[The CT 3.0 did not change for 2018, save for adding a couple of shorter sizes. The ratings and review here are reprised from last season.]

CT, in case you’re out of the loop, are the initials of Candide Thovex, a unique athlete who seems capable of pulling off any maneuver at any time. Facilitating his sleight-of-foot routine is Faction’s CT 3.0, the apogee of Faction’s research in how to make for better buttering.

To create a ski that will charge all day without exhausting its pilot’s energy account, Faction uses its innovative balsa/flax core to keep the weight down, an issue that grows more ponderous with each additional size. (Note that the CT 3.0 can be had in a 204cm, a length not seen in a ski brochure since the last millennium.)

Amply rockered fore (10mm elevation declining over 200mm) and aft (5mm of loft receding 150cm from the tail), the CT 3.0 is an every-terrain ski with a particular aptitude for deep snow. Its shallow sidecut (20m @ 182cm) isn’t made to steer very far out of the fall line, inspiring Bob Gleason of Telluride’s Boot Doctors to inscribe, “For a skilled skier, a great charger. Strong carve with a crisp turn release, with good hold and smooth at speed.”

“Stable,” agrees Willie Flad from California Ski Company, “but still quite playful and responsive;” adds Mr. Flad, “a really versatile ski.” “Versatility,” in case of M. Thovex, includes flattening whatever cornfield he encounters in a direct line between the top of some Alp and the peaceful burg below. One doesn’t need to share Candide’s ecumenical view of “terrain” to appreciate the CT 3.0, as this directional assault vehicle, despite being prone to aerial antics, is right at home making big turns all the way to the bottom, then hiking back up to do it all again.