Built and shaped for ladies who love to mix their time between the resort and the backcountry, the Agent 3X is about as fun as it gets. Hybrid touring skis like these have been all the rage these days. By taking an existing and successful shape and making it lighter and more suitable for touring, ski companies have been quick to corner the hybrid market. Faction’s 2024 Agent 3X shares a platform with the Dancer 3X, making it an excellent choice for both in and out of bounds skiing. By pairing these skis with an appropriate binding and boot, you can move the needle more to the touring specific realm or the other way to more of an in-bounds setup. Either way, you’re getting a wider bodied freeride ski with built in energy and a lightweight feel. By dropping some weight from the Dancer 3X, the Agent 3X opens up doors and avenues to the backcountry that will allow for more adventurous and more creative skiing for advanced and expert skiers who are putting more emphasis on touring and hybrid style skiing.

Built with a lightweight karuba wood core, the Faction Agent 3X 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 3X loves to be used in a turning format, especially when compared to the more touring and drifty-specific La Machine models. Agent X 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 3X in the 172 hits 1680 grams per ski on the scale. In this realm, the Agent 3X can certainly be considered heavy for the touring realm, but since it’s still lighter than the Dancer X, it still keeps that uphill door wide open.

The shape and profile are identical to that of the Dancer 3X, creating a fun-loving and energetic footprint to work off of. While the Dancer X uses metal to create a damp and grippy feel, this Agent relies more on carbon and lighter wood to get there. Even so, the camber underfoot provides snap and pop that’s built into the ski, creating a fun and lively attitude to the character. In the 172, the ski generates an 18-meter turn radius, which is on the longer side, but works well for more of a touring ski. We get some good positive camber underfoot that goes along with relatively long rocker in the tips and tails. The ski loves to make clean and round turns in a variety of conditions and terrain, and for a 106, it’s surprisingly versatile. The narrower versions may be better for lower snow zones, while this one functions well in a softer snow format.

By adhering to the footprint of a successful ski, Faction takes the modern hybrid touring ski to the next level. While the Agent 3X may not be feather light, it still has the appropriate shaping and rocker profiles that allow it to excel in the softer snow while retaining enough energy and pop for crisper turning tendencies.