2027 Faction Studio 1

The 2027 Faction Studio 1 gets a graphic update but otherwise returns unchanged. Built and shaped to find the feet of the word’s best park and pipe skiers, the Studio 1 has a specific purpose and focus. In the simplest terms, this ski is meant to fly through air with balance and poise. Some park skis get by only being slightly symmetrical. This is fine, but when you get to the upper echelons of slopestyle competition, it’s all about balance. Symmetrical skis simply have more of it. While the all-mountain or versatile aspect of these skis is diminished by this particular aspect, the park performance is not. Faction continues to be a leader in the freestyle world with a great mix of style, symmetry, and balance.

Faction uses a full poplar core with this ski, offering a nice blend of light weight, variable flex, and sturdy reliability. They also put in full carbon stringers into the fiberglass laminate to deliver stiffness and responsiveness. In the middle of the ski, Faction boosts the landing zone with a carbon and rubber stomp pad. This material goes over the edges on either side of the ski to soften landings and reduce vibrations. Like most park skis, the Studio 1 also benefits from 2.5 mm edges for rail durability and full-strength sidewalls to get the ski the longevity it needs for consistent competition performance. You may think that with all this tech, the ski would weigh a lot, but the carbon and thickness of the core profile keep it largely in check. Even in the 178, the ski hits the scale at 1630 grams per ski. Tester Colin Wiedersheim notes that it’s “Quick, crisp, responsive, and stiff. A cool symmetrical twin that that is great for a park skier that wants some support and a little all mountain performance. It’s not my kind of ski, but I was super impressed at how well it handled less than ideal conditions. Smooth and fun. Surprised me with its capabilities on piste. Park, with some all mountain versatility when needed. It’s symmetrical so it’s definitely intended to be a park ski first and foremost.”

This is kind of a dying breed in terms of pure symmetyr. Faction gives you one simple option for a mount point—the middle—and similar tip/waist/tail numbers. The rocker an camber profile is also the same in the front and the back, making for a purely balanced ski from end to end. With measurements of 120/90/120 and a 19-meter turn radius in the 178, these skis are as egalitarian as they come when shape is considered. For takeoffs and landings, the balance point is spot on—no issues with mis-weighting or over flexing one part of the ski or another. With slight rocker in tips and tails, the ski is mainly cambered for energy and pop off the lips of the jumps. This way, the ski has a lot of input into the magnitude of the air. Tester and park enthusiast Ryan Nagle notes that it’s “Fun. Very playful but bounces around. It’s best for park, of course but seems to do well in all-terrain so long as the conditions are soft.” You do need a balanced stance here as well in order to access all-mountain performance as there’s a lot of tail here.

This ski, in both build and shape, follows a very strict park principle. Since Studio 1 is a unique and purpose-built ski, there’s not a huge range of skier type or variety in application. This is a specific tool for a particular job. It’d be called more of a toy since the job is a fun one in the freestyle realm, but overall, this is a ski that’s built and shaped for the highest levels of competition. We see a lot of these skis in high-level park competitions, and that should continue into the foreseeable future.