With a slight graphic change but the same great hybrid touring build and shape, the 2024 Faction Agent 2 is poised and ready for another year of adventurous skiing and endless powder. This mid-width ski is a great option for those that spend a lot of their day in search of softer snow, whether that’s by way of lift access or human power. The ski does not care, it’s more about how you view it and what type of accompanying equipment you’re going to use. With a ski like this you can open it up to having a heavier setup if you’re planning on more resort use, or you could go super-techy and make this setup a lot lighter and more suitable for uphill efficiency. Since they base the footprint off the successful alpine Dancer 2, the Agent 2 gets the benefits of having that downhill prowess, with simply a lighter load for breaching the realm of the touring side of the spectrum. 

Built with a lightweight karuba wood core, the Faction Agent 3 has a ton of energy right from the start. They implement their full carbon weave to the mix in order to fully access the pop and stiffness. The Agent 3 loves to be used in a turning format, especially when compared to the more touring and drifty-specific La Machine model. Agent feels more like a wider all-mountain ski, even at its wider shape. A lot of that is due to the burlier nature consisting of XL 2.5 mm edges, an anti-chip micro-cap topsheet, a titanal binding plate, and a full-strength sidewall to boost durability. While a touring specific ski will normally fall closer to 1500 grams in weight, the Agent 3 in the 183 hits 1750 grams per ski on the scale. In this realm, the Agent 3 can certainly be considered heavy for the touring realm, but since it’s still lighter than the Dancer, it still keeps that uphill door wide open.

Since the ski shares a shape and profile with the alpine-oriented Dancer 2, the Agent 2 has a good platform to fall back on. With a 19-meter radius in the 182, the ski’s 96 mm width is bookended by a 127 mm tip and a 117 mm tail. This is a great mid-range to be in for a variety of conditions and terrain. While there’s some camber underfoot that provides energy to the mix, there’s still some decent rocker in the tips and tails that allow the ski to float a bit better than the shape may indicate. The tail is more in tune with the touring world, with a flatter profile and a skin fixation notch—the nods to the backcountry are certainly close by. The mid-90's is a great place to be for true versatility, and the more you ski it, the more applications it seems to be able to handle.

Skiers in the advanced realm will find the most opportunity here, as the ski has a nice blend of weight and energy to go along with the touring capabilities. You don’t necessarily have to tour on these skis, but you can. You don’t have to use them in the resort all the time, but you can. It’s all about skier preference and flexibility with the Faction Agent 2, putting more input onto the feet of the skier and letting them decide how, when, and where they wish to use these amazingly well-rounded hybrid touring skis.