“Shaping skiing since 2002” is 4FRNT Skis’ mantra, and twelve years deep, the company continues to assert this notion. By intertwining innovative design principles with a part-ownership business model, 4FRNT provides athlete-ambassadors with a vested interest in continued success. Combining these factors places 4FRNT firmly among freeskiing’s pioneering brands—both then and now.

“We like to say we’re shaping skiing, but obviously don’t want that to come across in a douchey way,” says Joshua Moreland, 4FRNT’s Marketing Manager, in a manner of humility. “Personally, I’ve been really happy and really proud to contribute ideas to ski designs that have been validated—something worthwhile to skiing, and I don’t mean industry or business, but just skiing, ‘cause that’s what we love—we’re skiers.”

From the brand’s inception, founder Matt Sterbenz and co. have been building molds, breaking ‘em down and building stronger, more efficient ones. It was this process of trial and error that led 4FRNT to its greatest design innovation to date: Reflect Tech—full rocker complete with a matching sidecut radius.

“There are plenty of other companies who started doing basically the same thing as [Reflect Tech] after we did,” says Moreland, “but nobody was doing it in ‘09 when we came out with the first Renegade, much less in ‘07 when we started developing the concept.”

Kye Peterson pops some pillows in Pemberton. Photo by Garrett Grove

Moreland cites 4FRNT’s prior tech advancements, too, as being instrumental in building the brand’s clout, and there’s no denying 4FRNT pushed the limits of how people thought about skis, and how skis could be shaped in the early-mid 2000s. The birth of Reflect Tech, in Moreland’s mind, simply represented 4FRNT coming into its own—the culmination of those aforementioned trials.

“We developed Reflect Tech with Eric “Hoji” Hjorleifson,” says Moreland. “It was his dream. He wanted a surfy powder ski that went edge to edge really quickly, that was wide bodied, didn’t have tip or tail flap and didn’t lose power—he wanted it to be stiff so you can maintain an aggressive forward position but still play in your turns. That’s how Reflect Tech was born.”

“Being rider owned, our athletes aren’t just huck monkeys—they own equity in the company, and because of the way we’re structured, they have the opportunity to be a part of the business,” says Moreland. “It gives them the platform to say, ‘Hey, I’ve always thought about this new shape,’ and as part owners they have so many resources at their disposal to see that idea through to fruition.”

4FRNT is not the first company to adopt such a model. But, to have kicked off this program in 2002, in the world of skiing, they were shaking things up.

Hoji being Hoji. Photo by Matt Sterbenz

Today, Hjorleifson is one of just a few who bear their names on 4FRNT’s Signature skis. Hjorleifson’s trilogy is complete with the all new Raven, complimenting the Renegade and HOJI design, then there’s XGames Real Ski fan favorite Wiley Miller’s YLE, Sochi’s Halfpipe Olympic Gold Medist David Wise’s WISE and dropping midseason Kye Petersen’s KYE, which 4FRNT reports to be somewhere between Hjorleifson’s design and the CRJ, the late CR Johnson’s signature model. Signature skis are not all that comprise 4FRNT’s line, the Identity, Park and Future series contribute another 10 shapes to round out the collection.

Build, tweak, build again—4FRNT will continue to strive for the absolute best. “That’s what inspires us to keep going, is to make a difference in the sport we love so much,” says Moreland. Backed by some of the world’s foremost talent, and always innovating, 4FRNT will go on shaping skiing for many years to come.

4FRNT Gaucho

“The 4FRNT Gaucho skis garnered some serious praise from our testers including one that said, “it transitions seamlessly through variable conditions…” Click for full review and scores.

4FRNT Wise

“With exactly the same construction as the ski David Wise used to bring home Olympic gold, the Wise is a semi-capped, traditionally cambered…” Click for full review and scores.

4FRNT Devastator

“When Eric Hjorleifson teamed up with 4FRNT, he wanted to fix the flaw found in some rockered skis: inconsistent edging. Hoji came up with Reflect Tech…” Click for full review and scores.