The Biggest Little Technology

It’s not hard for Ryan Hoben, an undergraduate student at the University of Nevada, Reno, to sum up what makes his Moment skis so special when he’s surfing lines and finding trannys at Squaw Valley in between his school days.

“[They have] great float and a solid stiffness for cutting through crud. They take landings like a dream, and they want to jump off of anything and everything,” says Hoben of his Moment skis.

The stoke in the Reno-Tahoe area hit an all time high when El Niño delivered a promising snow fall from late October to May of this 2015/2016 winter season. Light, forgiving, and b-e-a-utiful, this season’s snow brought a whole lot of hype to the ski industry; sending ski companies straight into high-season production.

Luckily, many skiers who bought into the El Niño hype in the Reno-Tahoe area are advantageous in the hunt for skis and gear.

Moment Skis, the biggest little startup ski company has manufactured skis out of the Reno-Sparks area since 2006, but is the first to introduce a Triple Camber Technology to the ski industry as a global community.

Casey Hakansson, Moment Skis founder, says of the Triple Camber Technology, “It was an idea that we’ve had since 2006, but it took a while to implement. It changed the ski industry.”

Moment Skis has now changed the ski industry twice; the first in 2006 when Hakansson started producing skis with a square tip. This trend had not been seen before in the industry. He wanted to make a ski that was different.

“I only made one ski with round tips, and that was the first pair [I made],” says Hakansson, “I was super proud of it but skiing it people just said, “oh you painted your K2’s?”

Other brands like White Dot and ON3P have since implemented a similar design, a sort of middle ground between round tips and square tips.

“We always joke that they’re copying us,” Hakansson says, “I’d say [Moment] inspired that change; but I think since we did it first we kind of own it.”

The small, but productive handmade ski company has now inspired change again, through a new technology that will take ski design to a whole new level.

According to blistergearreview.com, Moment uses this technology on their wider products, like the Deathwish, whose 184cm length has a 116mm underfoot, and the Sierra, a wider women’s ski with a 99mm underfoot.

The Triple Camber Technology offers 2 micro cambers and 4 solid points of contact from the ski to the snow.

“It made a completely different ski than what was out there,” says Hakansson.

“The norm” is to have a tip and tail rocker. According to Hakansson, the tail rocker creates a washout effect but with the development of triple camber technology in the back of the ski, it adds the support that a normal tail rocker wouldn’t have. The technology helps the ski ride like a traditional tail ski.

“[The Triple Camber Technology] creates a real confident edge hold,” he says, “on a wider ski, when you ski on hard pack, it makes it feel like a skinnier ski. It’s a quicker turning ski but you can also use that ski for a more modern stance.”

With the development of new technology, the ski industry now has the first fresh idea to bounce around from company to company since Salomon produced their 1080 ski in 1998 — the first twin-tip ski.

When companies started producing these twin-tip skis as part of the revolution of newschool skiing, it took the industry by storm; and that was only through word of mouth. With the globalization of the ski industry in recent years and the prominence of social media, the industry is on fire yet again.

“[The Triple Camber Technology] is a fairly new innovation that Moment Skis is working on,” says Eric Ray, Moment Skis employee, “I would not be surprised if we start seeing more products in the industry with Triple Camber Technology.”

The bloom of social media in recent years has provided many opportunities for Moment to market their brand to the industry.

“When we started here domestically, we had the benefit of social media just starting. So that’s how our name just grew like a weed is because Newschoolers and *TGR,” he says. “It was an easy, cheap way to get our name out through social marketing.”

The industry has since expanded, but times are changing. The iF3 (International Freeski Film Festival), a prominent event in the freeskiing community that has been held annually since 2007, will not be holding an event this coming season in lieu of new company leadership. Moment has been involved with iF3 since the second festival.

The (hopefully temporary) loss of iF3 might dampen spirits come September, but hopes are high for another promising winter after the reign of El Niño. In the meanwhile, ski companies like Moment will be knee-deep in fiberglass and sidewalls, perfecting the American trade of handmade production.

“We are a company that takes pride in our handmade heritage,” says Ray, “the fact that our skis are made right here in Reno is a testament to the innovative spirit that America is known for.”

From wood core prep to trimming fiberglass, Eric Ray gets to experience every inch of the square-tipped, handmade skis that rip around resorts all over the world.

“Moment always wants to be a company improving on materials to make a better, stronger ski,” says Hakansson, “we’re just having fun.”

Moment Skis is in full-swing production during the work week:

“Make sure to pop by the shop,” says Ray, “Just remember to bring a case of beer and we’ll mount your skis and give you a tour.”

— — — — Moment Skis, 1060 Marietta Way, Sparks, NV, 89431 — — — —

*TGR: Teton Gravity Research — a company who showcases the progression of action sports and “emerged as a media force in action sports culture” in 1995 (tetongravity.com).

The new 16/17 pro models are now featured on momentskis.com