Freeskiing
Faction's new flick The Collective might just be the best freeskiing movie you've ever seen and this is why.
Sometimes, all you need to know about a movie before deciding to click play is that you really need to see the movie. So, let's get that out of the way. If you love the smell of freshly waxed P-Tex in the morning, you definitely need to see Faction's new team movie The Collective. How many times you rewatch it after that really depends on other factors, such as family and work commitments, and how successfully you can get out of them.
Watch Faction's team movie The Collective below:
Meanwhile, if you're reading this article ahead of watching the movie for the first time, here’s some useful info to have at hand while watching what's probably the freeski movie of the year.
Who are Faction Skis and why do we care?
Coming out of the freeride mecca of Verbier, Switzerland, Faction have only been around since 2006, but in that time they've carved out a spot at the forefront of the freeski world, thanks to their innovative products and an absolute beast of a team that includes A-listers Candide Thovex, John Collinson, Alex Hall and Sam Anthamatten, as well as blowing-uppers Mathilde Gremaud, Mac Forehand and Kelly Sildaru. The Faction team is stacked, full spectrum and this is their team movie.
Who, or what, is The Collective?
Basically, collective is a cooler way of saying a group of people. It got hijacked by communists for a while, but then hipsters got hold of it and now it's back, cool, and the Faction team is one. Shall we move on?
What's the overall vibe. Is it tech freestyle, travel, or big mountain oriented?
All three. It's not always easy to produce a movie that manages to tick all the boxes, but thanks to a broad spread of athletes and diverse set of locations, the film's seven different segments cover all bases and balances them easily.
Hair-raising big mountain? Check. Ultra progressive terrain park action? Check. Stunning backcountry touring? Check. Super creative urban skiing? Check. Culture shock and bottomless powder in Japan? Check.
If there's an overall theme, a thread that brings everything together, it's about how skiing brings people together and forms firm friendships based on a shared love of the shred, as evidenced by the feel-good ender, a group shred in La Clusaz, France.
Is there something for the ladies, or is this just another bro-fest?
Come on, this is 2019. Faction have built up an incredible roster of progressive freestyle females, including 16-year-old Estonian prodigy Kelly Sildaru, X Games Big Air gold medallist Mathilde Gremaud, Caroline Claire, Giulia Tanno, Sarah Hoefflin and more. In The Collective they all come together in one mind-melting section, to show why women's freeskiing is absolutely blowing up right now.
Who's the standout performer?
Well, Sam Anthamatten's section in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland might just have the fastest, most extreme big mountain lines you've ever seen. At the other end of the spectrum, Antti Ollila's Finnish rails section and overall creativity are equally impressive. Top billing however has to go to Alex Hall, who blows your mind during the opening Norway super-booter sequence and keeps on blowing it through four of the film's seven sections. The Collective leaves little doubt that Hall is the best jump and rail skier in the game right now.
Anything else I should know?
Do yourself a favour and watch this movie on the biggest screen you can find, because the cinematography and production standards are through the roof. Crank up the volume, put your phone on flight mode and catch a ride with The Collective.
Want to see more freeskiing action? Enjoy the world class movies below:
Shades Of Winter: Between
Ode To Muir: The High Sierra
Into The Mind
Days Of My Youth
