Winter may be a ways off, but winter gear season has already started, most notably via a cool new board from K2.To celebrate its 20th anniversary in the snowboarding game, the Seattle-based outfit has released an updated version of its debut snowboard, the Gyrator,
which—true to form—looks
like it was designed with MacPaint 1.0, with stenciled lettering that echoes the
garage-born style of the sport's first generation of tinkerers. Those who
actually want to ride snow-covered mountains on a Gyrator will be pleased to
know that the board's engineering is a tad better than the slablike '87 model.
The new edition features K2's lightest-ever core and a "reverse camber" that
mimics the underside of a surfboard, helping it float atop the deep stuff. It
also boasts two layers of urethane-skinned honeycomb for enhanced durability and
tapered tips to help make turning easier. Obviously, though, the model's appeal
has less to do with 21st-century specs than its on-trend eighties graphics,
which emerged from a decidedly dingy source: "I was inspired by photos I'd taken
of bathroom graffiti at a favorite downtown dive bar while visiting New York,"
says Gyrator designer Cory Little. In other words, for a good time, buy this
snowboard.