Five Minutes With...Matt Sterbenz
Interview by Derek Taylor
When Matt Sterbenz' name comes up, few look beyond one anecdote: He got booted from Squaw Valley for skiing the permanent closure under the tram, then returned under the alias Hugh G. Rection to win the 2001 Squaw Valley Spring Jam, thus qualifying for the 2002 Winter X Games. As the only skier sponsored by Von Zipper sunglasses, and the founder of a new ski company, however, this University of Minnesota graduate has a lot more to say.
Tell us a little bit about your new company.
After serving Fisher for three years and dealing with their interests, I decided
to develop my own company, 4FRONT. We are going to, hopefully, have three prototypes
available for showing [at the SIA trade show] in Vegas [in January 2003]. They're
all going to be twin tips with a vertical sidewall, kind of a race stock construction.
They won't have the softness of a capped ski, will be a little bit more rigid,
and, in general, I think they're going to be a lot wider than what the industry
has seen. I want to design skis that will progress the sport, not just adapt
to it.
Where are the skis being made, and whose presses are you using?
For the first year, they're going to be made locally in Truckee [California]
by Quantum Snowboards. This is a friend of mine who has made snowboards for
the last five years or so, and has shown interest in making skis.
Do you have any financial backers you would like to call out?
Currently, no. But I would like to thank the companies that are trying to do
something different and more innovative for the industry-Von Zipper, for sure,
for their business sense and how they became so successful so quickly. They
have definitely added more light to the entrepreneur scene.