K2 KRONOLOGY Key moments in time over the past 50 years. 1962
1980
1964
1981
Bill Kirschner builds his first pair of skis on Vashon Island, Washington (USA).
First commercial sales of K2 skis; 250 pairs sold to A&T, a Seattle distributor.
1965
K2 debuts the world’s first wrap-around steel-edged ski; 1,600 pairs are built and sold at $80 retail.
1967
K2 separates from Kirschner Manufacturing.
1969
Marilyn Cochran becomes the first American to win a World Cup title—on K2 skis. K2 is sold to diesel engine manufacturer Cummings, although management remains unchanged.
1970
The legendary red, white and blue K2 Comp is released— and the company becomes the top maker in the US.
1971
Phil and Steve Mahre join K2; they will later win numerous World Cup titles and gold and silver medals, respectively, at the Sarajevo Olympics. An expansion at the Vashon Island plant increases capacity to 120,000 pairs of skis annually. Filmmaker Dick Barrymore releases “The Performers,” a movie following the K2 Performers team on their travels across America.
1972
Hot-dogger Wayne Wong is sponsored by K2; the company enters Japan with 500 pairs of skis, and Europe through a limited distributorship.
1973
K2 markets its first ski boot, an unusually high, orange design better known for its looks than performance. K2 water skis go on sale; they ski well, but are “neutrally buoyant”—they barely float. K2-sponsored Spider Sabich dominates the World Cup.
1974
Jean-Claude Killy is sponsored by K2. In an Aspen bar, K2 hosts a wet T-shirt contest that gets the brand into Playboy—and angers Cummings management. K2 begins distribution of Marker bindings.
1976
K2 releases the Ballet and 244 skis; with turned-up tails, these models pre-dated today’s twin tip skis. Sitca, a Seattle-based investment team, buys the company.
1977
K2 sells skateboards in Japan.
1978
K2 begins sales of cross-country skis. It also becomes the first company to eliminate base grooves from their skis.
1979
The Vashon Island facility employs 750. Dick Barrymore’s “Assignment: K2,” featuring Killy, Wong and other K2 skiers.
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K2 is the official ski of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics; Phil Mahre wins the silver medal in slalom.
Phil Mahre wins his first World Cup overall title. The oil crisis hits K2, and skiing, hard; the company shrinks to about 125 employees.
1982
Steve Mahre becomes World Cup giant slalom champion, while Phil wins his second World Cup overall title.
1983
Phil Mahre wins his third World Cup overall title. A young K2-sponsored skier from Montana, Scot Schmidt, appears in his first ski film.
1984
The Mahre brothers win the gold and silver medals at the Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
1985
Anthony Industries purchases K2 from Sitca.
1987
1996
The K2 Xplorer—with the then-whopping waist dimension of 75 mm.—is a mainstay at steep and deep resorts. K2’s telemark-specific ski line is released.
1997
K2 rider Daniel Franck wins the snowboard halfpipe in the first Winter X Games. The K2 Factory Team, the first ever free-ski team, is created.
1998
Johnny Moseley wins gold in the Nagano Olympics on his K2 Winter Heats. Daniel Franck wins the snowboard halfpipe silver medal. K2 releases the Poacher, the first true twin-tip ski.
1999
K2 purchases Ride and Morrow snowboard companies, making the company the world’s second-largest snowboard maker.
2003
K2 acquires the Tubbs and Atlas snowshoe brands. Snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler signs with K2, then wins the first of four X Games gold medals. Freestyle skier Andy Mahre, son of Steve Mahre, joins K2.
2004
K2 creates 2,000 snowboards.
1988
Greg Stump’s “Blizzard of Aahhhs” is released, starring K2 skiers Mike Hattrup, Glen Plake and Scot Schmidt. It remains one of the seminal films of big mountain/freestyle skiing.
The entire Factory Team takes part in a KISS-themed advertisement shoot; the company's legal team pulls the ad after discovering the band has a full-time legal department just to deal with copyright infringements. K2 buys the boot molds for the Raichle Flexon.
1989
2005
1990
2006
Noted big mountain skier Doug Coombs joins K2.
The K2 Extreme is released, and bought by everyone who watched “Blizzard of Aahhhs.” K2 boarder Dan Donnelly appears in Greg Stump’s “Dr. Strange Glove,” the first for a boarder in a major ski movie. Kim Reichhelm joins K2.
1991
Doug Coombs wins the World Extreme Skiing Competition. The K2 Velocity is given the most radical sidecut of any ski.
1992
Seth Morrison begins his relationship with K2. K2 Snowboarding riders Shawn Farmer and Nick Perata appear in Fall Line Films’ “Riders on the Storm.”
1993
Doug Coombs again wins the World Extreme Skiing Competition. K2 begins production of inline skates. K2 Snowboarding releases the four-hole binding pattern which becomes the industry standard.
1994
The K2 Big Kahuna is released as one of the first fat powder skis. K2 Snowboarding comes to Japan. Kim Reichhelm convinces K2 to begin the design of women’s-specific skis.
1995
The K2 Four ski is resurrected with the world’s first use of a piezo-based vibration-dampening technology. Bode Miller wins the Junior Olympic Super G by more than a second on the ski. Kim Reichhelm wins all three international extreme ski competitions. K2 releases the Clicker, developed with Shimano as the world’s first step-in snowboard binding. After just one year, K2 sells 1.8 million pairs of inline skates.
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Shane McConkey signs with K2.
K2 moves from Vashon Island to Seattle. The Pontoon, Shane McConkey’s reverse-camber, super-fat ski, goes on sale. K2 purchases Line skis. K2 Telemark evolves into the Backside division, moving to embrace Alpine Touring as well. The Full Tilt ski boot brand is introduced, based on the Raichle Flexon and newer technology.
2007
K2 is acquired by Jarden Corporation. Doug Coombs is killed in a guiding accident in France; the company honors his memory with the Coombs ski. Rocker technology is applied to snowboards with the Gyrator.
2008
Kamp K2 takes over Mt. Baker, Washington. Rocker technology is extended across many K2 snowboards and skis.
2010
For the first time ever, K2 sells more skis in Europe than the U.S. Kamp K2 moves to Austria; half the K2 athletes are stranded in Europe for nearly a month after the volcanic eruptions in Iceland.
2011
K2 Snowboarding debuts its integrated backcountry line, with everything from skins and probes to backpacks. All K2 skis have some form of rocker.
PHOTO ESSAY
Pilgrimage Photos courtesy of SET Japan and Outdoor Japan Media
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TEVA team rider Sam Pilgrim was five years old when he got his first bike and 15 when he landed his first back flip. Today he is one of the world’s top freeride mountain bikers, helping drive the sport even higher and in new directions. He and his bike have traveled the world to compete, to break new ground and to open people’s eyes to the potential. Yet his freeriding pilgrimage had never brought him to Japan, until now.
“I started bike riding when I was about five years old. There was a photo of me on the first day of school sitting on my bike, lovin’ it. I naturally started doing little wheelies and jumps off curbs and things and, as I got more into it, my dad took me to a park where people were doing jumps and tricks and stuff.” “Now I’m traveling around to ridiculous places on that bike, maybe even influencing more people to ride bikes with my videos and riding, which is pretty cool.”
2012
K2 celebrates “50 Years of Serious Fun.” Kamp K2 marks the event with the first-ever party in Japan.
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