VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports skis. ( enty of skiers are gear-obsessed, but Marcel Hirscher is in a league of his own. Over the course of his 15-year racing career, the legendary Austrian skier and founder of VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports would drive his coaches and teammates crazy with constant chatter about tech specs and modifications. Maybe not the guy you want to challenge in gear trivia, but definitely the guy you want designing your skis.
Which is why he’s the first person to convince Red Bull to co-own a ski brand. Born in Salzburg and raised in the Austrian Alps, Hischer made his World Cup debut in March 2007 and found himself catapulted into the limelight. In 2008, he bagged his first World Cup podium, and in 2009, his first win.
Over the next 10 years, he became the winningest Austrian ski racer of all time, turning heads with masterful racing strategy and unparalleled technique. Credit those skills to his uncompromising perfectionism, a characteristic that drove him to 67 World Cup wins, two Olympic gold medals, and eight consecutive overall World Cup titles. And when he retired from ski racing in 2019, it’s what drove him to start manufacturing his own skis.
Hirscher has always been a tinkerer by nature—maddeningly meticulous and chronically detail-oriented. Red Bull already knew that after a decade of working with him as a sponsor and supporter. So, when Hirscher said he was launching his own company in 2021, their ears perked up.
Hischer called his brand VAN DEER, a name that plays up his half-Dutch heritage and winks at the fact that hirsch is German for “deer.” The goal was to give the brand some racing pedigree without directly naming it after a pro. After all, Hirscher never set out to make skis just for the elite. Hirscher’s overarching philosophy is that all skiers are equal.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a bunny-hill newbie, a weekend warrior, or a champion racer. Everyone can benefit from a ski that fits, and everyone can access the sublime sense of flow and rhythm that only skiing can offer. Now, he’s applying that fine-tuned sensibility to ski design.
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