Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Ski design & manufacturing |
Founded | 2006Verbier, Valais, Switzerland | in
Founders | Alex Hoye Tony McWilliam |
Headquarters | Verbier, Valais, Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Parent | Full Stack Supply Co. |
Website | factionskis |
The Faction Collective (also known as Faction Skis or simply Faction) is a Swiss ski equipment design company headquartered in Verbier (Val de Bagnes), based within the Swiss canton of Valais. [1] As of 2024, beyond Verbier, Faction holds offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, Austria and China.
Known for its influence in the freeride and freestyle skiing markets, Faction operates a significant media production operation and manages high-profile brand partnerships with leading ski athletes, such as Alex Hall, Eileen Gu and Sam Anthamatten. Its products are sold in over 31 countries, online and through select global distributors. [2]
Faction Skis was founded by a group of skiers in 2006 in Verbier. [3] In 2013, Faction Skis teamed up with French professional skier Candide Thovex to develop a range of signature ski models. [4]
The Faction Collective produced three seasons of their web series "We Are The Faction Collective". [5]
In 2017, the company produced the feature film THIS IS HOME featuring skiers Candide Thovex, Kelly Sildaru, and Antti Ollila among others. [6] [7] The film was shot in different locations, including Flathead Valley in Montana, Jyväskylä in Finland, Wasatch Mountains in Utah, La Clusaz in France, Deštné v Orlických horách in the Czech Republic and Zermatt and Verbier in Switzerland. [8] THIS IS HOME was nominated for multiple awards by the Powder Awards, iF3 International Freeski Festival, including Film of the Year, People's Choice, Best Male Street Segment (Antti Ollila) and Discovery of the Year (Alex Hall). [9]
In 2019, Faction produced its second full-length feature film called THE COLLECTIVE featuring skiers Alex Hall, Antti Ollila, Olympic skier Sarah Höfflin, Kelly Sildaru and Sam Anthamatten. [10] The film was nominated for Film of the Year, Best Cinematography, Best Make Freeride Segment (Sam Anthamatten) and Best Male Street Segment (Alex Hall) by the IF3 International Freeski Film Festival [11] and nominated for Best Film at the High Five Awards. [12]
Faction's current pro team consists of Kelly Sildaru, [13] Sam Anthamatten, [14] Eileen Gu, [15] Sarah Hoefflin, [16] Antti Ollila, [17] Alex Hall, [18] Henry Sildaru [19] and others. [20]
The company currently offers several All-Mountain, Freeride, Freestyle and Touring models. [21] They also offer a range of accessories such as poles, skins and clothing. [22]
Tanner Hall is an American freeskier.
Freeskiing, or new school skiing, is a specific type of alpine skiing, which involves tricks, jumps, and terrain park features, such as rails, boxes, jibs, or other obstacles. This form of skiing resulted from the growth of snowboarding combined with the progression of freestyle skiing. "Newschoolers", or those who specifically ski in this style, as opposed to traditional freestylers, freeriders, big mountain skiers, and racers, are often found in terrain parks, which are designed specifically for tricks.
Chad's Gap is a 120-foot (37 m) backcountry gap located in the Wasatch Mountains, approximately 0.6 miles (0.97 km) northeast of Alta Ski Area, in northern Utah, United States. One version of the structure's discovery has it that Chad Zurinskas, a local Utah resident after whom the gap was purportedly named, discovered it as a gap between two piles of mine tailings in 1999 and arranged with filmmaker Kris Ostness to make the first successful jump. The first successful jump was done by Candide Thovex. Tanner Hall aka 'Ski Boss' blew both his ankles to pieces by coming up short on the gap. He recalled it to feel like someone had loaded his ski boots with dynamite. His quote "my ankles are broken, my ankles are broke" has become famous in the snow sports world.
Candide Thovex is a French professional skier, filmmaker and entrepreneur.
Sarah Jean Burke was a Canadian freestyle skier who was a pioneer of the superpipe event. She was a five-time Winter X Games gold medallist, and won the world championship in the halfpipe in 2005. She successfully lobbied the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to have the event added to the Olympic program for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was considered a medal favourite in the event. Burke died following a training accident in Utah in 2012.
A ski film is a motion picture with sequences of expedition, recreation, competition, or acrobatic exhibition on snow skis. These non-fiction action sport films capture the experience of an athletic outdoor snow sporting culture. Ski films typically present one or more techniques, locations, or skiers. Categories include the feature, documentary of competition or other event coverage, instruction or technique demonstration, retrospective history, travel guide showcasing a region, or a short subject. More than 200 such videos debuted in 2006. Notable examples are listed at the Ski and Snowboard Film Institute, or have received awards from the International Ski Film Festival, X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival, IF3 International Freeski Film Festival, Cold Smoke Winter Film, Powder magazine, or similar.
Charles Gagnier is a Canadian freeskier, best known for inventing the Octograb in 2006.
The International Freesports Film Festival (iF3) is a film Festival dedicated to screening and rewarding freeskiing and snowboarding movies. Held annually at the end of October in Montreal, iF3 was created in 2007 by Félix Rioux, Doug Bishop and Jean-Francis Durocher. As it premieres the best movies of the past season, iF3 has been referred to as the "Cannes of the ski world!" by ESPN and won Quebec action sports Gala Maestro's event of the year in 2010.
The Midwest Ski Film Festival (MWSFF) is a Film Festival takes place annually in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Held in October, the festival is a showcase for ski films from both independent and professional ski film companies. The festival shows mainly newschool skiing films.
John “LJ” Strenio, born on February 8, 1989, in Burlington, Vermont, is a professional freestyle skier who is featured in numerous feature-length films and competes professionally around the world.
Mirabelle Thovex is a French snowboarder. Thovex started snowboarding when she was 8 years old, and has been on the French national team since the age of 15. Thovex competed in the women’s halfpipe event at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Karl Fostvedt is an American Freeskier from Ketchum, Idaho. He is sponsored by Dakine, K2 Sports, Anon Optics, Lethal Descent, Full Tilt Boots. He is known for his urban, backcountry, and big mountain skiing abilities.
Alexis duPont is an American professional big mountain freeskier. She is a Freeskiing World Tour contender and former Junior Olympics competitor, who has been featured in several films such as Warren Miller’s Wintervention and Tracing Skylines. Her mother, freestyle skier Holley duPont, was one of the first women to land a backflip on skis.
Kelly Sildaru is an Estonian Olympic freestyle skier.
Nico Porteous is a New Zealand freestyle skier and an Olympic champion. He is New Zealand's youngest Olympic Games medallist, having won a bronze medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics at the age of 16. He became New Zealand's second Winter Olympic gold medallist, and first male, with his win in men's halfpipe at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Mathilde Gremaud is an Olympic Swiss freestyle skier and eight time X Games medalist. On February 28, 2023, she became the first freestyle skier to hold both slopestyle World and Olympic Champion titles after winning gold in both events.
Jérémie Heitz is a professional freeskier who began his career alpine skiing, and then after eight years began specializing in freeriding with the Falquet brothers. Heitz was born in Les Marécottes in the Swiss canton of Valais. He began skiing when he was three years old. In 2014 he placed third overall in the Freeride World Tour; in 2015 he placed second overall, and in 2016 he placed ninth. He is known as the world's fastest freerider. Heitz skied down fifteen 4,000 meter peaks in the Alps for his documentary film "La Liste," reaching speeds at times of over 100 kilometers per hour. All the peaks, including the Matterhorn, the Lenzspitze, the Ober Gabelhorn, the Hohberghorn, the Zinalrothorn and others have gradients of over 50 degrees.
Reine Barkered is a big mountain skier from Duved, Sweden.
Anja Niamh Barugh is a New Zealand freestyle skier who specialises in halfpipe. She represented New Zealand at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where she ranked 19th.
Cody Townsend is an American professional skier and outdoor adventurer recognized for his contributions to the field of freeskiing and backcountry skiing. Townsend has gained attention for his descents on challenging and unconventional mountain terrain, earning him prominence within the extreme skiing community.