Ads from the Past: K2 MSL, 1994

Thirty years ago, in December 1994, this layout ran in Snow Country magazine, as the third page in a three-page ad for the K2 MSL (pronounced “missile”). A few years before Elan’s SCX reached ski shops, kicking off the shaped-ski revolution, mainstream factories were already experimenting with deeper sidecuts for GS and downhill skis. Whereas traditional “straight” race skis offered a sidecut radius of around 50 meters, early-’90s GS skis like the Dynastar G9, Volant Z-Max G and K2 GS Race offered 30-meter turns. The MSL had the same sidecut as the K2 GS Race and could carve turns both long and fast or wicked short; without the race ski’s aluminum layers, however, it was also agile in bumps. That message got lost in the confusing text of the ad. A year later K2 introduced the Four, with a 20-meter turn radius. Bode Miller won the junior nationals on it. — Seth Masia

Coming Up In Future Issues

Hero of St. Anton

Aimee Berg catches up with Austrian legend Karl Schranz, twice-overall World Cup champion and four-time winner of the Hahnenkamm downhill.

Ski Pioneers

Al Raine, mayor, innovative coach of the Canadian Alpine Team and influential ski resort executive, carved a deep legacy in Canadian skiing.

How Safe Is Racing?

Edie Thys Morgan evaluates the evolution of on-course safety on the World Cup circuit.

Join our Facebook page: facebook.com/skiinghistory