Explore Matěj's ski and Faction here:
Faction Prodigy 1 Matej: signature ski
A ski that tells a story: the Faction Prodigy 1 Matej is a limited special edition of Faction's all-rounder – and the signature model of freeskier Matěj Švancer. For the 26/27 season, Matej designed the artwork himself and filled every surface with personal memories. Underneath sits the proven construction of the Prodigy 1 from the best-selling Prodigy series, carried over unchanged. What that means for you: an all-mountain twin tip that delivers in the park just as well as when you're shredding groomers.
What Matej says about his ski:
"This is the creation of an era that had it all. Every Pro Model carried a deeper meaning, reflecting where I was in life at that point, with almost all of the important people finding their way into the designs. The base captures the good times with friends at a festival; a reminder of the moments that made it all worthwhile. The bottom layer of the topsheet shows a highway where everyone is caught up in their own journey, yet somehow ends up following the same lanes as everyone else.
Some speed through life without thinking about the consequences, while others hit the brakes out of fear of making the wrong move. Most just follow the traffic without questioning where they're headed. Above that, the nose features a legendary party where we definitely took things too far, while the tail features my ex-girlfriend (she's still goated), who always knew how to bring me back to my happy place and slow things down when life got too fast.
It's not about driving the fastest or playing it the safest. Know when to hit the gas, when to ease off, and find your own lane. Mount your skis wherever feels right to you. Me? I mount mine dead center."
Matej Svancer, Blue Tomato team rider
More about Matěj Švancer
Born in Prague in 2004, moved to Kaprun at the age of ten, switched from alpine racing to freestyle at 13 – Matěj Švancer found his own path early on. In 2020, he won Big Air gold at the age of 15 at the Youth Olympic Games, and a year later he became Junior World Champion in Big Air and Slopestyle. He won his very first World Cup event for Austria in Chur in 2021 with a score of 99 points, followed by silver in Knuckle Huck at the 2023 X Games.
His biggest moment so far: Big Air bronze at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno – the first Olympic medal for an Austrian freeskier. Matej showed that he sees skiing as a creative statement long before his final exams, when he turned his sports high school in Saalfelden into an urban skiing playground. That same mix of precision and creativity now goes into his signature ski.
About Faction
Faction is more than a ski brand: it's an independent collective of freeskiers, artists, filmmakers, engineers, dreamers and doers who together are more than the sum of their parts – united by a love for the mountains. Born in Verbier, Switzerland, at a time when snowboarding had long since brought the wild spirit of surf and skate culture to the mountains, Faction set out to bring that same sense of freedom to skiing.
Today, freeskiing is no longer a small faction rebelling against classic alpine racing, but the driving force in skiing – for performance, freedom, fun and adventure. Faction's award-winning skis are celebrated by freeski pros, Freeride World Tour champions and Olympic and X Games gold medalists – and more than 300,000 fans worldwide.
As a certified B Corp, The Faction Collective also meets high standards of social and environmental responsibility, transparency and accountability.