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Moment Skis and 22 Designs at Outdoor Retailer

As long nights unfolded in the Moment shop, we toiled away preparing for our annual Industry gathering in Las Vegas. SIA, as its known, is the North American ski trade show and the time when we roll out next year’s product line.

Getting ready for this event is always a challenge and manpower is crucial. With this in mind, we here at Moment decided that it would be a good idea for me to attend the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake just the week before Vegas. This increased the workload for all those left around the shop and I submit my greatest condolences to you all. So, with a quick call to our friends at 22 Designs, I was off to OR and the beginning of my month long journey.

Paige and Kaso enjoying the sunshine at Snowbasin

The crowd checks out the new AXL Bindings

Team Rider and Tele Enthusiast Paige Brady and I loaded her car with all of our mutual gear and headed towards Utah. The drive was relatively painless as I have become an expert at navigating across the vastness of Northern Nevada. We arrived at our friend’s house at a very acceptable hour and got the lowdown on the OR On-Snow Demo that I had come to participate in. Paige and I met up with Chris and Collins of 22 Designs at Snowbasin the morning of the demo. We unloaded our quiver of skis, with Hammerhead bindings mounted on ever one, and set-up in the guys’ booth. The day went well and we all looked forward to attending the indoor show and spreading the Moment word the following few days.

Headed to Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort

You wouldn’t believe this place exsisted unless you skied here yourself!

My time in Salt Lake City came to a close as quickly as it had started; I was in the airport and headed for Las Vegas! I arrived just in time to meet Casey, Luke, Jason and Craig and start getting the booth space together. Our team spent most of the time before the show preparing stuff for the booth and wandering the Strip aimlessly. This routine was dropped for a day while some of us explored the unexplored…Las Vegas Ski and Snowboard Resort! Sitting at 8,500 feet in the mountains north of Vegas, this place seems a far cry from the resorts around Tahoe. But, with open boundaries, the limited vertical drop becomes a vast playground in the right snow conditions and we managed to catch some of those.

The Guys all lined up to get tickets

Avi Danger?! Who would have guessed?

With a fresh dump of 6 inches, the mountain was covered in a blanket of new snow. The boys and I took turns lapping the park and then, while they continued to explore the resorts man-made side, I decided to take a walk out the open gates. A quick hike out of bounds led to some remarkable terrain and some of my more enjoyable turns of the winter. The terrain around this place is unexpected and I suggest anyone within reach should check’em out next time it snows down south.

Jex making the best of the terrain features

As the Vegas show came to a close, we loaded up the rigs and drove our butts back to Reno. This would not be the conclusion of my journey however. With only a few days turn around before I needed to be back in Utah, Jason Badgley and I worked feverishly mounting and tuning 50 pairs of new demo skis. 60 hours after returning home from SIA, I was off to Utah and the WWSRA Demo at Snowbasin.

The Snowbasin Demo

Just putting the finishing touches on a pair of Tahoes

This was the first of two major shop demos that I was headed into. I raced out to Ogden, Utah with Paige Brady in tow for 3 days on snow with shop employees. The weather was sunny and warm so spending time at the bottom of the hill wasn’t too bad. We got a lot of interest and made a lot of new friends.

Paige looking down towards Ogden

This is WWSRA!

Paige navigates her way around Telluride

Snowbasin came to a close and I had a few days to kill before the big Colorado demo. So Paige and I headed to Telluride to watch some friends, among them Moment Rider Carston Oliver, compete in the Freeride World Tour. The conditions were hard packed and wind blown, but the athletes made the best of it and put on a show. After 2 days of checking out what Telluride had to offer, Paige and I met our friend Eddie and some of his buddies for a day at Silverton.

Eddie points out the lines for Day 1

Palmyra Peak and Day 2’s venue

Silverton, Colorado

The drive from Telluride could be called ‘sketchy’ as we had to climb up a steep, mountainous pass from Ouray to get to Silverton. We arrived at night with some light snow blowing around and hardly slept as the anticipation of the following days events bubbled in our heads. After a hardy breakfast, we sped off towards this oasis in the mountains. A guide introduced himself to our group, went over the ground rules and then we all loaded the little chair into the clouds. The skiing was amazing, even though they had not seen snow in quite some time. We zigged and we zagged and we still didn’t see it all.

Paige dropping in on the goods at Silverton Mountain

Just dropping a cliff, while Paige looks on

There were plenty of turns to be had by all at Silverton

With good turns from bell to bell, our day ended in the yurt with some ice cold beers and a few twisted tales of ski days past. I left my friends the following day and sped off, alone, for Keystone and the second WWSRA demo of the trip.

Sunrise at Keystone

The minutes ticked slowly by at the Keystone demo. With no helpers at this one, I was left to man the tent alone. I did run into my good friend Tyler Northrop, of Rossignol Skis, and we managed to get into various kinds of mischief. With some good reviews in hand and a little night skiing, I left Colorado and sped back to Utah to catch some of the snow that had been falling there.

The Keystone Demo

I met back up with Paige Brady and we managed to sniff out some new snow. With a report of 12 inches overnight and a reputation for small crowds, Paige and I set off for Sundance. This small ski area has some mellow slopes that can turn into amazing powder runs on the right day. After some issues with the traffic, we were up skiing. Even in the afternoon, we were still finding untouched stashes of knee deep fluff. The day was spent taking pictures and enjoying some turns off the beaten path.

Powder turns at Sundance

There was plenty of terrain to play around in at this little hill

Paige keeps an eye on the wind at Snowbasin

I looked at the incoming weather and determined that we should head north and catch the new snow at Snowbasin. Having been to this mountain a few times before, I knew that it can hide some extra sweet stashes. It didn’t fail to deliver. Paige and I had an epic day of skiing 2 to 3 feet of Utah’s finest under sunny skies, bumping into friends along the way. The winds picked up in the afternoon and, after countless laps on No Name Peak, we headed down the hill and back to Reno.

Another great powder day at Snowbasin!

This run was untouched…until we hit it!

The drive back across the desert was long, but I knew Tahoe was finally getting some snow and that motivated me to keep the pedal down. I rolled back into Truckee late at night and was excited to finally get to ski some good old Sierra snow.

Here I am getting some well-deserved soft snow at Squaw

Paige taking full advantage of the fresh snow on Red Dog Ridge

The conditions couldn’t have been better and as Squaw continued to open it’s terrain I knew the winter had really just begun. As I look back on my month on the road and all of its ups and downs, I am reminded of why we do what we do here at Moment…Skiing is Awesome!!!