Twin-tips can take some getting used to, particularly if they’re symmetrical as several Factions are. But the Prodigy isn’t a typical twin, although it retains some of the surfy sensations often associated with skis with turned-up tails. Noticeably lightweight, the Prodigy holds so well underfoot that the traditional skier quickly adapts to its slurve-carve-slurve turning traits. As Bob Gleason from Boot Doctors declaims, “Easy release from turn – blends New School smudge with Old School mid-ski grip. Easy at low speed; holds up on steeps.”

The 2017 Prodigy arrives with a bundle of new features designed to broaden the appeal of what was already one of Faction’s best-known models. The overall shape is significantly slimmed down, not just the 96mm waist. The ash stringers in the wood core have been replaced with beech and a dual radius sidecut has more pull into the turn. Part of Faction’s special sauce is how it handles the transition zones between the rockered tip and tail and cambered center section; the multiple contours of this junction are responsible for how well connected the Prodigy feels despite a well-rockered (10mm elevation over 200mm), tapered forebody and a slightly twinned tail (5mm of elevation over 100mm).