Faction Skis? At Skimo Co?!

Yep, starting this 22/23 season, we are carrying select Faction Skis via the La Machine series. For many, Faction understandably elicits thoughts of huge gap jumps, freestyle hucks, rail slides, and Candide Thovex antics. But don’t worry, we’re not changing our name to JibMo Co.

As it turns out, the Swiss Euro freestyle brand has managed to design a touring ski that’s not only light enough for us to carry, but also damn fun. This is further proof that the ski industry - one brand at a time - is figuring out that light is right!

After all, backcountry touring was probably the last thing Faction had on its mind when the brand started in 2006. Their focus was rooted in freestyle, park skiing, and creating designs that would push boundaries within these realms. The small crew of skiers was innovating concepts, technology, and prototyping all of their new ideas along the way. Since then, their skis have been under the feet of Freeride World Tour champions and Olympic gold medalists.

Fast forward to more recent years and the brand has taken their style of fun to the backcountry. Their propensity for challenging the status quo has once again served them well. The skiers behind the brand have begun innovating skis for outside of the resort boundaries since they themselves are now ducking ropes and breaking trail. Being an independent ski company allows them the flexibility to do whatever they want, including making skis that they want to be on.

They’re also able to make skis with a sharp eye on their environmental impact. Faction mixes the scraps from the production process back into the raw materials which cuts down on their impact by 70%. Other initiatives include using recycled, bio-based resin, sourcing FSC-certified wood for their cores, and being active members of Protect Our Winters and 1% for the Planet.

As part of their foray into backcountry skiing comes their first entry into the lightweight touring category with the La Machine series. This is the ski that got our attention at last year’s demo day for its creative shape and ride.

The La Machine series started with soliciting feedback from heli guides as Faction designed a ski for serious float in deep backcountry powder. Based on that testing, they created a ski with an exaggerated rocker and little camber underfoot. From there, the engineers decided to shave weight without sacrificing any of the playfulness that made the ski fun in the first place. Cue the full carbon layers and lightweight paulownia core.

Admittedly, this shape is unique compared to other touring skis on our shelves but the La Machine series makes slashing, buttering, smearing, and surfing deep days an absolute blast. And though the effective edge is limited, it surprisingly holds an edge and keeps it together at speed. We will be carrying three sizes Micro (91 underfoot), Mini (99 underfoot) and Mega (109 underfoot).

At the shop, we’re looking forward to getting out on them more this season and matching them to the customer that’s looking for a lightweight and grin-inducing ski on soft days!