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The first thing that should be said about this ski is that it is something special. This design appeals to so many different types of expert skiers, whether you are a hard charger, backcountry freestyler, or just someone who rips the whole mountain.
I ski the 3.Zero in 183, with FKS 140's mounted between the freestyle and recommended boot centers. This ski has a slight rocker in the tip and tail (not as much as most powder skis these days) and then a nice amount of camber underfoot. The dimensions are 142-112-132. The all-mountain kind of camber profile combined with a fatter directional (but switch friendly) sidecut make it a perfect ski for someone who lives in a high snowfall area.
The 3.Zero is a stiff ski, definitely for advanced to expert skiers. The 183 has a 25m radius, and these take a little work to go edge to edge, but are extremely stable at speeds.
I have only skied on these once early season at Bretton Woods, NH, where it was all groomers and a little dust on crust. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they railed a turn, especially at high speeds, on the hard pack. I cannot wait to take them out in the BC, but until then, I will continue shredding them as much as possible.
The 3.Zero has a full sidewall underfoot, along with sandwich construction. It boasts Faction's standard poplar and beech full wood core, which is stiff, yet poppy and lively. Although this is not even in Faction's Superlite Candide Series, this ski weighs significantly less than most skis of its kind on the market. It would be a great slack country option especially due to its versatility.
I would recommend the 3.Zero for pretty much anyone who knows what they are doing and lives in a place where it dumps. This thing is as comfortable on big mountain lines as it is hitting BC kickers or shredding fast in all conditions. I am a huge fan of this ski and I am sure you will be too.
If you enjoy tearing around in/out of bounds, punishing trees, natural hits, steep chutes, deep powder and possibly a park lap in between you could have your mythical quiver of one.
Having personally used this ski in every condition i can think of i'm yet to feel uncomfortable on them. Whether it is throughout the corn and/or refrozen crud/ice one experiences in New Zealand or the deepest of days one gets in North America, this ski is reliable, durable, stable, fast and great in the air.
Having a 32m radius combined with only a modest tip and tail rocker this ski ski's long. Faction rates it as one of their stiffer ski's and that is immediately apparent when you pick it up. Significantly weightier than the Candide 3.zero due to it's Poplar/Ash core the 3.zero can be relied upon to perform in variable big mountain terrain while it's excellent spin weight and the option of a freestyle mounting position allow this ski to stay relevant for both big lines and backcountry freestyle.
The stiff tails and traditional camber underfoot is also very apparent when you hit hard snow or whilst skiing back to the lift. I've personally had no issue laying them over as far as they go and at speed this ski is really trustworthy. Having been manufactured with a PTEX4000 base they can gain speed in an instant if you all of a sudden realise the landing is about 20ft further than you originally though.
Appearance wise they could be considered bland however the color scheme works and they look surprisingly good in footage. The ski's seem to handle abuse, having skied over all kinds of non-snow objects on them and each time they bounce back unscathed.
The only disadvantage i have managed to find with this ski is that it is a REAL ski. I've found the 191 really needs to be skied hard and sometimes on days where you can't let them run because of visibility, crowds etc then they can become a bit of work but once you get past that, i've found no ski that can perform in as many circumstances as this one.
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