2012-2013 MOMENT Bella, 172cm

Ski: 2012-2013 Moment Bella, 172cm

Dimensions (mm): 134-106-126

Turn Radius: 18 meters

Actual Tip-to-Tail Length (straight tape pull): 171.5cm

Boots/Bindings: Rossignol Radical World Cup 110 / Marker Griffon / (DIN) 6

Mount Location: Factory Recommended

Test Location: Taos Ski Valley and Summit County, Colorado

Days Skied: 6

(Editor’s Note: Our review was conducted on the 11/12 Bella, which is unchanged for 12/13, except for the graphics.)

Earlier this fall while researching hot new skis for the season, Moment’s new ski, the Bella, caught my eye. Curious to learn more, I Google searched “Moment Bella”; the results were frightening.

Instead of finding information on these skis, all of the results were websites from tween girls’ vampire obsession: Twilight. Nearly all the hits were quotes about “falling in love the moment I saw Bella.” At the bottom of the first page, I found just one link to the Bella ski.

I sincerely hoped more reviews would be posted soon. Thankfully, now that the season is well under way, the same Google search provides much more desirable results for the ski, not vampires.

The Bella is a new addition to Moment’s line of women’s skis, and a solid addition at that. It fills a previously missing and increasingly popular niche in Moment’s line: an all-mountain, ≈105mm underfoot, rocker/camber women’s ski that can charge. And for a ski in only its first year of production, the Bella delivers.

Perhaps this is because Moment is a smaller company committed to quality, hand-made products manufactured in the United States. Regardless, Moment has created a ski that could be one of the best all-mountain skis on the market.

The Bella has a mustache camber profile, meaning there is tip and tail rocker but camber underfoot. This allows for maximum float, but also gives the ski the ability to hold an edge while carving. While I have not yet experienced the ski’s float, the Bella carves extremely well.

Over the four days I skied at Taos, we tried to ski a wide variety of terrain and also rip a lot of groomers. Porcupine and Lower Stauffenberg in particular are wide, steep trails where I would envision a fast GS course. Naturally, I had to bring the skis up to speed.

The Bella is an impressively solid ski. I felt completely stable really laying the ski over in a carve and standing on it. They are stiffer as far as women’s skis go, so I found myself having to work the ski a bit more at slower speeds. At fast speeds, however, they want to rip.

The combination of a lighter aspen and stronger pine core provides this stability, but also gives the ski a quick responsiveness. The ski transitioned from edge to edge smoothly, and I could adjust my speed with ease.

While I felt confident about the Bella’s stability at high speeds (I could often surpass the boys on their longer skis), fellow ski buddy and BLISTER reviewer Will Brown noted that I was making smaller-radius turns. I would gauge them somewhere between slalom and GS turns.

When I tried making larger turns, I felt the ski lose its ability to maintain a good carve. That is not to say they could not go fast, just that I may have had to make a few more turns. This is probably due to the relatively short length of the ski though 172cm is the longest size in which the Bella is offered.