the faction collective

Twelve years ago when we started Faction, we were outcasts. A rag-tag bunch of Australians, Canadians, English and Americans who spent the first winter testing, learning about materials and refining shapes in one of the biggest winter playgrounds (and après ski party scenes) in Europe.

We started Faction as ski bums – the things we made needed to be affordable, they had to last 100+ day seasons, survive without servicing and be thrown in the cupboard for the summer. But more than anything, they had to increase our stoke factor. They had to be fun.

For the first couple of years of Faction we made our skis in a tiny factory just south of Evian in France. In our first production year we ran the skis across the border to our home in Verbier, Switzerland on Christmas Eve in the back of a rented station wagon covered by a blanket… 40 pairs fresh off the press. 

As the years went by, our design and production processes became more sophisticated but we never lost sight of why we started Faction. We still strive to make products that push boundaries, that rebel against the norm, products that we want to use: tools of escape.

Faction. noun.

Definition: A minority group working within and in opposition to the majority group.

Born in the Swiss Alps.

It started as a small rebellion. We were outcasts — an eclectic bunch of passionate skiers prototyping new ideas in the epic Alpine playground of Verbier, Switzerland. Snowboarding had unleashed the wildness of surf and skate culture into the mountains, while our beloved Alpine skiing was dominated by big brands that had lost touch with their fans, caught up in racing to the bottom and high-volume production.

The Faction Collective is now an iconic leader in the freeskiing revolution that has taken skiing by storm. Freeskiing is no longer a small faction rebelling against classic Alpine racing, but the driving force in skiing that delivers performance with a sense of freedom, fun and adventure. Faction’s relentless development process delivers award-winning skis that are used by the world’s most demanding mountaineers; Freeride World Tour champions; Olympic and X Games gold medalists; and more than 100,000 fans. We give every member of our Collective the confidence that they are riding the most progressive, best-engineered skis on the mountain.

Our innovations in lightweight-hybrid cores, rocker and recycled materials propelled our rise through the ranks of the ski manufacturing elite. Today, we’re bolstering our efforts through investment in two key areas: state-of-the-art technology and extraordinary people. 

Our industry-leading skis are designed and tested on the formidable mountain faces of the Swiss Alps, as always, but that our hardgoods team is now led from Innsbruck, Austria, brings to life the industry gold standard in hand-made, precision ski manufacturing. When you buy Faction, you buy quality with a performance guarantee. Our skis are fit for purpose and built to last.

But our greatest strength lies in the people who work tirelessly to design and deliver the best experience for our fans. We are led by visionaries who are motivated to change the face of skiing. Whether it’s our world-class engineers making new discoveries or our esteemed athletes reframing our perception of sport — or Candide Thovex bending reality — we aim to ignite the next generation of skiers. 

Some see it as tribe mentality. We see each individual for their unique strengths, humbled by the knowledge that as a Collective we create more, ski better and have more fun doing it.

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