Van Deer SL
By PTO Team, Based on Van Deer official specs and the 26/27 workbook; no independent on-snow test of the SL has been published · Spec analysis on this ski ·
The take
“The World Cup slalom shape, damped at the plate and sold with one binding - still a slalom ski, still demanding.”
The Van Deer SL is a slalom race ski for a skier who is not on a start list: 67.5 mm underfoot, a 12.5 m radius at 165 cm, and the same published shape as the SL WORLD CUP. At 165 cm both skis are 118.5-67.5-103.5 at a 12.5 m radius, both ash-poplar with double Titanal. But Van Deer publishes no flex, no layup and no Titanal thickness for either, so the honest claim is the narrow one: the same published shape, a different interface. Nobody outside the factory can say the two are the same ski underneath.
The SL's build is race-room. A solid ash-poplar core sits between two layers of Titanal in what Van Deer calls a torsion box sandwich construction, on a sintered race base with ABS sidewalls that take a tune. The plate is a Marker FDT RACE PRO, and Van Deer states its job: it preserves the ski's natural flex and adds control and damping, where the SL WORLD CUP runs the stiffer INTERFACE plate. Van Deer also lists a Corund surface and thicker steel edges for the SL and not for the SL WORLD CUP - the cheaper of the two got the harder-wearing surface.
How the SL skis has to be read from the build, not from a test: no independent on-snow review of this ski has been published. It is a slalom ski - it wants to be tipped, loaded and released, and it loads hard whether or not you were ready. Van Deer credits the double Titanal for stability and power transmission, the tune-ready sidewalls for grip, and the plate for damping. No camber profile is published at all; the camber in our spec table is our read, not a Van Deer figure.
The SL's limits are not subtle. It is a hard-snow ski and little else: 67.5 mm on a race build has no float once the snow softens. It is short and quick only - the ski stops at 165 cm and 12.5 m, so the long, fast arc belongs to the PRO and the GS skis. The catalogue's line about everyone experiencing the race feeling is marketing, not an ability rating; a skier still building a carve will be worked by this ski.
Within the line, the SL is the one to own rather than the one to race: the SL WORLD CUP takes the stiffer plate and the race bindings up to a COMP 30 that the SL does not list, and the H-Power 68 gives hard-snow grip without a race build. Van Deer calls the RACE SERIES a range of FIS-compliant race skis but prints no per-model homologation line for the SL, so a racer should check the current FIS list. PTO stocks the 165 cm. This is a system ski: $1,700 buys it on its plate, $2,100 adds the matching Marker COMP 13 FDT GW binding, and DIN is an indicator rather than a guarantee - we mount it and set the release value.
Bindings we'd pair with it
Mount point: System ski on a Marker FDT RACE PRO plate; the binding is a separate purchase, mounted and set by a technician. Our pick: Marker COMP 13 FDT GW (DIN 4-13).
- Marker COMP 13 FDT GW (DIN 4-13)The matched fitting binding
The fitting binding Van Deer lists for the SL, in grey to match the ski. DIN is an indicator, not a guarantee; mount and release value are set by a technician.
The SL is a system ski: the ski on its FDT RACE PRO plate is $1,700, and the matching Marker COMP 13 FDT GW binding brings it to $2,100. The SL WORLD CUP is the model that lists the race bindings above this one.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between the Van Deer SL and the SL WORLD CUP?
- Less than the price gap suggests. At 165 cm both are 118.5-67.5-103.5 with a 12.5 m radius, and both are ash-poplar with double Titanal. What Van Deer documents as different is the plate (the SL takes the damping FDT RACE PRO, the WORLD CUP the stiffer INTERFACE), the weight (2,230 g against 2,300 g per ski with plate at 165 cm), the binding list, the SL-only Corund surface and thicker edges, and $100. Neither ski has a published flex or layup, so the shape they print is the same - but nobody can tell you the skis are.
- Is the Van Deer SL a FIS-legal race ski?
- Van Deer describes the RACE SERIES as a range of FIS-compliant race skis and names its junior race skis individually, but it prints no per-model homologation line for the SL. If you need a homologated ski for gates, verify it against the current FIS list before you buy rather than take a catalogue sentence for it.
- Is the SL too much ski for an intermediate?
- Probably. It is 67.5 mm with a 12.5 m radius - a slalom build - and the catalogue line about everyone experiencing the race feeling is marketing, not an ability rating. A confident, aggressive skier on hard snow will enjoy it; a skier still building a carve will be worked by it.
- Is the Van Deer SL any good off-piste?
- No. A 67.5 mm slalom race ski has no float in soft snow, and this one is built for hard snow and nothing softer. For soft snow and mixed terrain, look at the H-Power 89 or the Freeride line instead.
- What binding does the SL use, and can I mount my own?
- It runs the Marker FDT RACE PRO plate with the Marker COMP 13 FDT GW binding (DIN 4-13), which is the fitting binding Van Deer lists for this ski. A plate system like this is set up and the release value adjusted by a qualified technician - DIN is an indicator, not a guarantee, and this is not a self-mount ski.
- Which length of the Van Deer SL should I buy?
- PTO stocks the 165 cm, which is the 12.5 m ski. The 155 cm is 11 m - quicker and tighter - and a special order, so tell us before you buy. There is no long SL.
