k2 Ultra Dream 2015 - 2013 Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Past Reviews
• Product Specs
• Product Images
• Questions?

K2 Ultra Dream is the Turbo Dream with super big shovel nose tips made for powder but can still play on the mountain when it’s not dumping.  Yep, it’s not as easy to throw around but the performance is similar to the Turbo Dream when it comes to groomer riding.  This is just plain unsinkable when that super deep powder day comes around. It also comes in a split.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  We do make money from the “Where To Buy” links, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size 161

Days: 2
Conditions: Great snow with some leftover thick soft off-piste snow with the gang and later on another day on my own with about 1ft of thick ugly sierra powder that really earned the name Sierra Cement
Riders: James, Peter, Kyle, Jimbo
Boots: Burton Ion, Burton SLX, Burton Imperial, Nike Kaiju, DC Judge
Bindings: Burton Cartel Limited, K2 Company IPO
Setup: Centered approx 23″ wide 15 front -15 back.  Set back 23″ wide 15 front -3 back.

Take the Turbo Dream and extend the hell out of the nose. It’s massive shovel nose/tail makes for a little different ride but like the Turbo Dream the Ultra Dream can still pull off the dual personality board pretty well.

On Snow Feel The flat between the feet makes for a stable ride.  It’s very stable between the feet without being catchy.  Its better for taking an all mountain freestyle approach to the mountain but not as good as the Turbo Dream.  This is a powder board with a decent all mountain freestyle personality for when it isn’t dumping.  The massively long nose/tail makes it a little less playful.

Powder: Those massive Shovel noses can be seen side by side with the Turbo Dream in the video and they really change the ride of the Ultra Dream here in the deep stuff.  Even though I didn’t get a 3′ plus powder day it handled thick sierra cement so well that you can just tell this is unsinkable. You have the option to set it back -20mm (3/4″) to surf powder or center the stance and take a more freestyle approach. It’s not perfect riding switch and favors directional riding but it’s better than most powder boards I have tried.  It turns easy in trees and tight chutes. It’s also great with wider turns as well.

Turn Initiation and Carving: With the Flat between the feet and the rocker after the Turbo Dream had a very smooth predictable ride.   We all had an easy time making short or long turns.  Mellow wide radius turns feel true compared to all flat camber boards. When it came to laying down a hard carve the Turbo Dream and Ultra Dream did a decent but not great job. It could get a little washy compared to many hybrid rocker or hybrid camber boards and felt more happy buttering and playing around instead of carving. Kind of the same exact ride here as the Turbo Dream

Speed: There is enough flat between the feet and dampness to make this pretty decent at speed.  There is a small improvement over the Turbo Dream but it’s still no straight line everywhere kind of Slayblade ride. You would think those big ass nose/tail’s would chatter and act like a clown shoe but they don’t at all.

Uneven Terrain: The Ultra Dream can negotiate shitty bumpy terrain you have to encounter on the way to get to untracked powder.  Its got a nice slow, medium and fast speed approach to powder in all conditions. It’s also great dealing with rutted up end of the day groomer runs.

Edge Hold: The only thing we would ask more out of the Ultra Dream and the Turbo Dream for that matter is edge hold.  We don’t want it to be like magnetraction but we’d like to see a little more grip for those days that are less than good.  There are other boards out there that are doing better with edge hold while still not being ultra grippy so why not do this as well K2?

Flex: There is a smooth predictable flex that is easy to butter. It’s also not bad torsionally.  The flex feels a little more towards the aggressive side of medium than the Turbo Dream but still very familiar.

Switch: This is a directional twin with a setback stance so it’s not as easy to center compared to a true twin with a centered stance.  Still, when centered it’s just a bit shy of being a twin.  You can ride almost as well as the Turbo Dream here but it feels a little more directional for some reason.

Jibbing- Not as good as the Turbo Dream but not bad for a pow board either.

Pipe: The massive nose just doesn’t allow for anything but simple pipe riding in good conditions. It’s just not as easy to throw around in the pipe.

Jumps: The Ultra dream is like the Turbo Dream here which is not lifeless but also not super poppy either.   When it comes to lapping the jump line it’s not going to spin like the Turbo Dream and not ideal due to its massive shovelnoses. It’s tougher work here.  Probably the only thing we would like to see an improvement with the Ultra dream would be the ability to ollie better off natural lips/terrain in powder.