Faction Dictator 2.0x – women
BEST FOR: Women (and confident men) who want a ski that can do it all—and love pink.
LENGTHS: 155, 163, 171
DIMENSIONS: 127/96/117
RADIUS: 18@171
SUGGESTED RETAIL: $849
OTHER MODELS: 1.0X
Apparently everyone loves this dictator. The hot pink topsheet attracted them, but it was the effortless turns in soft stuff and railing on firm snow that brought everyone in line. “I love it,” said intermediate skier Shelby Miller. Deanna Papineau gave it a gold star in every condition. While race coach and dude Iain McMillan (no relation to editor Iain) wrote the manifesto: “I would buy this ski. Great stiffness and very responsive. Ski fast or butter. Really impressed with this ski.” Indeed, it skis long and stable but also turns on a dime. That’s all construction. Two sheets of Titanal sandwich the wood core. Titanal is what they call isotropic—it’s equally strong in all directions, so it loves being on edge. On the nimble side, there’s plenty of tip and tail rocker, shortening its effective edge and giving it a propensity to smear and skid. It quickly planed, even in cruddy snow, and skied wider than its 96mm waist would suggest. Of course there were dissenters. Lightweight and more finesse skiers found it overbearing. For more firm-snow performance, check out the 86mm-waisted Dictator 1.0X. For western skiers looking for a cause to believe in, this ski is addictive.
