The Prodigy 2 Capsule is the best-selling do-everything ski in Faction's freestyle line, and the Capsule is that exact ski carrying resident artist Elsa Grace's painted top-sheet. Faction states the construction is shared with the base Prodigy 2, so nothing about the ride changes — the only real differences are the graphic and the fact that the Capsule tops out at 183cm, where the base ski also offers a 189. The draw here is the artwork and the 98mm platform, not different performance.

The Prodigy 2 Capsule is built on a poplar woodcore with no metal and no structural carbon in the layup — the opposite of a metal-laminate all-mountain ski, and unlike Faction's Dancer line, which carries two Titanal sheets. The only carbon anywhere on the ski is a non-structural 600mm carbon-and-rubber stomp pad underfoot, there to damp landings and absorb vibration in the binding zone; it does not stiffen the ski across its length. That construction is why the Prodigy 2 is light, poppy and pressable: it butters, presses and rides switch with real pop, and it stays low-fatigue lap after lap.

The trade is honest. With no metal underfoot the Prodigy 2 Capsule gives up brute high-speed damping and locked-in edge grip on firm ice — it gets loose when you push it hard past moderate speed, and on hard snow it feels lighter and softer than a metal all-mountain ski. That is the cost of being light and lively, and it is why this is a feel-and-versatility ski rather than a charger.

The Prodigy 2 Capsule uses an Elliptical Sidecut — a longer radius underfoot with tighter radius at tip and tail — so it pivots and smears easily at low speed but tightens and holds when you commit to a carve. Moustache Flex is stiffer underfoot and softer through progressive tips and tails, which is what lets it press and butter yet still land. At 98mm with a 20m radius in the 183, the Prodigy 2 wants bigger, swoopier all-mountain turns rather than tight slalom arcs, tight trees or moguls.

Within the Prodigy line the Capsule sits in the middle: the 88mm Prodigy 1 is narrower and stiffer underfoot and more park-precise on groomers, while the 106mm Prodigy 3 is wider — the step-up for float and off-piste security. Faction rates the Prodigy 2 Float 5/10, so it visits a few inches of fresh but does not live in deep snow. Lengths run 159, 165, 171, 177 and 183; the Capsule does not offer the base ski's 189. Size it by your height, weight, ability and how playful you ski — a shorter length is quicker and looser, a longer length is more stable.