Small globe, big story: Henrik’s 1,403 turns for brand eternity
It took Henrik Kristoffersen just over 19 minutes, 38 seconds and 92 hundredths to claim the first overall slalom title for Marcel Hirscher’s ski brand VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports in only its third winter season. 1,403 quick turns turned this small globe into a big story for the brand’s eternity.
Small globe, big history.
“When perfection becomes obsession, magical things arise.”
Marcel Hirscher’s brand mission for VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports: a sentence like a laser beam into the future and a rhythm the ski world must keep up with. In the final men's race of only their third World Cup winter, Henrik Kristoffersen reached another milestone for the freshest team in ski racing: What began with second place in Levi at the season opener in November was completed by the Norwegian, now based in Salzburg, with a strong 4th place at the season final in Sun Valley—resulting in the small crystal globe. It marks Henrik as the best slalom skier in the world for the fourth time in his successful career, but the first on VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports equipment.
The crowning achievement of a long, strong, yet exhausting season:
“I downplayed the significance of the slalom globe a bit recently to keep the pressure from getting even higher. It helped, and now we did it – and the winter is over.”
The numbers show that even slalom is a speed event in the fast-paced world of ski racing: Testing, training, and relentless development at VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports throughout an entire World Cup season ultimately condensed into a net race time of 19 minutes, 38 seconds, and 92 hundredths for the slalom overall winner. That’s 1,403 quick turns over a dozen races in the discipline with the highest level of international competition—making Henrik’s slalom scorecard from the past winter even more impressive: 2-6-1-4-5-3-3-0-8-1-5-4 – victories in Val d'Isere and Kranjska Gora, podium finishes in Levi, Adelboden, and Wengen. Apart from a single DNF in Kitzbühel, an 8th place in Schladming, and a 6th place in Gurgl, he finished in the top 5 in every race. Henrik’s first crystal globe for VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports was a triumph of consistency. Both Clément Noël and Timon Haugan (who once again won the season finale in Sun Valley, just like last year) claimed more individual race victories – but in the end, it was the seasoned pro who celebrated.
“It feels kind of surreal: this was only our third World Cup winter with VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports, and it feels like our journey has just begun. Seeing Henrik win the slalom globe in Sun Valley was an emotional moment, comparable to his first World Championship title in his first year on our gear.
These are the moments when you realize what our team has already achieved together in such a short time. I’m happy, proud, and very grateful to everyone who played a part in this success,”
says brand founder Marcel Hirscher.
The winning setup from VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports, featuring the WORLD CUP ski models and the innovative in-house developed RACE BOOT, not only helped Henrik Kristoffersen to the slalom crystal globe, but also brought Timon Haugan to the strongest season of his career to date, with victories in Alta Badia and the Nightrace in Schladming, in Sun Valley and two second places in Wengen and Kranjska Gora (the first double victory for the VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports team). The power performance of the two Norwegians has led to a fascinating phenomenon in ski racing: with them, the Swede Fabian Ax Swartz and the Spaniard Aleix Aubert Serracanta, Marcel Hirscher's racing team is a mini team, but VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports nonetheless occupies 5th place overall in the ranking of all ski manufacturers, 4th place in slalom and 6th place in giant slalom, where Henrik Kristoffersen ended his winter in second place in the GS standings with a similarly strong season performance as in slalom.
