First Look: the Austrian-Made, Athlete-Approved, Ready-for-Anything FREERIDE 98

When Austrian racing legend Marcel Hirscher started making skis, he began with what knows best:  fast, powerful, race-ready planks. But that was never the whole goal. Even before partnering with Red Bull in 2022, Hirscher’s dream has been to deliver pro-level gear to skiers at every level. After all, you don’t need to be racing royalty to benefit from a stable, versatile, finely tuned ski.

With the FREERIDE SERIES, Hirscher and the rest of his team at VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports are zeroing in on that mission. The series features two skis: the FREERIDE 98 and the FREERIDE 108. Both models keep recreational skiers in mind, designed to boost confidence and control across a vast range of terrain—from mellow groomers to icy bumps to tight trees.

VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports’ FREERIDE 98. (Photo: (c) Kleinmond – Georg Lindacher)

While the 108-mm offers a touch more float in powder, the surfy tip rocker and a 98-mm waist on the flagship model, the FREERIDE 98, hits the sweet spot between versatility and performance. The narrower waist boosts agility on treed steeps, and the finely tuned edges make carving effortless.

Not only that, but VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports has gone the extra mile to ensure you can retain that performance across the entire lifetime of the ski: every model comes with its own hyper-specific tuning recommendations to keep the ski in out-of-the-box condition year after year. You don’t have to take your kit back to Austria to get it done, either; VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports currently works with factory tuning partners all across the U.S. Just bring in your sticks to any of these locations to get them back in shape.

The FREERIDE 98 is the perfect balance between versatility and performance. (Photo: (c) Kleinmond – Georg Lindacher)

Like other skis from  VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports, the series features race-quality materials, like a beech-poplar wood core reinforced with double titanal and carbon layers. The result is just the right amount of flex: The FREERIDE 98 is snappy and playful but not chattery, and it boasts serious stability at high speeds. Full ABS sidewalls permit individual edge tuning, the secret to maximum grip and control—and therefore confidence—even in sub-par conditions.

These promises aren’t just theoretical, either.  Hirscher’s team painstakingly designs and tests every ski right at home in the Austrian Alps.  That’s where he cut his teeth as a young ski racer, and it’s where  VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports is still headquartered today: in the mountain village of Scheffau am Tennengebirge just south of Salzburg.

The FREERIDE 98 are made with a beech-poplar wood core and reinforced with double titanal and carbon layers. (Photo: (c) Kleinmond – Georg Lindacher)

It’s a small-batch operation through and through:  Instead of mass-producing piles of product, VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports builds one small, dedicated series at a time. Because of the slower pace of production, the skis benefit from more time in the design and testing phase. They also stay in the press longer than usual, which ensures a stronger bond between materials and, ultimately, better performance. Because in Hirscher’s mind, a high-performance ski is one that’s more fun to ride. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

At VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports, founded in the Austrian Alps by ski legend Marcel Hirscher, we do things differently. We believe in the power of new  and a no-compromise approach to skiing and equipment. Together with  Red Bull, we combine racing  expertise with innovation to create world-class skis for a new generation.