Sokolva
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That’s awesome, I didn’t even realize there were good mountains in those states! I have yet to visit, and always wanted to see both. Thank you so much, that would be awesome and I’ll definitely let you know!
-
Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.
These skis feel alive. (Moment Sierra 22/23 Review)
- Thread starter Sokolva
- Start date
shadoj
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
"Mountains" might be a stretch! We suffer from a lack of vertical, but better skiing & terrain than you'd expect
marzNC
Angel Diva
Ah, then suggest you read up about Timberline in Davis, WV. We'll worth a bit of a detour for a night. Great fun for all ability levels. The long green from the top is a favorite of kids learning to skis, as well as cautious intermediates who learned as adults. I've taken friends there who are intermediates and they had a great time. Bonus is that it's easy for a better skier to take a different route and then meet up at the base for another ride up together on the high-speed 6-pack to the top.
marzNC
Angel Diva
The same could be said about the mountains in the southeast. Few people who don't know the area realize that Beech Mountain and Sugar Mountain near Boone, NC are over 4000 ft. I went to my first demo day at Sugar at the annual SugarFest in mid-December. The northern midwest gets a lot more cold days good for snowmaking than NC or VA."Mountains" might be a stretch! We suffer from a lack of vertical, but better skiing & terrain than you'd expect
Since this thread is about Moment skis . . . I demo'd the Moment Sierra at the Alta Demo Day in 2011 and 2012. At the time, what I was looking for were wider skis for trips out west since my all-mountain skis as an adventurous intermediate were 75 underfoot and I was starting to ski a run or two per day off the groomers. In the end I bought the original Black Pearl, 88 underfoot, used from a Diva. I had rented the "purple bull" Black Pearls as demo skis and knew that I liked them.
This review + a little demo day solidified my decision to get Moment Sierras as my hybrid resort/powder touring setup and....after ~20 days on them, I'm blown away. They suggested I size up, so I went with the 179s - was a little nervous on the length (5'8" x ~140-155lbs depending on the day), but it was the right call. I have now skied them in all sorts of CO resort conditions (ice, low coverage, crud, light powder, 4ft of heavy new snow, chop, etc) and they have handled everything superbly, including the shift between snow conditions on a single run. So far, the length has only been a plus - way more control, can still take on moguls, they are pretty responsive for tight turns. I mounted shifts on them and have taken them out in the backcountry on any day with more than 3" of new snow and after big storms where I'm expecting chop (my bc setup is 171 blizzard zero G which works well in most conditions but not lots of new snow). The skis are pretty light so I don't really notice much of a difference on the skin up, although I don't anticipate taking these in a backpack on long hike approaches this spring. This is the most "all mountain" ski I have skied in recent years (vs Volkl Secret, Nordica Santa Ana, Elan Ripstick, Atomic Bent, Blizzard Pearl), and I love the way it can handle all sorts of conditions and work well as a bc setup. I found that I could not ski in a very aggressive forward stance bc the skis are very centered - I thought about having them mounted differently, but the center stance actually seems to be working out well. I think skiers who do tricks will get more out of the ski, too. Definitely feel good about the investment, and thank you for this excellent review.
run-ski-biker
Certified Ski Diva
I, too, have.a pair of Moment Sierra's. Did not like them out of the box because they just wanted to go straight (now I think it was from tips having too sharp an edge). Moved bindings back from recommended and still felt hard to turn. De-tuned tips and tails and then I could turn them at new mount point, but it felt sluggish on initiation. So, had shop put bindings back in original position, with de-tuned tips/tails, and the skis now feel just right. They are not a carving ski, but that is a plus now that I have figured out initial set up issues. 5'7" 120lb advanced on a 172cm.
Just had an amazing first day out on Moment Sierra's 23/24 in a few inches of powder. I couldn't find a place to demo them last season so I bought these based on reviews like this. I've enjoyed my Volkl Blaze 86s and progressed a lot as an intermediate skier but I couldn't plow through crud with them and needed to slow down on anything that wasn't groomed.
A few things I was concerned about with Moments
- Sierra would be too much ski for me. I debated about getting the Hot Mess instead. To play it safe, I went with the Sierra length recommended for intermediate skiers, just a few cm longer than my Blazes.
- Progressive stance would be too big of a change. I debated about getting them mounted a little farther back as some mentioned, but stuck with Moment's recommended mount point.
- Sierras + Tyrolia Protector SLRs would be noticeably heavier than the Blazes + Marker Squires. I was worried I'd tire out too quickly with the new setup.
- This is by far the most money I've spent on skis. It helped getting them at the end of season and ordering from Canada to the US with the exchange rate and no duties for recreational equipment.
It took one run to get used to being more centered on the ski. I found the Sierras just as easy to turn as the Blazes and didn't notice the heavier ski and bindings at all. I then headed towards some ungroomed runs and had a blast. It wasn't great visibility so normally I'd slow down to try and ski around crud but now I could just ski right through it. On a few steeper sections getting skied out in the early season snow, I tested the edge hold with the triple camber and it didn't disappoint.
One thing that I didn't think about is it takes more time and effort to hot wax and scrape triple camber. So give yourself extra time if you DIY. I haven't learned how to do edges yet so hopefully my local ski shop can handle maintaining Moment's 1.5 edge.
A few things I was concerned about with Moments
- Sierra would be too much ski for me. I debated about getting the Hot Mess instead. To play it safe, I went with the Sierra length recommended for intermediate skiers, just a few cm longer than my Blazes.
- Progressive stance would be too big of a change. I debated about getting them mounted a little farther back as some mentioned, but stuck with Moment's recommended mount point.
- Sierras + Tyrolia Protector SLRs would be noticeably heavier than the Blazes + Marker Squires. I was worried I'd tire out too quickly with the new setup.
- This is by far the most money I've spent on skis. It helped getting them at the end of season and ordering from Canada to the US with the exchange rate and no duties for recreational equipment.
It took one run to get used to being more centered on the ski. I found the Sierras just as easy to turn as the Blazes and didn't notice the heavier ski and bindings at all. I then headed towards some ungroomed runs and had a blast. It wasn't great visibility so normally I'd slow down to try and ski around crud but now I could just ski right through it. On a few steeper sections getting skied out in the early season snow, I tested the edge hold with the triple camber and it didn't disappoint.
One thing that I didn't think about is it takes more time and effort to hot wax and scrape triple camber. So give yourself extra time if you DIY. I haven't learned how to do edges yet so hopefully my local ski shop can handle maintaining Moment's 1.5 edge.
Sokolva
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I’ve been on and off the forum occasionally but I don’t know how I missed this in my notifications! I’m so glad this review helped, and thank you for adding to the conversation around these skis and other small brands (especially women’s skis) that aren’t talked about often! I agree with you about the centered but confident stance being what these skis seem to prefer, and I definitely love that positioning.
I am still having a blast on these Sierras, which I only love more and more each time I ski them. Currently at Taos for the final days of a two week trip, and the conditions were extremely low tide and icy, and they handled excellently—until the powder dumped over everything in a blessing of snow, and we got our first real powder day of the season! Rocks unfortunately still not fully covered and I hit a few going down Chicken Blitz when it opened, but the skis sidewalls, edges, and bases are quite tough, and I couldn’t find any real damage on them despite the hidden rock sharks all over the place.
Tuank you for your notes on touring with these skis. I don’t have shift bindings on them, but I always wondered if they would tour well due to their relative lightness. I would love to tour one day, it looks incredibly fun and peaceful.
Sokolva
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yeah that is interesting, my tips and tails definitely came de-tuned, and I know that can greatly affect the skis feel. Glad you got them to a place where you are really enjoying them!
Sokolva
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks for adding your experiences and your own review! It’s interesting to hear how the Sierras compare to the Volkl Blaze’s, as those are slightly narrower but similar in what they are built to do as all mountain playful skis. The Sierras definitely deal with crud extraordinarily well in my experience, and I love how well they handle off trail and in rapidly changing variable snow conditions. I have skiied then on tons of ice unfortunately because Taos didn’t have the best year last year when I was there, and early season this year was the same until we just now got some powder, so I’m really grateful for how stiff yet poppy and grippy and planted they are!
also thanks for the reminder on the tuning angle for Moment, I was trying to remember what their degree was.
.
pamplemoose
Certified Ski Diva
Thanks so much for these reviews! I've been drooling over the Sierras for a few years, and hearing about how they do in different conditions is reassuring. I'm in Santa Fe, so pretty similar conditions to Taos. Maybe someday soon.....
Agree with the need to detune the tips and tails! I couldn’t turn them at all at first and thought they were defective. Once detuned they were ok but I admit it did take me awhile to get used to the length (172 ) and stiffness after years on softer shorter skis like Blizzard Sheevas. I’m 5’4”. To use them I had to become a better skier and it was rewarded! Now I love them for their stability at speed and in crud as well as their liveliness in the bumps - a rare combo. I’m an east coast skier and they’ve been ok for the ice for a rockered ski . Highly recommend these skis!
Last edited:
This made me buy the Sierras! Best review of the best skis , ever! They are the unicorn of skis - stable yet playful. As a former Eventer I totally get your analogy to riding a fit and enthusiastic horse! I will be a Moment loyalist for life!My Specs:
Height: 5'3
Weight: 110 -115
Skier Level: Advanced
Conditions Skied: 8 days in Taos NM, late February to early March 2023, variable conditions: soft snow, hard pack, crud, windswept, one weird run where the snow felt like heavy sandbags piled up, ice, and powder. Lots of moguls, tree runs, powder flats, and open steeps.
Ski Specs:
Manufacturer: Moment Ski Company
Handmade in the USA
Model: Sierra 2022/2023
Length: 162
Category & Dimensions: All-Mountain
Ski Feel: Balanced
Ski Shape: Triple Camber with Twin Rocker
Construction: Poplar and Pine Wood Core
Carbon Fiber Hybrid Construction (Custom mix of carbon & triaxial fiberglass)
Rubberized VDS for damping and improved stability.
Weight: 3.04 kg (pair without bindings)
Waist Width: 95mm (Variable based on ski length)
URL:
SIERRA
Over the years we’ve heard a lot of things said about the Sierra: *these are cheat codes*, *everything I didn’t know I was missing*, *they feel ALIVE*, or our personal favorite: *my 8th pair* Really, we don’t have much to add. The Sierra just works. No funny business, step in and rip.www.momentskis.com
View attachment 20775
These skis feel alive.
I purchased these skis sight unseen, untried, after having demoed several other skis at Steamboat this year. I tried the Black Pearl 97s, the Salomon Lumen 98s, the Black Crows Birdie Camox 97s, all within a few days. I was looking to replace a pair of Salomon Stella 106s that I had unwisely purchased several sizes taller than the recommended for my height and weight because they were the last size left on sale, and being reassured that as an advanced skier, I would enjoy the longer length. Instead, by tiny 5'3 sub 110 pound-ass found them unwieldy, heavy, and difficult to ski, tiring me after only a few black runs and making me think I had poor technique and had really lost my touch. I had spent my entire middle school to young adult years on an old pair of nimble and narrow Salomon rental skis my dad had purchased for me, and which had felt like a part of me after so many years, until the edges were completely worn away and the bottoms battered and worn. I thought it was just me, after several years spent not being able to ski during an extended Masters and PhD program in college, but when I took an advanced ski class at Steamboat, several instructors immediately identified the overly long length of my skis to be an issue.
So I began searching for new skis, angry and frustrated with myself for purchasing my first new pair of skis in decades and messing it up so badly. The moment I began trying skis that were the proper height for my size and weight, I felt immediately comfortable, happy, no longer exhausted. But though I liked each for different reasons, none of them felt quite right. There was always something in the feel, the ride, in the experience of how the ski felt underfoot, that was lacking in each.
The Salomon Lumen's were too surfy for my taste. Of all three, they were my least favorite for how I liked the ski, sliding and gliding around just a bit too much without a solid feel of the snow beneath, and without the bite and grip that I craved. When I started to push them and go faster, I felt them vibrating more than I liked, and I trusted them less than the others, turning them in quickly and moving on. The Black Pearls I lingered on. The first carve that I made on them felt almost like returning home, but with a stronger, more resilient, damper, and heavier ski underfoot than even my Salomon Stella's were, yet in a narrower and, more importantly, properly sized package. When I skied them on a powder day, it felt almost great. They floated better than I expected them to. They charged through crud. I could push them as hard and fast as I wanted and go fast. But when I tried to ski switch, the backs were uncooperative, not designed for such maneuvers, and when I went over even small jumps, the impact at the landing felt like a harsh clattering that hurt, with the ski seeming to enjoy carving but not liking going airborne and punishing me on the landings. When I rode chairlifts, it felt like they were weights tied to my ankles, dragging me down. I was willing to carry heavy skis, but the way that they hurt when I jumped on them and the overall ponderous, dead feeling of them on my feet gave me pause. So I tried the Black Crows Camox. These were mounted more progressively than any ski I'd ever skied. I liked it. It was fun, interesting, a cool place to be on a ski. The tails behind me allowed me to make jumps far better, and they didn't hurt. But something was off sometimes when I carved the skis, likely because I wasn't experienced with skiing so progressively, but the tails kept getting in my way that first day at times, with how long they were. Sometimes they caught in the variable snow conditions when I didn't want them to, and the ski had less grip and was less stable when I skied fast than I wanted. They were also still heavy, heavier than I felt they needed to be for a simple wooden ski.
After all days of demoing and compiling my favorites, I almost walked away with the Black Pearls. But before I did, I decided that this time, I would truly do my research as much as I could. I couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice and purchase a pair of skis I didn't absolutely love. I wanted to find my wings again. A pair of wings I could fly anywhere on the mountain with.
I fell down a rabbit hole of research on all these companies, and I found out, to my sorrow, that almost all of the ski companies of my youth that I was still seeing on the slopes, and which I had been demoing, had been purchased by large companies and were often not manufactured where they had once been. The Black Crows were an independent company in France still, but many others had been purchased and devoured by growing monopolies. This didn't make them bad companies, of course. But I had imagined that Salomon and all the other brands were still small brands operating independently and making all of their own skis in the factories, and this was sadly often not the case.
I'm sure many skiers here, reading this review, have long ago fallen down the very same sort of rabbit hole. I ended up researching independent brands, as well as brands that were local to me, still made in the United States out of as many local materials as possible. I looked into each, and out of all of them, Moment caught my eye, and held it.
I wouldn't have a chance to demo any of their skis. I live far away from Reno, Nevada, and I knew that if I was going to make a purchase that I could ski this year from them, I'd have to take the leap, use what I had learned from my past in skiing and the skis I had demoed, and try to figure out which ski in their catalogue would fit me best as a skier.
Luckily, their catalogue isn't big. And as a petite woman skier, I only had 3 choices: the Sierra, the Bella, and the Hot Mess.
When I read the details of each, I found that the Sierra was the parts of each of the skis I had demoed that I was searching for, and other things too. As the woman's "version" of the Deathwish, the Sierra's triple camber intrigued me. I tried to imagine how that would feel underfoot, knowing there was no ski I could try that would approximate it, and no way to know if I would like it until I tried it myself. The slightly narrower waist at my height with 95 waist was also attractive to me, as I knew I would be skiing often at Taos, the closest mountain to me and my new home mountain, which can get quite a lot of powder on good days and be lean and crusty on others, with lots of tree runs, chutes, and moguls. I wanted a ski which could turn and dart, which carved well, which could fly hard and fast when I wanted them to. I wanted a ski which could nudge me into the right positions when I made mistakes, and not punish my ass when I did something ungraceful and sketchy. I wanted a ski I could dare things on, and have adventures on, be playful and fast in equal measures.
There weren't a lot of outside reviews or things written on the Sierra, being a women's ski and therefore considered more niche than the men's lines, which get far more press. But I perused what was there, read the reviews on the website, and thought for a while. I took a chance, despite having burned myself before, but this time with quite a bit more thought and research put into the purchase.
I'm sure you can guess, if you are still here, putting as much time into reading this review as I spent in writing it, that I have absolutely no regrets.
The very first time I stepped into this ski, I was afraid. Not of skiing, not of the slope itself, or of falling, or looking like an idiot, but excited and nervous in equal measures that I made the wrong decision again, despite my best efforts. Even if the ski was better than the Stella, if it wasn't as good as my next favorite option, the Black Pearls I had demoed, I would have played myself again, talking myself out of the solid option right in front of me instead of picking what looked to most people like a wildcard from a small ski company only some of the most passionate skiers had heard of.
I stepped into my Look Pivot 15 bindings--mounted to skis that, despite these hunks of solid metal bindings, were almost shockingly light to me after the skis I had demoed--and too my first sliding steps. Then my first run down the mountain. A few experimental carves, gentle at first, then leaning into them, turning the blades of the skis down into the hard pack snow beneath them. Pushing the skis harder and harder. Turning sharper and sharper, then big and long. The skis danced beneath me. They bounded. They reacted to my weight and movement in a way I've never felt skis move. The first words that came into my mind, and I think I even whispered them as I flew down the slope that second time were, "These skis feel alive!"
Its still the best way I can describe them, for anyone who has yet to ride them. I'm sure those who have ridden the big brother Deathwish skis know the feeling, though from the reviews, I'm wonder if this is truly a trait isolated to Moment skis with this construction, or if it is an aspect of many Moment skis. The skis moved and responded to me. I haven't felt anything like that since riding horses competitively in high school and college. Not since my beloved horse passed have I ridden anything that felt alive again. There is something in the wood within these skis, in the shaping of them and the way they are built.
It took a while to get used to them, of course. But even as I was learning how to properly ski the progressive mounting, with tails longer than even the Black Crows Camox, and how they liked to be turned, how to respond to the spring in them which helped me out of turns, so different than the dead and quiet or skittering, surfy feeling of all the other skis I had tried, I was loving every moment. The skis bite hard and hold the side of the mountain despite their light weight--they love to jump, they love to go airborne, and when you touch down, it is a soft and smooth landing, a joyous impact. These skis charge well through crud, poor snow, windblown conditions.
The very first days I skied them in Taos, there was such an intense windstorm that all the chairlifts were shut down and the mountain was cleared. The snow, when the mountain was open, was harsh and windswept, crunchy and bare underfoot. I did a black mogul run off-piste and there were many rocks and exposed trees I had to navigate. I even skied over one hidden rock on accident and barely damaged the ski bottoms except for a slight scratch. The Sierras helped me charge through the freezing gales and turn sharply down the mountain to avoid obstacles on the snow.
But the truer joy of these skis, as in all Moment skis, I suspect, came on a Taos powder day.
View attachment 20774
The soft, fluffy Rocky Mountain snow fell all night and all day, and the mountain was almost empty in spite of in, mid-week as it was. I played all day in joy and wonder, feeling my new skis glide effortlessly through the soft snow, allowing me to glide and turn through the drifts, soft moguls, and fields of soft white all day, forgetting the burning in my legs as the day came to a close. I didn't want to leave. The memories of that day, of the feeling of skiing through that soft snow in a mountain with only a few other skiers here and there, will always live on in my memories. I met up with my husband after his second ski lesson ever at the end of the day, and he also had the best ski day he'd ever had. We shared the joy of the powder day together just before the lifts closed, doing several laps through the green chair, where I dove and darted through the trees beside him and raced through the powder about us.
(Sorry about the sideways image, I couldn't get it to post straight).
View attachment 20773
These skis gave me most magical experiences I've had on skis since losing the beloved old Salomon's I had as a child. I can't wait to take these to even more mountains, to travel the world with my husband as he learns to ski, and to one day race down the mountain beside him on these, side by side, until the blades on these wear away to nothing like my Salomon's did. I am a loyal customer of Moment skis for as long as they make incredible, living, breathing, dancing skis like these, and I hope to grow old with a pair of these skis on my feet.
Sokolva
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
@adrianner I'm so glad you love them as much as I do! What region do you ski them on primarily, or do you travel around to many mountains? So far I have only skiied them in Taos, but hoping to get to bring them to the mountain where I learned to ski, Jackson Hole, and experience them in very deep powder and open bowls!
I'm still skiing them every time I go out, and only enjoying them somehow more and more the longer I use them. I just hiked Taos' Highline Ridge for the first time today despite the very poor low tide snow conditions we have been having, and skied the expert terrain at the top of the ridge. It was a thrilling, slightly frightening, bolstering experience, and the lightness of the skis helped on the hike, while their sturdiness gave me excellent grip in the difficult snow while I navigated my way carefully down around many exposed rocks and trees. I've become a better skier than I've ever been on these skis, and I'm planning to always have a pair of Sierra's in my quiver. They just click with me so perfectly, and I think they are excellent skis generally that would work for quite a few people who are looking for the same skis for similar conditions that I am.
My husband is now an intermediate skier, and for Christmas this year I surprised him with the Moment Deathwish 104's to upgrade out of his very soft beginner skis. They are same skis as the Sierras upsized into men's sizes. He was amazed at how he suddenly had so much more grip and turning ability in all conditions, and his skill leapt up immediately. He started off purely wedging, and ended up making parallel turns at speed within a few days. This isn't just the skis, but him taking a lesson and practicing a lot, but he told he he suddenly felt that he could trust his skis edges and it gave him a lot more confidence and control in difficult terrain.
pamplemoose
Certified Ski Diva
Got an email from evo last night that they had the Sierras on sale, so I went ahead and snagged the last pair in 172! They should be here in about a week and I'm so excited! I still need to order bindings - any recommendations? The only other bindings I've used are the Tyrolia Attacks and Protectors, and my DIN is usually at a 6.
