A Tribute-Review: Moment Bibby Pro, 190 cm

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Groomers

Railing hardpack, the 11/12 LINE Influence 115 was probably the best ~115mm ski I’ve ever skied. (Important caveat: most of the 115ish skis I’ve been on have varying degrees of tail rocker, and the Influence has a non-rockered twin tip.) By comparison, the 190cm MOMENT Bibby Pro is excellent on groomers, but as in chop, it isn’t as damp, and doesn’t smooth out the ride as much as the 11/12 Influence 115. – JE

On fresh groomers, the Bibby Pro felt smoother and a bit quicker transitioning edge to edge than the Squad 7. The Squad is still very good on groomers; but the Bibby is so smooth, effortless, stable, and energetic. But as I’ve said above, as those groomers get bumped up, I’ll take the more damp, stable ride of the Squad 7s. – JE

The Bibby Pro is surprisingly good on hardpack, but not as good as the Armada JJ. – WB

The 191cm ON3P Billy Goats are a dedicated pow ski with a lengthy 28.3m turn radius, and there are other skis out there that float just as well in fresh, yet are far more lively on groomers (the 190cm Bibby Pro comes to mind). – WB

You could ski the Bibby everyday, and people do. (It’s really really good on hardpack, FOR its width as a pow ski.) But if I wanted the option to really enjoy harpack bumps and carving groomers, I would like to be on something narrower, for sure. – WB

Fresh Pow

Jonathan Ellsworth, Alta Ski Area, Blister Gear Review
Jonathan Ellsworth on the Moment Bibby Pro, Alta Ski Area.

The 193cm Atomic Automatic will probably feel a touch more surfy and pivoty in fresh conditions, were the Bibby feels like it wants to track more down the fall line (but it will get sideways across it if you give it some strong input). – WB

In fresh, untracked pow, the 190 Bibby Pro, 191 Billy Goat, and 190 Squad 7 are all fantastic, and I can’t say that I greatly prefer one over the other. If you and I were going out on a big pow day, I would take any of these three skis and have a blast. – JE

Chop

The 190cm MOMENT Bibby Pro feels about as quick as the 11/12 LINE Influence 115, but is definitely poppier and a bit more playful, while the Influence 115 is damp, and smoothes the ride out in chop even more than the Bibby Pro. – JE

In both heavy, soft chop and more firm chop, I’d give the nod to the Rossignol Squad 7 over the Bibby Pro. It’s nearly a coin flip here, but I felt that the Squad 7 got knocked around a bit less (or perhaps I should say: even less) than the lighter and poppier Bibby Pro. The Squad’s blend of dampness and stability is excellent, and yet it doesn’t feel like a ton of ski to throw around. – JE

After a number of runs getting bucked around pretty good on the 193cm Nordica Helldorado, I swapped out to the 190 Bibby Pro to get a sense of whether it was me, or whether it was the ski. But the Bibby Pro was much more stable and capable in the heavy, wet chop of Alta’s Eagle’s Nest, and the more firm chop of lower Regal. – JE

I just spent some time on the 193 Automatic and 190cm Bibby Pro in the same day at Alta. Initial impressions are that the Automatic does feel softer than the Bibby on the whole, and not quite as heavy. The Automatic also has more of a pintail shape (like the Squad), so it felt a little less balanced in steep, firmed up chop. In real skied out, old chop it felt more like the tails were more likely to wash out behind me than on the Bibby, which has a wider, more supportive tail. – WB

I prefer the tail on the Bibby far more than that of the Automatic, primarily because it balances the width in the shovel of the ski better, so even though the ski’s running length is reduced, it still hold up in chop and crud quite well. I’ve found that the Automatic’s tail seems to get scrubbed out and kicked around by the rest of the ski in variable conditions (however that more tapered shape is great to have in fresh snow). – WB

Trees

WB: I’m 6’2″ and own the 184. I don’t find it to be too short, lacking in stability, or too soft. For me, the 190 is more stable at higher speeds (particularly in tracked powder) and  takes a touch more work to move around in trees, but is still quite manageable. As I’ve said to other readers, I think Moment has dialed the camber profile on the Bibby Pro to give it a perfect, functional balance between stability at speed and playfulness in the trees. – WB

In tight trees, I found the Bibby Pro to be the most manageable of the three skis [Bibby Pro, Rossi Squad 7, 191cm ON3P Billy Goat]. The Bibby feels a bit quicker, a bit more playful, but perhaps slightly less stable and solid than the Squad 7. – JE

Generally the S7 might be a bit more lively at slow speeds in the trees, given that it has more of a pin-tail). – WB

I love the 190 Bibbys in trees. They take a little more effort to swing around than the 184, but are not a handful by any means. – WB

Moguls

If we are talking soft, shallow bumps, all three skis are a blast, and all three will allow for fast, big arcing turns. The Bibby feels the most dynamic; the Squad is more solid, but will still be ready and able to pop the tops of the bumps; and the ON3P Billy Goats will just want to stay fall line and rage. – JE

Huge Moguls, Deep Troughs

Well, I wouldn’t really want to go ski any of these skis [the Bibby, 191 Billy Goat, or 190 Squad 7] all day in this stuff, but I’d take the 190 Bibby. It’s the easiest to turn, and quicker than the Squad 7s. And as for the 191cm Billy Goats, I learned my lesson on firm, big-ass bumps on Taos’ Spencer’s and Rhoda’s: I can’t do it on the BGs; they are too long and stiff, and I kept hanging up the tails. If you can ski hard bumps with deep troughs on the 191 Billy Goats, then you deserve a gold star. (And just to reiterate, I’m not talking about low-angle, soft moguls—those are fun on the Billy Goats.) – JE

Bottom Line (from last season’s One-Ski Quiver Awards)

Question: If over the next three seasons you had to ski one ski, every day, regardless of location, what would you choose?

JE: This is an excruciating question—are we really even wired to have a long-term, monogamous relationship with our skis? Is that natural? Is it possible??? In any case, I am going with the 190cm Bibby Pro, mostly because I am usually fortunate enough to be on the mountain during and immediately after storms. If tended to miss a lot of pow days, I would probably go with something narrower.

And if I have to ski rock-hard bumps on the Bibbys for long stretches of time, I won’t be having the most fun you can have on skis. But for conditions ranging from even slightly soft to absolutely bottomless, I pretty much will.

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17 comments on “A Tribute-Review: Moment Bibby Pro, 190 cm”

  1. I’m on my second pair and am quite disappointed to see them discontinued. Lately, I’ve been having a hard time not hoarding them. I’m anxiously awaiting your review of the new Bibby and Exit World to see if either will measure up.

  3. I’ll try to be quick and to the point, as I know you guys are busy, you know with providing THE BEST reviews in the entire industry. No exaggeration there, blister is the standard and everyone knows it. So I’ve been salivating over a pair of Bibby pros ever since last season, but the only problem is that I already have 3 skis in that waist range. I have a 185 JJ for a super playful jib/tree ski, and 189 Obsethed which I absolutely love, and a 196 Bibby Special for shredding steeps here in the tetons. I want to jump on a pair of bib pros before they disappear, with this new version coming out, I’m just too worried that there is not a large enough gap between my obsethed and bibby special.

    What would you do, knowing that this could be my last chance to get on the breathtaking bibby pro?

  4. Hey Gang,

    Currently skiing the 185 Line Opus’, which I kinda like (?), and do find to be a fun, playful ski, but not necessarily a charger (especially for someone my size, 6’2″, 210). I’m looking for a stiffer ski that can be worked hard, and won’t get knocked around on the non-pow days, but still keep some of the playful characteristics that I’ve come to love on the Opus’. Sounds like the Bibbys and the Squad 7’s fit the bill, but I’m having a tough time choosing between what sounds like a beefed up version of my opus’ (the bibbys) and more directional charger (squad7’s). For your money, would should I go with? Also, if possible, could you please rate the relative stiffness of all three models on a scale of 1-10?

  5. After reading through numerous reviews and with your advice, I dumped my 185 JJs and went out to look for a pair of Bibbys(Which is no easy feat). Christmas came early, and I got a pair of 10/11 190cm Bibbys UNOPENED. After a couple days of skiing them up here in the PNW, I am extremely confident in my decision. After it rained on about 4 inches of fresh pow I was really pleased with their performance. I could drive them, stay neutral, or lean back, no matter what, they were totally awesome. Just a couple days later, it dumped a good foot overnight, and again they were incredible. In the deep stuff they were honestly just as playful as my JJs, and when it got chopped up they just charged right through it.

    Thanks for the advice, I couldn’t be more pleased with my choice. I would recommend them to anyone, and even though I am 6′ 2″ and the 190s were manageable for me, I could see them being suitable for someone much smaller.

  6. Still haven’t gotten a pair of bibby pros, and now there even harder to find. Is it worth the hastle to find a pair, or should I just go with the 190 deathwish. I will be thinning the quiver next year, and traveling to ski, so need one ski to crush it all. Right now my 189 obsethed is that, but needs to be replaced. How do bibby pros compare to the deathwish? On Crud, pow, groomers, trees, etc? Thanks.

    • I have almost no time yet on the 190 Deathwish, Vail, so can really only speak about the 184 Deathwish, though I personally would go with the 190. As I mentioned in my review, the forward mount of the Deathwish (especially on the short 184) was not conducive at my size to floating in pow. Bibby by a long shot here. But I’d rather ski groomers on a Deathwish, as well as big bumps. Crud and chop and pow? Bibby for sure. I guess I’d say that unless you have make moves right now, no reason to rush?

  7. A Ski for the Next 10 Years…

    Guys, like many others have said, awesome website. You are doing a service to sports enthusiasts and equipment technophiles (aka junkies). I wish you all the best as I know it is hard to sustain a website of this quality – great work.

    I am in a strange category of skier for your website perhaps anyway. I haven’t skied much of late due to young kids (3) – the last skis I used were 198 GS Rossis, I’ve never skied the new shaped skis. But I am hoping that the kids may now give me the excuse to get back up on the fields. I’ll ski in Japan mainly, with some odd trips to NZ (treble cone, remarkables). I expect to spend time with the on groomers – but sneak off-piste whenever I can. And I hope to join friends in the back-country in Gunma when I can get time off.

    I don’t expect to average much more than 10 days per year, so I could rent skis – but I prefer to learn to ski the same boards and often the rental options are not what you want at the time. I have the chance to sneak into Kanda sometime this year and get a cheap set of past-seasons’ skis. So I’d like to ask for a recommendation.

    I’m 5′ 11″, 170 pounds, active and train before skiing. I guess I am advanced intermediate as I never took lessons, but spent seasons skiing with friends out of bounds (especially hakuba). My skis will be on the ground more than in the air, but I love powder and trees (i know, who doesn’t). I want a ski that will not let me down on windy days in NZ (steep, hard faces) but that I can take back-country in Gunma. Having scoured your reviews, the Bibby Pro seemed like one option – but I think I should get 184 as I am not as aggressive as you guys and unlikely to become more so (178 too short?). I also liked the sound of the Cochise (with NZ fields in mind) but suspect you’ll tell me there a bit too much ski. The other 2 candidates are the Soul 7 (easiest to ski?) and the Line Opus. And of course having read the rave reviews if I saw a Sickle by chance….

    If I have to favour one thing it would be the powder/back country part. Not so worried about groomers – I can dream about pow while I follow the kids down the trails. But I want something that will hold up if I get a chance to go up in NZ where variable snow and steeps will more likely be the order of the day. Hope it is not too challenging for you – but would be grateful for a recommendation of ski (and length).

    Thanks and keep up the good work.

  8. I bought a pair of new 2013s in a local ski shop. 190s. I’m six three and 225. Aggressive with style. Fall line laser beam.

    I’ve skied since 1968. I’ve skied on a lot of different skis. I am an expert with a fairly classic style but who used to bump ski quite hard. I’m 57 so i don’t hammer moguls much but still ski fall line directional.

    But OMG these skis. First fat skis I’ve ever owned. First skis with greater than a 69 mm waist I’ve ever owned and I love them beyond words. They have changed how I ski and I have learned magical things. The best I can describe them is a SUV made by Ferrari and Jeep. Or something. It’s been a horrible low snow year here in the Pacific NW but I’ve rocked whatever the snow gods of the mountains give me. Seriously these are a one quiver ski if you are half Legolas and half Robin Hood. I am simply stunned. I see Moment is bringing them back OG for 2016. I’m getting a new pair and keeping these for rock and crap days, which on Moment Bibby Pros are still damn fun days.

    I bought them largely because of your review on this site and am glad I did. As an old mountain warhorse who can still ski like a kamikaze sirocco ocean gale, these are the greatest skis I’ve ever had under me. No hype. They are alchemical.

  9. The Bibby is the one ski you want when you know your going to charge all day. This ski likes to ski itself, go fast and always be therefore you when you grab that turn land that drop or smear that edge. I have several dat skis, yet when I’m in a kick add mood and want to charge and bring a ski to charge with that will also keep me daft I grab the Bibby…

  10. Hi, do you know the weight of the 15/16 bibby pro in 190?
    I’m very interested in the ski, the only thing is I’m worried about how they perform in windpack and heavier snow based on the long running length…

  11. Hey y’all, seriously digging the in depth reviews! I’m 6″3, 235 lbs (I like to lift weights, so not just a tubbo) and am seriously eye balling the new Bibbys now that they are the OG make. My only question is if they are too much ski for me? I would call myself an intermediate to advanced skier, 27, this is my third season coming up. My hill is in southeast BC known for pow, despite last year being brutal. I did forty days on Rossi S3s 186 last year, and while they were fine in lots of groomed conditions, they felt like snowblades on the few pow days we had. I know there is plenty I need to work on, but I couldn’t help but feel I was too heavy for my skis, and it sounds like these Bibbys could go a long way for a big guy like me! This season already is better than last year, I want to make the most of it. Thanks in advance!

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