Van Deer SL-JR PRO
By PTO Team, Based on Van Deer's 26/27 workbook, official product page and order sheet; no independent on-snow test of the SL-JR PRO was found · Spec analysis on this ski ·
The take
“The SL WORLD CUP's core recipe, word for word - on junior hardware that is genuinely its own.”
The Van Deer SL-JR PRO is a junior slalom race ski built around one job: setting an edge and holding it through a gate. At 138 cm — the length PTO stocks — it runs 65.5 mm underfoot on a 10 m radius, over a solid ash-poplar core with double Titanal. Van Deer's product page calls it a precise replica of the SL WORLD CUP, and one piece holds up exactly: the construction bullet on its workbook page is copied word for word from the World Cup ski's.
Where the SL-JR PRO stops being a replica is underneath. The ski doesn't mount on the adult Marker INTERFACE; it runs a junior plate, the SHORT at 132 cm and the PIVOT at 138, 148 and 152. Marker's copy for both describes a front elastomer for shock absorption, never the oil-hydraulic damper that defines the adult plate, and the junior plates weigh about a third of it: 220-250 g a side against 645-710. Separate engineering for a lighter skier, not the World Cup plate shrunk.
The SL-JR PRO is also one of two skis Van Deer names in a FIS claim, the GS-JR PRO being the other; the adult race series line names no model, and the PRO series says the reverse — it isn't bound by FIS at all. Being named is the strongest FIS language in this catalogue — and still a brand statement in a trade workbook, not a homologation lookup. Check this exact model, length and season against the current FIS list before your racer lines up.
How the SL-JR PRO skis has to be read from the build: no independent on-snow test of it was found, and we won't pretend otherwise. 8 to 11 m of radius is a short, demanding arc. Camber is unpublished across the race line, so the camber in our spec table is PTO's read, not Van Deer's.
The SL-JR PRO is the wrong ski for several kids, and we'd rather say so now. Wrong for a child who isn't racing: Van Deer's junior lineup is these two race skis, with no recreational junior model to fall back on. Wrong for a kid who can't yet load a metal race build. Wrong for a racer who needs a release value above DIN 10; PTO's build stops at the COMP 10 TCX. Wrong for a GS racer: the GS-JR PRO is that ski, and PTO stocked none.
PTO's build is the 138 cm on the Marker COMP 10 TCX (DIN 3-10), the binding both junior plates name as their tested pairing: $830 for the ski on its plate, $1,105 complete. A junior slalom race ski from Rossignol lists at roughly half that, and we haven't matched them spec for spec — price context, not a ruling. For $830 you get the World Cup core recipe, the Hirscher factory tune and the plate already mounted. Whether that is worth double is a call for your family and your racer's coach, not for us.
Bindings we'd pair with it
Mount point: System ski — the junior race plate is already on the ski; the binding mounts to the plate and is set by a technician. Our pick: Marker COMP 10 TCX (DIN 3-10).
- Marker COMP 10 TCX (DIN 3-10)PTO's stocked build, paired with the 138 cm
Both junior plates name this binding as the one they were developed and tested with, and it is what PTO buys alongside the ski. DIN is a reference number, not a measured release value — a technician sets a child's from weight, height, age, boot sole length and skier type.
- Marker COMP 12 GW (DIN 4-12)A racer who needs a release value above DIN 10
Van Deer lists it as a fitting binding for the whole JUNIOR PRO SERIES, though it is not the binding the junior plates name. A special order at PTO — tell us before you buy.
The SL-JR PRO is a system ski: $830 buys it with the junior race plate mounted. PTO adds the Marker COMP 10 TCX at $275, so $1,105 complete.
Common Questions
- Is the Van Deer SL-JR PRO legal for FIS races?
- Van Deer states by name that the SL-JR PRO and GS-JR PRO meet all FIS regulations and were developed and approved by Marcel Hirscher himself — the one FIS sentence in the catalogue that names skis at all. That sentence sits in the 26/27 trade workbook, not on the consumer product page, and a brand statement is not a homologation lookup. Check this exact model, length and season against the current FIS list before your racer lines up.
- Which binding does the SL-JR PRO need, and who sets the DIN?
- Van Deer lists two fitting bindings: the Marker COMP 10 TCX (DIN 3-10) and the COMP 12 GW (DIN 4-12). Both junior plates were built and tested around the COMP 10 TCX, and that is the one PTO stocks with the 138 cm. DIN is a reference number, not a measured release value — a technician sets it from your child's weight, height, age, boot sole length and skier type.
- How do I size the SL-JR PRO as my kid grows?
- Van Deer publishes no age, height or weight chart for this ski, so we won't invent one. Radius climbs with length — 8 m at 132 cm, 10 m at 138, and 11 m at both 148 and 152 — so the shortest size turns very differently from the longest. Sizing a junior racer is normally a coaching call. No coach's number yet? Come talk to us.
- What is the difference between the SL-JR PRO and the GS-JR PRO?
- Shape and purpose. The SL-JR PRO is the short-turn slalom ski, 8 to 11 m of radius across four lengths. The GS-JR PRO is built for giant slalom: five longer lengths, 154 to 174 cm, at 16-to-21-meter radii. Same construction language, same two fitting bindings, opposite turn. PTO has stocked none of the GS-JR PRO lengths.
- Is the SL-JR PRO really the same ski as the SL WORLD CUP?
- Same recipe, different hardware. The core bullet — ash-poplar solid wood core with double Titanal reinforcement — is copied word for word from the SL WORLD CUP's page, and Van Deer calls this ski a precise replica. The plate is not shared: this one runs junior-specific Marker hardware at roughly a third the weight of the adult INTERFACE, and the lengths and radii have nothing to do with the adult ski's.
- What does the SL-JR PRO cost, and does that include the plate?
- It is $830 at every length, with the junior race plate mounted. PTO stocks the 138 cm and adds the Marker COMP 10 TCX binding at $275, so $1,105 complete. The other three lengths and the COMP 12 GW binding are special orders.
- The 132 cm tip width is printed two ways. Which one is right?
- We don't know, and we won't guess. Van Deer's print workbook lists the 132 cm as 113-64-97 mm; Van Deer's own website lists the same row as 103-64-97 mm, with waist, tail, radius and weight matching exactly. Only the tip digit differs. PTO does not stock the 132 cm, and every number at 138, 148 and 152 cm matches across both sources.
