Who’s the Passport Most Suited To?

The Passport is finest suited to somebody searching for a freeride board for his or her quiver and need it to be damp and steady in messy snow situations, however nothing that is too demanding technically. 

Or it could possibly be a great one-board-quiver for somebody who is not too within the park, side-hits, floor tips or different freestyle stuff. 

Not perfect for smaller or much less sturdy riders who might discover the burden too fatiguing over time. 

Not for rookies, however intermediate riders should not have any points driving it. 

Bindings angles: +15/-15

Stance width: 560mm (22″)

Stance Setback: Setback 0.75″ (20mm)

Width at entrance inserts: 267mm (10.51″)

Width at again insert: 269mm (10.59″)

Rider Top: 6’0″

Rider Weight: 180lbs

Rider Boot Dimension: US9.5 Adidas Response ADV

Bindings Used: Burton Malavita M

Management Board for Management Laps: Lib Tech Terrain Wrecker 

Weight: 3300grams (7lbs 4oz)

Weight per cm: 20.63 grams/cm

Common Weight per cm: 18.71 grams/cm*

*primarily based on a pattern measurement of round 250 fashions that I’ve weighed in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 fashions. The Passport is likely one of the heavier boards I’ve weighed on the scales. And on snow you can actually really feel that additional weight. 

Powder

We did not have any actual powder to check in on the day, however primarily based on specs and really feel, the Passport needs to be above common in powder. 

It has a directional camber profile, with rocker within the nostril (and a few within the tail however much less), an extended nostril than tail, a 20mm (0.75″) setback and 8mm of taper, which is able to all assist it float in powder. It is a heavier board, which detracts just a little from it by way of powder float, however ought to nonetheless be respectable. 

Carving

Actually respectable on a carve. It has a steady feeling that is bordering on semi-locked in and permits you to lock in an edge and rip it. Good for all sorts of carves whether or not quick, medium or lengthy, however significantly good for medium to lengthy carves. 

And significantly good for carving within the messy situations. That additional weight helped it to be steady and damp in these situations. 

Turning

Ease of Turning/Slashing: It is fairly simple technically to provoke turns and to slash the tail out. It does not struggle it or something, you’ll be able to launch the tail simply. However due to it is weight, it does take some effort bodily. 

Maneuverability at sluggish speeds: Fairly fast edge-to-edge, if you put within the effort, however once more, due to that additional weight, it isn’t easy.

Catchiness: General not catchy. Additionally not essentially the most un-catchy board, however actually not vulnerable to edge catching both. 

Pace

Stayed steady as much as decently excessive speeds. It is not a bomber, nevertheless it handles velocity decently effectively – and that additional weight helps it to be fairly steady, particularly when situations aren’t flat/clean. 

Uneven Terrain

Crud: Actually good. Feels good and damp and that additional weight helped it to remain steady by means of messy/bumpy snow. 

Timber/Bumps: It is not tremendous simple to get it weaving between bumps and bushes shortly, however it may well do it with effort. For bodily stronger riders, this could work effectively in bushes/bumps and with powder it could stay good too. In case you’re much less bodily sturdy might turn out to be fatiguing if you happen to had been spending lots of time within the bushes. 

Jumps

General respectable, however lacked just a little in pop/snap. 

Pop: Complete pop was about common, however was fairly exhausting to extract it. This was partly as a result of it is a extra damp/clean board than it’s a snappy one and partly due to the burden of the board, I might say. 

Method: Good and steady, and this was significantly appreciated by means of choppier approaches. First rate by way of maneuverability too. 

Touchdown: Good and stable and damp. The additional weight helps right here. Forgiving sufficient too and sufficient tail to make tail heavy landings not-too-bad. 

Facet-hits: OK however unexciting. 

Small jumps/Huge Jumps: Higher for greater jumps that want extra stability on strategy/touchdown and the place you do not have to generate a lot of your personal pop to get air time. 

Swap

Regardless of it is directional form and really feel, it rode effectively swap and transitions into swap had been good too. 

Spins

Higher than I assumed however the weight made it bodily harder. Establishing was fairly good and landings weren’t sketchy. Simple landings with out feeling like I might catch an edge. Did not over spin, however was nonetheless OK to put it aside if under-spinning. Not perfect and nothing thrilling, however OK. 

Butters

It is center of the highway by way of the convenience of urgent. You have to lean some weight into it, nevertheless it’s not oppressively stiff within the tip/tail or something. The tail feels just a little stiffer and you may really feel you will have much less tail, when transferring to a nostril press, so there is definitely some distinction there. 

I actually could not over-flex it both and it locked in effectively as soon as getting it to that time. 

Take a look at the breakdown of the rating within the desk beneath.

The K2 Passport might be the dampest board I’ve ridden with this stage of flex. So, it is nice for somebody who needs one thing that feels damp and steady, significantly in messy snow, however does not need one thing too stiff. 

While it lacks snap and pleasure in the case of jumps, sidehits and so forth, it is general a board with few weaknesses and may do most stuff you need effectively, with out being one thing that’s overly technical to trip.