Getting to know 4FRNT, the skier-led brand shaped by pro models

4FRNT founder Matt Sterbenz returned to the company’s product team in October 2025, eight years after stepping away from its daily business. His priorities include updating the MSP, the first ski to carry the 4FRNT name, and renewing the brand’s links with Utah’s Wasatch ski community.

The company now has a broader range than the freestyle operation Sterbenz started in 2002. Its current skis cover resort freestyle, freeride, powder and touring, with shapes ranging from conventional camber to full reverse camber.

From homemade twin tips to the MSP

Sterbenz came from the American Midwest and competed in slopestyle during the early growth of modern freeskiing. He believed established manufacturers did not understand how he and his peers were skiing, so he began building twin-tip skis with friends.

The Matt Sterbenz Pro, better known as the MSP, became the first 4FRNT ski in 2002. The young company initially worked from Sterbenz’s garage in northern California before moving to Salt Lake City. Its skis were formally shown at the SIA trade exhibition in Las Vegas in 2004.

The early range reflected the freestyle skiing of the period. Twin tips allowed skiers to take off and land backwards, while more progressive mounting positions suited spins and a centred stance. 4FRNT later sold bindings, poles and accessories, but skis remained the core of the business.

Sterbenz’s 2025 return puts the MSP back on the agenda. In 4FRNT’s announcement, he said he wanted to apply “modern tweaks for the present demands we seek in all mountain skiing”. The re-engineered MSP 99 was introduced for 2024/25 and carried into 2025/26 with only a graphics change. 4FRNT has since announced another update for 2026/27, revising the rocker profiles and flex of both the MSP 99 and MSP 107 while retaining their titanal-reinforced construction. The brand says the changes are intended to make the skis release from an edge more easily and feel calmer in tight or unpredictable terrain.

Hoji and the move towards powder

Eric “Hoji” Hjorleifson helped move 4FRNT beyond its freestyle beginnings. Sterbenz met the Canadian skier in Whistler during the mid-2000s, when Hjorleifson was already modifying his equipment and making prototypes.

His first 4FRNT pro model, the EHP, introduced the company to rocker, where the ski’s tips and tails rise away from the snow earlier than on a conventionally cambered ski. That design developed into the Renegade, the model most closely associated with 4FRNT’s powder identity.

The current Renegade is 122 mm underfoot, fully rockered and built around a long 30 m sidecut radius. Its combination of taper, a near-centre mounting point and a fairly straight shape is intended to make a wide ski easy to pivot without losing composure at speed.

That geometry gives the Renegade a specific job. Blister’s testers found it calm and intuitive in soft snow, especially when skied from a centred stance. Reviewer Eric Freson said: “The Renegade is a ski that allows me to ski soft snow with a high degree of intuition, rather than intention.”

The same testing found limitations on firm snow. Reverse camber can make the Renegade wander on a groomer unless it is held slightly on edge, while its width and stiffness make it more prone to deflection in hard crud. It belongs in a multi-ski collection rather than serving as a single ski for every day of the season.

Hjorleifson’s wider design family also includes the 112 mm Hoji and 104 mm Raven. The Hoji sits between lift-served freeride and touring, while the lighter Raven is a fully rockered touring ski with carbon stringers. The 104 mm Nevar, listed as a new model in 2026, uses 3 mm of camber and a 22 m radius for firmer and more variable backcountry snow.

Pro models shaped by athlete input

Athlete input is common across the ski industry, and 4FRNT has allowed several pro models to begin with an athlete’s own workshop experiments. Utah skier Thayne Rich developed the 117 mm InThayne after modifying a Renegade and pressing his own prototype in 4FRNT’s Salt Lake City research facility, known as the White Room.

The company also tests prototypes as a group. At a 2024 session at Mt. Bachelor, brand manager Sam Kimmerle, marketing manager Nick Africano, team skier Mallory Duncan and art director Harrison Johnson traded prototype pairs and talked through the differences. By that point, athletes, demo-shop workers and other people across the ski industry had already skied it, according to POWDER’s account of the process.

The Sinister is the latest example. Developed with Norwegian skier Stinius Skjøtskift, it combines a 113 mm waist, twin tips and camber underfoot with partial titanal reinforcement. The metal is concentrated around the middle of the ski to support edge grip and landings without making its rockered ends excessively stiff.

At a listed weight of 2,330 g per ski in the 186 cm length, the Sinister is substantially heavier than 4FRNT’s touring models. That weight suits its intended use in rough snow and hard landings, but makes it a poor choice for regular human-powered ascents.

Ownership and the current range

Levinthal’s ownership was a three-year chapter rather than the company’s current arrangement. In 2020, he sold 4FRNT to three private entrepreneurs and skiers - Charlie Johnson, Will Armenta and Ebi Lange - who said they intended to preserve its athlete-led product development and direct-to-consumer model. Sterbenz’s 2025 return did not reverse that sale: 4FRNT described him as rejoining the brand to contribute to its story and product development, while later reporting said he would work with longtime engineer Bob Boice to refine the ski line.

Line founder Jason Levinthal bought 4FRNT in 2017 and moved its headquarters from Salt Lake City to Burlington, Vermont. The plan was to keep 4FRNT privately owned while sharing some operational systems with Levinthal’s other ski company, J Skis.

4FRNT still presents itself as independent and skier-driven. Its range is less narrowly focused than the Renegade might suggest. The MSP 99 is its more conventional, titanal-reinforced all-mountain ski, combining camber underfoot with a 99 mm waist. The 99 mm Switch is a cambered true twin for resort skiing and park use, while the 108 mm Devastator uses multi-radius rocker as the middle ground between an all-mountain ski and a powder shape.

Construction varies with the intended use. Aspen and maple cores appear across several models, carbon stringers reduce weight in the Raven and Renegade, and the Sinister uses metal for greater suspension. Compatible Hoji, Raven and Renegade models also use 4FRNT’s 4-LOCK skin attachment system for touring transitions.

The 4FRNT skis to examine first

The Renegade is the clearest introduction to the brand’s design history. Choose it for deep snow, open terrain and a centred but directional style. The 184 cm version is the quicker option for trees and tighter lines, while the 191 cm provides more support and surface area at speed.

The Hoji is the more adaptable route into Hjorleifson’s designs. At 112 mm underfoot it remains a soft-snow ski, but it is easier to justify for mixed lift-served and touring use than the Renegade.

The Raven is the first model to consider for touring, especially if easy pivoting matters more than the locked-in feel of camber. Skiers expecting firm traverses and variable snow should also compare it with the cambered Nevar.

For all-mountain resort use, start with the MSP 99. Its camber, metal laminate and moderate sidecut make it the more conventional choice for skiers who prioritise edge hold and stability on firm snow but still want enough width for mixed conditions. The Switch suits skiers who mix pistes with park laps and side hits, while the wider Devastator makes more sense for freeriders who want soft-snow manoeuvrability without moving to a dedicated powder ski.

The Sinister shows where 4FRNT’s athlete-led development sits today. Its weight, metal reinforcement and centred geometry are intended for powerful freeride skiing rather than touring efficiency. It is a useful counterpoint to the Renegade, trading full rocker and powder focus for camber and greater rough-snow stability.