NCET Biz Tips: Where craftsmanship meets performance

Winter snow. Winter skiing. For many, it’s in our Reno DNA. Winter is a big deal.

Did you know our Reno area has the highest concentration of world-class ski resorts in the country and is centrally located to nearly 20 ski resorts in the Tahoe region?

Reno is also home to the biggest little ski company in the world – Moment Skis. Many don’t know that Moment Skis is also the largest ski manufacturer based in the U.S.

There is a success story behind Moment Skis and why skiers around the country flat-out love their skis. It started with founder Casey Hakansson back in 2003, who couldn’t find the type of skis he wanted on the market. He decided to build skis for himself and his friends with processes shared by a local snowboard manufacturer.

Soon after, Moment Skis current CEO, Luke Jacobson, joined in to help with design and production. Moment Skis became a business in 2006, producing skis to sell directly to retail customers.

Today, with its new and much larger production space, Moment Skis continually improves upon current design, building some of the most innovative ski designs in the country.

Two species of wood sourced from Minnesota, Michigan, Kentucky, and Germany are combined to form the wood core of the ski. A proprietary blend of fiberglass and carbon fiber with different weave variations gives its ski lines unique on-slope performance. The skis' base, sidewall, and top surface are built with special plastics imported from Austria.

Craftsmanship is built into every Moment Skis performance ski produced.

Why did Moment Skis select Reno as its home base of operation? There are two significant reasons. First, snow for on-slope ski testing and industrial space for production. Second, having the Tahoe area in its backyard allows Moment Skis to test new ski designs in days instead of weeks. The industrial side of Reno provides Moment Skis with ample space and power, while local companies in the Reno area can supply needed supplies for factory improvements and repairs.

Moment Skis currently has 30 employees. Its expertise is second to none in design, production, marketing, sales, and graphic design. Employees are skiers, providing knowledge about how the finished product looks, feels and performs.

What is “very cool” about Moment Skis? Aside from operating its factory and producing skis in real-time, the company has an advantage over many other ski manufacturers because of its versatility to make improvements on the fly. Moment Skis can quickly test new materials and shapes and has total control over the final product.

Is Moment Skis’ success limited to just our Reno area? The 2018 Winter Olympics put the company on the world map when it produced skis for Olympic Gold Medalist David Wise in the past two Olympic games. Moment Skis worked alongside David to build a pair of skis to hold up to his aggressive skiing style in the Halfpipe competition. After 15 different iterations of the ski, Moment Skis built the ultimate ski that would last, allowing Wise to compete at the level he wanted.

The result? Wise won gold in 2018 and a silver at the next Olympics.

Not all companies can state they built an entire production line from a blank canvas, built a stable work environment for their employees, and produced what many skiing enthusiasts believe are some of the best skis on the market. Moment Skis can.

Challenges? Every business has them. For Moment Skis, it has been material and supply chain issues. Raw materials have become increasingly harder to get in recent years. Tack on increased shipping costs. It forces the company to order materials 10-14 months in advance. Forecasting what materials are needed and tying up capital so far in advance makes a difficult proposition.

Yet Moment Skis is fortunate to sell most, if not all, of its products year after year due to increased growth. Promoting employees to manage all the bases in the factory better has led to overcoming some of the material and supply chain issues as well.

Innovation. Craftmanship. Performance. Visual aesthetics. Moment Skis has it all.

If you want to learn more about Moment Skis and how they continue to build performance skis year after year, you have an opportunity right around the corner at NCET Tech Wednesday in June.

Sign up early for Moment Skis’ presentation on June 14 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. with networking from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. During your visit, you will hear and learn about:

• The history of Moment Skis and how they came to be.

• The production process for machining various raw materials to create ski parts.

• Ski parts assembly and the gluing process utilizing a pneumatic press.

• The grinding and polishing of the ski used to assemble the final product.

• The showroom that helps customers determine the proper model for them.

So don’t be late. Register now. Visit https://ncetevents.org.

Bill Leonard is VP of Communications at NCET and a freelance copywriter of conversion-driven customer case studies and white papers. Connect with Bill at Bill Leonard Creative and LinkedIn. NCET produces education and networking events to help people explore business and technology.