The Return of the M1

After years of phone calls and emails we finally decided to bring back the Garbones/M1.

This ski has a deep history and is for sure the most badass, stiff, charging ski we have ever made. Blister Gear Review were some of the people asking us to bring it back. Moment founder and CEO, Casey Hakansson, gave them a little history lesson for their site:

It’s been over a decade since the M1 was created, so my history might be a little rough…

But the M1 was, in a way, our first model, in the sense that it was designed around the very first ski I ever made, back in 2002.

This first ski was directional and stiff. I got super lucky, and they skied great—not bad for the first pair. They were your typical charging ski that performed best at high speeds or on steep slopes. The skis that we started making after that tended to be more modern, with twin tips and a more centered mount. The new models we were coming out with were different than what was on the market at the time, and they made skiing so much more effortless and fun compared to traditional skis.

This was also a time when Tahoe was having amazing snow years, so the fat, playful skis kept us happy, and we kind of forgot about that ski that likes to charge the crud, gives you confidence at high speed, and will punish you if your not skiing with the front of your boot.

But memories of old flames will always come back, and soon we wanted to have that charging, ultra-stiff ski back in the quiver.  Hence the M1 was created / resurrected, using the designs of that first ski I made in 2002.

We called it the M1, short for Moment One. But the name also fit as a reference to a gnarly side country line at Alpine Meadows that had the name M1—it’s one of those lines where you would be happy to have this particular ski under your feet.

The first pair of M1’s was made I’m guessing in 2006, and since it was a prototype, we just used any extra material that was laying around. Luckily there was some bright neon pink base material available, and what a better way to introduce this badass ski than to dress it in pink?

After a year of passing the prototype around to different skiers and athletes, the M1 made it into the lineup. Now we had a ski that attracted some of the athletes competing in big mountain comps. One such athlete was Craig Garbiel, a constant podium finisher and sickbird belt winner, and we were lucky to have him join the team.

The M1 was his go-to ski from the beginning, but he quickly requested it to be stiffer.

What? stiffer? It’s already stiffer!

But we obliged, added more composites to the existing M1, and this uber-stiff, 105mm-underfoot ski was born. The M1 became Craig Gabriel’s pro-model, and took on his competition nickname, “Garbones.”

The Garbones kept up with technology, and by its second year, was updated from a traditionally cambered ski to a front rockered ski. It wasn’t until 2010 that the ski changed again. It kept the same front-rockered profile, but its sidecut and width were redesigned—the major change was going from a 105mm-waist width to a 112mm waist. This sadly, was its last production year.

For the 11/12 season, we discontinued the Garbones and redesigned the ski to appeal to more customers. Hence the Belafonte was introduced. The Belafonte was still a ski to be reckoned with; while it lost a bit of stiffness from the Garbones and received a more subtle sidecut, it still was a hard-charging ski.

The Belafonte definitely was an easier sell to wider audience, and at the end of the day, it was the right move. But we were still constantly pestered to bring the old Garbones back. Now is a good time to feed those demands, and resurrect the old Garbones with our updated construction and production techniques.

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The original M1 and Garbones was offered in a 182cm and 192cm. We are bringing these sizes back as well as an all new 187cm.

This limited run of the most badass ski ever is now available for pre-order here: The Return of the M1

Photos are from 2007 of Casey Cane by Miles Holden in New Zealand.