K2 Cold Shoulder
| OVERALL RATING 5/5 | $449.95 RETAIL | SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SNOWBOARD SHOP |
OR BUY THE K2 COLD SHOULDER USING THE LINKS BELOW & SUPPORT GOLD SNOW.
K2 Cold Shoulder: Who Might Ride It
I’ma be honest with you, I haven’t set foot on a directional snowboard since, like, circa 2002. Maybe even earlier. All the more reason to get on the K2 Cold Shoulder and give it a go, right? Right.
““...the K2 Cold Shoulder will absolutely, positively not disappoint. When you hop on it... everyone and everything else gets the cold shoulder...””
Whether you’re accustomed to riding twins or powsurfers, or you don’t yet know what kind of board is right for you (which, by the way, is totally fine… we got you), I can assure you that the K2 Cold Shoulder will absolutely, positively not disappoint. When you hop on it, the K2 Cold Shoulder gives everyone and everything else the cold shoulder, makes you its number one priority and is all hey, grrrl. where you wanna go? I’m down, let’s roll.
K2 Cold Shoulder: On-Snow Feel
I went into my first day on the K2 Cold Shoulder snowboard the same way I go into all of my first days on boards for Gold Snow. That is, I went in with zero expectations, specs in mind, or preconceived notions about the board itself and how it should or should not be ridden. I wanted to set up this all-new, women’s-specific K2 snowboard with my normal ducked 15/-15 stance, to not over intellectualize or overthink anything about its camber profile or dimensions or sidecut, and then listen to the feedback the board and my body gave me as I rode. Of course, looking at the waist, width, nose, and tail while setting up my bindings, it was obvious that the K2 Cold Shoulder was, in the very least, going to be a directional ride and serve a different purpose than the twin decks I’m accustomed to.
Within the first run—foggy, low-vis (quite excellent and trustworthy) spring snow conditions—I could tell the K2 Cold Shoulder had a diva of a carve in her, but that in order to really harness its power I would need to decrease the duck in my stance, as well as shift it back a bit. So I did.
““...it locked in, drove forward, and held me through every turn. I could dip into an almost body-parallel-to-ground carve and still trust the edge hold. Damn, this is why people love a well-made directional board!””
During the second run down, stance anew, I immediately felt the medium-stiff flex of the K2 Cold Shoulder as it locked in, drove forward, and held me through every turn. I could dip into an almost body-parallel-to-ground carve and still trust the edge hold. Damn, this is why people love a well-made directional board!
““Its precision and snap gave me something different to ponder, something I wasn’t used to but fell for immediately.””
Over the course of several days of riding—in the misty spring conditions of day one, the hardened early-morning groomers and semi-slush of days two and three, and so on and so forth—the K2 Cold Shoulder carved like a goddess. Most runs included a dip in the pipe near the end (one side a soft sun-wall, the other a rock in the shade, your shadow chasing you like Pan the whole way) and, well, the overall experience was just gorgeous. Run after run I hooted, hollered, and sang loudly to Beyoncé while shooting around on this stick. Its precision and snap gave me something different to ponder, something I wasn’t used to but fell for immediately.
Why Steer Clear of this Board
If you have specific things you want to get out of a board and those things don’t match the carving prowess, stability, or bad-assness of the K2 Cold Shoulder, then look elsewhere.
No but for real, directional boards aren’t for everyone or for every application in snowboarding. While this is a directional all-mountain board that I honestly believe will excel almost everywhere you take it (K2 puts it in the categories of “all-mountain,” “park/rails,” and "powder”), if you have the option to buy multiple boards or if you want something that’s more on the playful end of the spectrum as opposed to the precise, then you probably want to keep looking. If not, the Cold Shoulder is your whole quiver in one sturdy, unassuming package.
Why Buy the K2 Cold Shoulder
Despite its name, the K2 Cold Shoulder feels like the opposite of being iced out by your best friend or boo. In fact, this women’s snowboard doesn’t snub you at all. Instead, I’d say that the Cold Shoulder has a very east-coast-direct way about it—a form of communicating that I appreciate dearly but that many non-east coasters misinterpret as dickish, cold, or rude.
““The Cold Shoulder just knows what the fuck it wants, tells you such, and expects you to do the same...It’s also fucking solid... it gives you and your riding 100% of its attention.”
But no. No, no, no. The K2 Cold Shoulder just knows what the fuck it wants, tells you such, and expects you to do the same. And… it’s also fucking solid, particularly in the sense that it gives you and your riding 100% of its attention. It’s there with you through every small turn, deep carve, cat-track traverse, and pipe run. Really, it’s your ride-or-die.
Final Notes on the K2 Cold Shoulder
The K2 Cold Shoulder was the very first women’s snowboard to arrive at my doorstep with the sole purpose of being reviewed by Gold Snow. Translation: K2 is one of a small handful of companies that, within 2.5 months of hustling this women’s snowboard journal and gear review site into creation, said: yes, we want to be part of what Gold Snow is doing; give us your address and we’ll send out product ASAP. Translation: K2 supports women’s snowboarding and we think that’s fucking fantastic.
Tunes to Ride by with the All-New K2 Cold Shoulder Women's Snowboard
Friends by The Carters.