K2 Panoramic Splitboard Review

K2 has really come up with something good here, a great way to get into splitboarding.  Includes the Voile Kit, and great skins all for a very reasonable price.  Read on to hear more about the K2 Panoramic Splitboard, and our on snow review of it.

Construction: The K2 Panoramic Splitboard has a cap construction for lasting durability as opposed to a sidewall construction When in the backcountry it’s rocks and roots are often discovered with the base and edges of your board. K2 has been doing cap construction for years.  And it seems to make sense on a splitboard. Although cap construction is very difficult to repair, it does get the sides out of the way and hopefully out of danger.  Infact the Panoramic seems to have one of the lowest profile cap constructions. Although cap construction has its skeptics because it can be related with cheap construction cost, I still think it was the right choice for the Panoramic.

Additionally, the benefits of having a “Factory Split” is that you get fully sealed and fully wrapped metal edges.  One huge argument about splitting your own board is that it leaves the wood core exposed.  Even with epoxy or other waterproof treatments it never last as long as a factory split.

Technology:

• All Terrain Rocker offers the benefit and float of traditional rocker, but also performs on hardpack. Personally, I’m not on a splitboard much in hard pack, so this isn’t that much of a selling point for me.
• Hybrilight is the idea behind the minimal cap construction.  This is nice, defiantly one of the lightest splitboards on the market.
• Bambooyah is a registered trade mark of K2, it a snowboard core that’s suppose to make the boards stronger.
  
• Triaxial Glass has been around for a long time it’s a multi-directional layering of fiberglass sandwich, but a great technology to have in their boards.
• Hyper Progresive sidecut tech offers a multitude of radius to help maintain edge control in any situation.
• 4000 Sintered base material. This is a solid foundation for most snowboards on the market for it’s ability to absorb wax and it’s durability.

Voile Kit: The Panoramic is one of the lower cost splitboards on the market considering it comes with the Voile Kit and custom K2 skins. The Voile kit  has been tried and proven over many years, and still is the main dominator in the split board industry.  Although the kit can be a bit tricky to get installed and aligned correctly, make sure you have done all this prior to getting on the mountain.  Once everything is installed correctly, it’s still a bit of a challenge to convert the board on the side of a mountain.

Skins: I was very impressed with the skins. They are very high quality and perfectly cut to the dimension of the board. The quick release tip and easy to apply tail clip make these a sure win in my book. The skins collected no snow at all on the climb. The skin holes in the nose reminded me of the old K2 Eldorado that had a single hole in the tip of the board that was for towing your board. The holes allow for perfect alignment and minimal slippage, I absolutely love this design very simple to use.

Weight: With the low profile of the board, and the technology inside the board, it’s one of the lightest on the market.

Cost: Retail $899.95, but we are seeing end of season deals as low as $629.95

On the Mountain: We used the K2 Panoramic in the Utah backcountry on a few occasions and snow conditions. First impressions of the board when converting to and hiking were to be expected.  Much like any other factory splitboard the Panoramic had the feel of the Voile Kit and indistinguishable climbing attributes.  When looking for stand outs, I think the K2 Panoramic really shines with the custom skins included in the kit.  The skins were flawless, easy to apply and remove and cut to fit the exact dimension of the board.  Additionally the attachment is so simple and just flat out works.  The eye holes provide ease of removing too.  If you have ever had “Skin Problems” (not talking about Acne) you know what a relieve this can be to have skins that aren’t collecting snow, or packing snow in-between the board and the skin.  The board transitions well up the mountain.  The factory mounted holes for hardware are all in the perfect spot, and well balanced for climbing and kick turns. The board feels really well under feet, and we couldn’t tell a difference between other more expensive splitboards.  If anything, the board felt lighter that other splitboard skis when under foot.

The conversion of the board can be tricky as with any split kit, especially when hanging on the side of a 45 degree slope.  It would be nice to see K2 take a stab at a new split kit of their own, and ease some of the difficulty involved in connecting a splitboard. We have found that factory splitboards do seem to go together a bit easier than DIY splitboards, because the hardware is in the exact position, as opposed to hoping your drill bit didn’t jump around when putting that hole through your snowboard.

The decent; it’s what we all work for right? one thing we noticed right away is the Panoramic seems to feel like the profile kept the rider closer to the ground.  Although the pucks and binding planks keep the board stiff under foot, the nose and tail want to flex a lot when under torsion stress. This board was built for the pow. It has an amazing feeling when riding in the deep.  It seems to move with the snow, and when set up correctly float effortlessly. We also rode the board on a very warm spring day in the corn.  While we should have paid more attention to wax, the board was very slow moving in the flats. However it plowed through the slush and kept things fun.  An additional day was spend on the board, climbing in icy conditions, the decent was not exactly ideal. However, the Panoramic returned me safely home overcoming ice chunks, rough chop, and a crusty layer.

We hope to use the board more and continue to see how the performance and durability hold up after it’s seen a few more days, and a little bit more damage. With splitboards definitely being a financial investment, we want to make sure your getting your return in fun.  Check back often as we update you on the K2 Panoramic and consider it an option when your in the market for a splitboard for next season.

Have questions or comments about the K2 Panoramic? Post them in the comments section below we would love to hear from you.

[php]
loadAvantlinkProductsJSON(“k2 splitboard”, 75);
[/php]