Faction has given its Prodigy 1.0 an overhaul this season, along with its big brother 3.0, and the results are rather impressive.
The core job of a freestyle ski is the ability to pop, spin and fly through the park, all the while taking the pounding handed out by slapping down those landings and riding the rails.
There were a few grumbles in the past about the durability of the Prodigy 1.0 and Faction has taken note.
Poplar strips have been added on the sidewall to beef them up, while the sidewall construction underfoot also makes the ski more robust. This is combined with a cap build at the tip and tail to keep the swing-weight down and further increasing stability.
Those toughened edges also grip brilliantly and the Prodigy 1.0 can even mix in with some of the dedicated piste skis out there. It loves being flung through high-speed turns and while the stability of a metal-reinforced charger is not there, it is still a joy on the groomed stuff.
The pop and control that is evident in the park means that the Prodigy 1.0 remains playful when taken away from man-made surfaces.
Faction's other redesign tweak - adding a more pronounced rocker - means there's plenty of float in fresh snow and at 90mm underfoot that gives the Prodigy 1.0 a lovely park/all-mountain credential that should continue to attract admirers.
