tour/Bc ski

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[GoldenBC]

Way too light and pingy to be enjoyed on anything that isn't soft with how wide it is. The 110 performs much better on harder snow.

@griffinmyers, I really recommend detuning them to my specs posted above. It got rid of so much of the harshness that I had my first two days.

[WhetherMan]

I recently moved the mount point from -9.2cm to -8.1cm. Only have one day on the new mount but will report back when I get more.

Please do.

I'm going to walk back my earlier comments about the mount point - I'm considering moving up from recommended now. Guessing that big tail taper isn't helping, but when you come off edge they do feel sorta unbalanced. Going to do some more detuning and then decide whether to drill more holes.

Bummed to hear people are breaking these. 215lbs and so far so good through 10 touring days (110s).

[ezgzy]

I’m selling a pair of 120s in a 192, i know someone on here needs them. 450+ship with duke pt 16s, first mount on the line for 315


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[kid-kapow]

I'm going to walk back my earlier comments about the mount point - I'm considering moving up from recommended now. Guessing that big tail taper isn't helping, but when you come off edge they do feel sorta unbalanced. Going to do some more detuning and then decide whether to drill more holes.

I only had half a day on the 110s in the resort - so lots of laps, zero touring - and found the mount point to feel too far back. I would've tried +2 I think.

I will mount my 120s with Cast at +2 tomorrow and see how that works. They still have a shit ton of splay and rocker in front of the binding, so I can't really see float being compromised for me at 175/70kg on 186s. I doubt I will get to try them in proper snow this season, but will report back after trying them in slush if nothing else. Will detune the shit out of them before skiing them.

[stuntmanbo]

@kid-kapow could you compare the BMT109 186 and Dispatch 110 184 ?

I’m looking to replace my wayback 106 with something wider and surfier. I owned a BMT109 176 in the past and liked it quite a lot except on the uphill on icy skin tracks.

I sold it for a Katana VW 184, pretty good but got bored with them and they had a bit too much tail, not surfy enough, also, 200g lighter sounds good.

Since I sold my BMT109 176, I leveled up skiing wise, at 38yo

So debating between the Dispatch 110 184, BMT109 186, or just remounting my Katana VW 184. Using some ATK Crest or Kuluar.

I’m leaning towards the BMT109 186 route.

My favorite non touring ski is the 2012 4FRNT EHP at the moment.

[kid-kapow]

@kid-kapow could you compare the BMT109 186 and Dispatch 110 184 ?

I can't really to any meaningful degree - I have not skied them in comparable sizes to any large degree ( I have very limited time on both BMT109 186s and D110 184s) and in too dissimilar conditions. The main "problem" with BMTs is their #$%#$%#$% expensive construction, but still - that is what makes them ski so well together with their dialed shape.

That being said, there was absolutely nothing about the D110s that made me consider replacing my BMT109s for them. I think the BMT109 is one of the best skis ever made.

I really liked Katanas in good snow, but found them to be a chore in shit snow / bottom of the run snow during mid to late season touring due to their torsionally stiff tails - and the mount point is also too far back imho. BMTs are good / less demanding in those conditions, and really surfy and fun in drier snow - if admittedly less ski in variable than KVWs. I would pick BMT109s any day of the week over KWVs for touring, and would choose neither for resort skiing. And no, I would not buy D110s for resort skiing either.

The main reason I bought D120s to compliment BMT122a is that their stiffer midsection + camber make them more suited to be mounted with pivots for fresh snow resort use. BMT122s + pivots makes for a bit too much flex underfoot in mid-dense to dense snow imho. Longer footprint bindings like Vipecs stiffen them up a bit imho and works better.

[Benneke10]

stuntmanbo, its not the highest quality of information but I have heard from friends that the Dispatch is not as surfy as fully rockered V Werks skis, although perhaps that could have been a tune issue as discussed earlier. Would be interested in hearing a comparison from Kid Kapow as well. You should also add the Heritage Lab C105 and C113 to your list. I tried the C113 and its pretty close to what you're after.

[kc_7777]

Man I was gonna pull the trigger on some 110’s for $450 CDN.

After reading this thread I am leaning to just buying another pair of Hojis. Better tune, better surfability, way better durability and better mount point. Though Hojis are double the price and heavier.

I wonder if durability is why prices are so good?

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[MagnificentUnicorn]

@kid-kapow could you compare the BMT109 186 and Dispatch 110 184 ?

I’m looking to replace my wayback 106 with something wider and surfier. I owned a BMT109 176 in the past and liked it quite a lot except on the uphill on icy skin tracks.

I sold it for a Katana VW 184, pretty good but got bored with them and they had a bit too much tail, not surfy enough, also, 200g lighter sounds good.

Since I sold my BMT109 176, I leveled up skiing wise, at 38yo

So debating between the Dispatch 110 184, BMT109 186, or just remounting my Katana VW 184. Using some ATK Crest or Kuluar.

I’m leaning towards the BMT109 186 route.

My favorite non touring ski is the 2012 4FRNT EHP at the moment.

With the EHP as your favorite lift ski it would seem the Hoji would make sense

[kid-kapow]

well dammit.

I tried my D120s the other day, mounted at +2 with pivots, and to say that we did not get along is an understatement.

Sure, the snow was shitty hot pow that was sticky in places. But still, these skis should've been fun in the snow presented to them, but they were not.

The bases felt slow, in spite of being waxed the night before. They would loose their grip from the front forward on the weird snow on groomers if you did not actively push the tongue of the boot. And the balance in the ski felt off in softer snow - limited support in the shovels, tails that did not feel as loose as they should've.

So yeah, going +2 with pivots did not create quite the magic I thought it would. And yes, I detuned the shit out of the edges outside of the contact points and tried to make sure that the edges were on point within the contact points (light detune).

And no, riding them back to back with BlackOps118 was probably not the best of ideas - as the two skis ride so differently, more so than I thought going into it.

I am not sure if remounting further back is the ticket to bliss, if pivots softens the mid of the ski up too much, or if I just need to take them out in better snow to re-live my past happy times on the demo pair I skied a few months back.

argh.

[GoldenBC]

It sounds like you skied a super fat lightweight touring ski in completely inappropriate conditions for them to thrive in. Not shit talking you, I just wouldn’t expect a ski like this to ski well in those conditions. Besides the tune, I learned that the most important thing is the right conditions.


Your review sounds like my experience with the 110s I tried, which I did not adjust the tune on. I found the 120s immediately more balance and intuitive, even without the tune. Can a better wax be used? The skis are unbelievably slow and some of your issues sound like a sticky unpredictable base could be the culprit.

I doubt the 1cm further forward was to blame.

Going from a super progressive ski to the d120 would fuck with me for sure.

Perhaps you just don’t jive with this ski.

[MoeSnow]

Finally skied my 175cm Dispatch 101s in some spring goop.

Normally, I ski much longer and more progressive skis in the resort (184cm K2 Reckoner 112), so I was a little worried, but I ended up trusting the recommended mount point and mounted there.

I thought the Dispatch 101s were intuitive and predictable. Skiing more upright felt okay at lower angles, and you can really drive them when going fast. I put on a fresh wax beforehand and I had no issues with sticky-ness.

Popped off a few things too. I do find rearward mounts to be a bit awkward in the air, but the skis are so light that I could get balanced in the air and ready for landings with very little input.

Very happy with my purchase. I am 5'11 and 170-180lbs and don't feel that sizing up would be necessary for my use case (PNW spring/summer volcano touring). Paired them with Moment Voyagers and the uphill was a breeze. I think the bindings/skis/skins is < 2000g when underfoot, easily the lightest setup I've ever owned.

I also picked up some Dispatch 120s in 186cm that I am excited to use next winter. I will be putting Voyagers on those too.

[kid-kapow]

It sounds like you skied a super fat lightweight touring ski in completely inappropriate conditions for them to thrive in. Not shit talking you, I just wouldn’t expect a ski like this to ski well in those conditions. Besides the tune, I learned that the most important thing is the right conditions.

yeah, for sure. I mistakenly thought that these wide, heavily rockered skis would ski hot pow and semi-slush like they skied drier pow, but that was way off - they did not.

It will be interesting to see next season if it was "just" the conditions + skis that did not match, or if the +2 mount also made them loose some of the magic I felt during my initial day on the demo pair mounted on the line. It could also be that the Pivots make them ski a bit differently - for instance, I prefer BMT120s with Vipecs over Pivots, the latter makes BMT122s flex a bit too much in the center in denser snow imho. So time will tell.

Also, I did my last run of the resort season on a pair BMT90s in the same conditions, and had more fun during that one run than during the previous two days on BO118s, D120s and Koala118/119s. So yeah, some odd choices of skis were made

[MoeSnow]

Got on the 101s again this past weekend and still not regretting the shorter-than-average (for me) length. Got to ski some hectic bumpy/slushy stuff through the trees back to the car, super fun.

Even though the turning radius is 24m I feel like I can bend them into tighter turns when needed. Not sure what it is about the shape of these skis, but they feel incredibly maneuverable. I didn't experience any awkward grabby moments when throwing the skis sideways when I wanted to scrub speed, or midway through faster turns.

Being on the recommended mount point make these a bit less intuitive/fun when in the air, but I have nothing else to complain about these skis so far.

[PinyonJuniper5]

Sounds like the Dispatch might have been killed off after just one season? I’m not able to find any 2024 models online


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[Benneke10]

Sounds like the Dispatch might have been killed off after just one season? I’m not able to find any 2024 models online

A lot of them seemed to blow up, maybe they were losing money on all the broken skis

[mntlion]

on hold untill problems are solved.

Too bad, fun ski for K2

[altacoup]

Problems, as in delams? I bought a used pair of the 120s here last spring. They seem awesome. But I’ll be disappointed is they explode on me. K2 warranty is good but I got them second hand. Came with duke pt16s for a great price so I won’t feel super screwed. But they seem like a great design.


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