When US racer Paula Moltzan won the opening women's World Cup giant slalom in Sölden, Austria, by just 0.01 seconds this season, it wasn't just a career milestone — it was a breakout moment for the skis under her feet. Moltzan, who had spent 18 years with Rossignol, took her first career World Cup win on Van Deer-Red Bull Sports, a young brand founded by retired Austrian racing legend Marcel Hirscher.
Hirscher, the most dominant ski racer of his era with 67 World Cup wins, launched Van Deer in 2021. The name is a bilingual pun: he's half Dutch, half Austrian, and "hirsch" is German for deer. The brand quickly made a name for itself when Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen won a slalom crystal globe, an Olympic medal and world championship gold on its skis in 2022.
What sets this startup apart from the usual scrappy newcomers is money and machinery. Red Bull holds a 51 percent majority stake, which funded a brand-new factory with state-of-the-art equipment — including a Wintersteiger Jupiter tuning machine — and the ability to hire talent poached from legacy brands like Atomic and Stöckli. The company is now pushing hard into North America: a US warehouse is planned, former Stöckli executive George Couperthwait has been hired to build the dealer network, and the skis are already appearing at retailers like Evo and at high-end shops such as Gorsuch in Vail, Aspen and Park City.
The line spans five series: Race (slalom and GS, World Cup and consumer versions), the forgiving Pro, the H-Power groomer skis in 68, 78 and 89 mm widths, Freeride models at 98 and 108 mm for all-mountain and powder, and a Touring range from ultralight race skis to wider mixed-snow planks. Nearly everything uses a "game-on" build — double Titanal layers over a poplar, ash or beech woodcore — and all skis are unisex for now, though Moltzan's team built her race skis from scratch with women-specific construction. Prices run roughly $1,000 to $1,700, squarely in premium territory alongside brands like Stöckli.
Who should care? These are not beginner planks. The brand itself positions them for strong intermediate to expert skiers who want edge grip, stability at speed and lively acceleration out of turns — what one camp director called "a race ski heart and soul in a consumer package." Moltzan puts it more simply: you don't have to be a racer, just someone who loves skiing and cares about equipment.
For a certain type of skier — the carver, the instructor, the gear obsessive who's already burned through the usual suspects — Van Deer is worth a demo. You'll find dealers through the brand's website, and given limited distribution, availability is still hit-and-miss outside major resort towns. But with Moltzan now winning World Cups on them, expect demand to climb fast.
Story first reported by Ski Magazine.
