Before winter really gets underway, Marcel Hirscher welcomed the top VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports athletes with a tour of the new headquarters, factory and flagship store in Scheffau. The place radiates pure ski inspiration across all 6,900 square meters. In just 16 months, his childhood dream has become the most modern ski factory in the world – a meeting space for ski enthusiasts who share one belief: only the best equipment enables the better turn.
Marcel Hirscher’s biography has often followed the saying: “Everything seems impossible until someone makes it happen.” It was true in his first career, when he won the overall World Cup eight times in a row, two Olympic gold medals, and seven world championship titles. It remained true when he launched his own outdoor label, THE MOUNTAIN STUDIO, and his own ski brand, VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports. And it seems to continue now that the rising-star ski brand has moved into its new home in Scheffau.
The young company history of VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports can still be measured in weeks - 232 since hour zero. That hour dates back to June 12, 2021, marking a milestone on the timeline of ski history: on this memorable Saturday, Marcel Hirscher decided to make his childhood dream come true. He planned to build 50 pairs of high-end skis from premium components for himself, family and friends.
It didn’t stop at an idea whose time had come and certainly not at only 50 pairs of skis. Hirscher’s vision of democratizing high-end skiing equipment and giving all skiers access to the elite gear of top athletes inspired Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz: “He said, ‘Marcel, then let’s build a company that changes the ski sport.’ Everything great that has happened here in the four and a half years since has happened in that spirit. The success in racing, the fanbase. By now we could write the names of all the people who contributed to our journey on every square meter of these 6,900 square meters.”
232 weeks of ski history in fast forward - during which VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports has become the new signature brand for skiers, thanks to the founder’s uncompromising quality standards, a strong lineup of ski experts and a race team featuring a dozen charismatic stars who win and shine. Alpine ski racers Henrik Kristoffersen, Timon Haugan, Joan Verdu, AJ Ginnis, Max Franz, Fabian Ax Swartz and Aleix Aubert Serracanta. Ski jumpers Andreas Wellinger, Daniel Tschofenig, Timi Zajc. Nordic combined athlete Vinzenz Geiger. And Marcel Hirscher as “Racing Captain,” who will return to the World Cup in January.
Scheffau am Tennengebirge 393, November 18, 2025. Normally it would be nearly impossible to gather top athletes at the same place and time during this phase of the season. But most of the big VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports names are here to join Marcel Hirscher on a welcome tour through the new headquarters.
It’s the turn, it’s always the turn. This guiding principle, derived from skiing, its dynamics and its lines, shapes the character of the building that was constructed in 16 months on a gravel site between a rock wall, a country road and the bends of the Lammer River. It is an architectural statement giving form to Hirscher’s ski vision. Thirty companies turned his childhood dream into reality following the plans of X ARCHITEKTEN. The reinforced concrete structure with green sandwich panels on a wooden subframe blends harmoniously into the landscape. The philosophy of the perfect turn is reflected consistently in the design language inside and out, with a color concept derived from the corporate identity. The organic connection between identity, place, and architecture between brand, users, and space, is palpable everywhere. This gives the new HQ a unified aesthetic, right down to the stairwell, which is modeled after a slalom course.
Nature plays a role in the energy systems as well. Ventilation with heat recovery, heat pump systems, an energy-autonomous ramp heating system, groundwater wells for heat generation, low-temperature heating and photovoltaics.
“I knew the plans and models. Then I came to the new building for a meeting for the first time. For the first half hour I was speechless, totally blown away by how beautiful everything turned out,” says Hirscher. “I had dreamed of a meeting space that would inspire ski enthusiasts, athletes, employees, partners, customers. The reality surpasses my dream, and you can feel it in the energy, the spirit and the team dynamic.”
How well this inspirational space has succeeded is confirmed by Marcel Hirscher’s former toughest competitor and now teammate, Henrik Kristoffersen: “I think VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports is the only ski company in the world that has a home base like this. Equipment, food, training opportunities, you can take care of everything here at the new headquarters and exchange ideas with the people who work here. It brings us closer together as a team.” And regarding Marcel Hirscher’s comeback in January, he added jokingly: “Technically, we shouldn’t beat the boss on the slopes. But technically, we should beat the boss on the slopes.”
The reigning Slalom World Cup winner is excited to be an important part of VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports’ rapid progress. So says Timon Haugan: “I’m proud to have been one of the first athletes on this brand and it’s pretty cool what has been created in such a short time. Now a new winter is coming and it’s great that Marcel is back in the scene again.”
One third of the space in the new headquarters is taken up by the world’s most modern ski factory, spatially organized according to the logic of ski construction. In terms of production technology, the VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports crew took inspiration from their colleagues in Formula 1 teams. When it comes to ski preparation, edge tuning, and boot fitting, Hirscher has brought the best specialists in the ski scene into the company.
He emphasizes: “The effort we put into racing is not an end in itself; it serves our overarching goal: we are successful when our equipment makes every skier a better skier. The feedback from our customers confirms that we’re on the right path.” That is also because quality management at VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports must meet the strictest seal of approval in the ski world, the signature of Marcel Hirscher on every product.
The new headquarters marks a new era for VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports, Hirscher says: “We make no distinction in product quality between racers and recreational skiers, nor in service and consultation. Everyone goes through the same ski tuning and boot fitting process as World Cup athletes.”
This all happens in the heart of the new HQ: the flagship store, which will open on December 1 in time for the season. It functions like an open kitchen, offering a direct view into ski production, while in adjacent service rooms World Cup-tested specialists customize skis and boots for the perfect turn. Customer consultation covers everything that makes top athletes faster: from selecting the right materials for each skiing type to boot fitting for optimal ergonomic and technical performance. Every pair of skis is prepared as if for a World Cup race, binding setup, edge tuning, base structure and wax finish included.
Offices and meeting rooms are arranged around an impressive atrium along the upper-floor façade. Desks with a view, inspired by nature and guided by the principle of connection - open kitchen, interaction zones, terrace. In the Athletes Room, top athletes find everything they need after intense ski training: bike trainers, physio area, ice bath, and showers. Their key training areas are reachable within an hour.
While the Alpine technicians at VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports have already begun their Olympic season with the races in Sölden and Levi, Max Franz is preparing for his comeback in the USA. Andreas Wellinger, Daniel Tschofenig and Timi Zajc will kick off their season in Lillehammer this weekend. Nordic combined athlete Vinzenz Geiger is still injured and must miss Ruka (Finland) and Trondheim (Norway).
Has brand founder Marcel Hirscher already moved into his office in the new HQ? “My office is still on the mountain and in the ski room,” he laughs. In January, after his injury break, he will return to racing.
Perhaps the first Olympic winter for his brand, VAN DEER-Red Bull Sports, will already produce the next milestone on the timeline of ski history.
