Straight to the heart of the skimo community

Some birthdays are celebrated with cake. Others with 2,500 meters of vertical gain, 17 kilometers and razor-sharp ridgelines. For Anton Palzer, his 33rd birthday was exactly that – right in the middle of one of the toughest ski mountaineering races in the world: the Pierra Menta.

At the legendary stage race in Arêches-Beaufort in the French Beaufortain, Palzer lined up for the first time on the new RACE TOUR 65 from VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports – and together with his Italian teammate Nadir Maguet, he sparked excitement across the skimo scene.

For four decades, the Pierra Menta has been considered the ultimate benchmark for every ski mountaineer. Four stages, around 10,000 meters of vertical gain, numerous technical sections and fast descents make the race what the Hahnenkamm is for alpine skiers or the Four Hills Tournament for ski jumpers: a legend that creates legends.

But the numbers tell only part of the story.

Shouldering skis, putting on crampons, short via ferrata sections – all at race pace. Four days in a row.

This year, 230 two-person teams from 19 nations took on the challenge. Right in the middle of it: Palzer and Maguet.

For Anton Palzer, the race was about more than just competition. After his widely noted stint in professional road cycling with Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe, he returned to the mountains – back to where it all began.

And he came back with the same passion that first drew him into the mountains.

At the toughest ski mountaineering race in the world, the Pierra Menta in Arêches-Beaufort, France, he finished fourth overall together with his Italian teammate Nadir Maguet, following two podium finishes on individual stages.

Hardly anyone understands better than Marcel Hirscher, founder of VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports, that athletes in the high mountains have to rely entirely on their equipment.

It confirms what he said at the launch of the first touring series from his brand VAN DEER–Red Bull Sports: “We know that the quality of our ski equipment can turn every mountain experience into an even deeper one.”

Four days later, Palzer and Maguet crossed the finish line exhausted – but smiling.

10,000 vertical meters behind them.

Two podium finishes.

Fourth place in one of the toughest races in the world.

A debut that made the skimo community take notice. And perhaps just the beginning of a new direttissima.