Name: Jeff Moran    

Age: Chronologically 39.  Mentally 18.  Physically 63.

Team: JHSC Freeride Program / Jackson Hole Snowboard Team

Board Stats: (Shape, profile, etc.)

“Smash Ghost” 158:  

Traditional Camber, wide(ish) board with a  blunt nose and a directional flex and shape. It’s an aggressive ripper that’s super stable at high speeds.  Perfect for pipe, banked slalom and railing turns.

“Favorite Day” 4’9”:  

Flat Camber with early rise.  This short pow-board’s tapered tail and super wide nose makes it insanely maneuverable and very floaty.  Perfect for low angle, deep snow and tight trees. It’s my go to board for deep days.

My Directional “Everyday” 157.5:  

This is my all-mountain charger that handles everything on the JH Snowboard Team’s training laps: pow, cliffs, pillows, groomers, Stash parks, terrain parks, natural hits, halfpipe, jibs and flatground butters. 

I designed this board based on Notice’s 2014 Everyday, but with some tweaks.  It’s a mid-wide board with twin nose & tail shapes.  It’s got a directional sidecut, directional flex (slightly stiffer tail) and has a 1cm taper in the tail.  The profile has mellow camber between the bindings with flat camber from the outside of the inserts to the tips.  The nose has a little bit of early rise and the stance is set back 1.5 inches.  The sidecut pop-outs add enough extra bite when carving so you can lay it over until your fly is full of snow.  This board is forgiving and poppy, stable and playful.  

The best part is how easy Brittan is to work with to customize your board.  Whether you know exactly what you want, or only have a basic idea, Brittan can help you customize the perfect board for your riding style(s).

When & how did you start riding?

I grew up in southern New Hampshire in a family that started me out on skis at age 2.  We spent a ton of time skiing in the White Mountains of NH and the Green Mountains of Vermont.  As I grew up my brother and I got super into skateboarding so in the winters we would strap skateboards to our feet with bike tire tubes and try to ride the boards down our local sled hills.  

Ultimately our two passions of skiing and skateboarding collided when we first saw snowboards at the ski resorts in the mid 80’s.  My brother and I got our first snowboards in 1986 and since then there haven’t been too many days on skis.  To this day skateboarding and snowboarding are still the two biggest driving forces in my life. 

Biggest pro influence & why?

As a kid I was super into Jeff Brushie and Jamie Lynn.  I remember seeing Brushie do a FS lipslide on a snowmaking curb-cut at Bolton Valley, VT circa 1985 and it blew my mind.  To see someone skateboarding on snow was insane to me.  In my opinion Brushie and Lynn had the raddest styles ever.  They made snowboarding look fun.  To this day, I still think Lynn has the best method going.  

As I’ve gotten older and been working with younger athletes my influences have changed.  I don’t look as much to the pro-ranks for inspiration these days as I do to the up-and-coming rosters.  In particular, I’m a huge fan of JH rippers Cam FitzPatrick, Blake Paul, Alex Yoder, Jack Hessler and Jack Wiley.  These young shredders are some of the most creative and stylish snowboarders I’ve ever met.  Their creativity and stoke is what inspires me now.  

I get just as stoked on someone’s personality as I do his/her actual abilities so I’d have to say Pat Moore is my favorite pro to watch these days.  He kills everything and is so humble and lighthearted.  …Plus he’s a buzzard from NH. Live Free or Die!

Favorite Place to Ride other than my home mountain

Other than Jackson Hole, I’m a big fan of Cerro Catedral, Bariloche Argentina.  It’s a massive, wide-open mountain with insanely varied terrain:  High alpine bowls, lots of rocks, cliffs and chutes, wide-open enchanted forests and even bamboo jungles.  It’s impossible to get bored there, especially if you’re riding with the SASS Argentina crew. Sassglobaltravel.com

Event I plan to hit in 2015

These days most of my time at events is spent on the coaching side of the fence.  I do plan to race in Dick’s Ditch Banked Slalom at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and will be at all the Wednesday Night Lights events at Snow King Mountain in Jackson, WY, which I co-created in 2009 with Rob Kingwill.

Favorite website/blog/etc.: 

WildWestSkateboarding.com

Thrashermagazine.com

Snowboardermag.com

AmericaByCycle.com

AdventureCycling.org

Promotive.com

Buoloco.com

Favorite trick: (link to video)

My favorite tricks are Miller Flips and Switch Methods.

What makes a good park?

To me, a good park combines creative lines with traditional features and regular maintenance.   I like when features are set up to be hit from every angle, not just from above.  I also like when side by side features create unexpected gaps.  There’s no wrong way to hit a jump.

I don’t think people understand how much time, effort, planning and money goes into creating and maintaining a great terrain park. I’m always so impressed with what Ranyon D’Arge and his staff come up with at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.  

When I’m not riding, I’m: 

Skateboarding, bike camping, kayaking, hiking and traveling with my girlfriend, playing the drums, running the Jackson Hole Ski & Snowboard Club’s Freeride Program and putting on the Wild West Skateboard Contest Series in Jackson Hole, WY.

Other Sponsors

At this point in the game, I don’t have actual sponsors, but I do have a lot of people who support me and my Freeride Program, so huge thanks to:

Burton (boots/bindings/clothing)

Smith Optics

Avalon7

Eastern Boarder

Jackson Treehouse

The Boardroom of Jackson Hole

The Village Café

SASS Global Travel

WYPY

Random fact:

I have two gold teeth with my initials engraved in them.  They get me tons of street cred with the young’ns.  …Although, the engraving is wearing out a bit so instead of “JM” it looks like “TM.”  Oh Well.