Dana Alexandrescu
Age: 35
Hometown: Park City
Circuit: Masters Class 2
Loyalist
I’ve been with Atomic for three seasons. I’ve been
given a lot of support and part sponsorship from
them and I really like the product — Double Deck for
racing, Crimson TI and Elysian for freeskiing. If I’m
going to a race that has tech and speed events, then
I bring three or four pairs of skis; otherwise two pairs.
I bring only one pair of boots — Atomic RT STI 130
flex. My poles are Swix Mach.
I bring two helmets: my blue POC Skull Comp for GS
and SG, plus Sinuse SL Receptor Bug for freeskiing.
I also have POC shin guards, Spyder suits, and UnderArmour and X-Bionic for base layers. My jackets
are Spyder and Kjus. I bring Swix wax and a tuning file if I’m going on longer trips, but I also always have
some overlays I can rub on before a race.
Pandora and Protein
I listen to Pandora or some upbeat music on my Android phone once in a while to get pumped up, but I
like to ski without music to hear the skis on the snow. I bring along ProFit and Luna protein bars, too.
George Merrill
Age: 63
Hometown: Enfield, N.H.
Circuit: Masters Class 8
New Tricks
My race skis are Head I Speed GS 185 and Head I SL — both are cheater skis in that they have
shorter radius sidecuts than FIS. They are great in all kinds of race and ski conditions and just fun to
ski on as they turn so easily. My Head boots are soft 110 flex with foam liners. I travel with one pair
of boots and two pairs of skis unless I’m doing speed events, and then I bring 210 Head DH and
195 SG Atomic race skis. I use Leki carbon fiber slalom poles with their hand protection guards. For
super G, I use Swix composite SG/GS poles.
Underneath It All
I use the Swix Race series luggage and gear bags and their four-pair burrito bag for skis. I carry extra
Spyder compression underwear for less muscle fatigue and Spyder turtle necks, two race suits, one
padded Artech custom suit and one unpadded Spyder downhill suit, plus extra SmartWool Racer
socks.
Everything Else
I use Marker spring gloves (for summer training), Reusch WC GS Race gloves and Reusch Nor Am
Mittens (for cold days). For shin guards I use Artech and
Slytech carbon fiber. Cat tracks for boot protection from
parking lot to lodge. Oakley sunglasses. Uvex goggles
for all events because of their inexpensive replacement
lenses and easy lens change option. Uvex carbon fiber helmet for light weight and performance for GS and
downhill events; Shred helmet for slalom racing. Swiss
Army watch. Artech ball cap, Nike cross trainers.
Steve Foley
Age: 70
Hometown: Killington, Vt.
Circuit: Masters 10
Getting in the Groove
I’ve been on Völkl skis for 10 years and in Nor-
dica boots for five years. I’m faster on Völkls — I
tried several brands and the Völkls, for me, are
considerably faster. I feel the Nordica boots are
really quick from edge to edge. To local events,
I bring two pairs of skis and one set of boots for
local events; for big events, I bring three pairs of
skis. I also have a Marker helmet, two pairs of
Uvex goggles and one pair of Ray Bans. I bring
shin guards, two pairs of gloves, a helmet and
face guard, extra hat and gloves, one pair of
long underwear, two sets of warm-up pants and
coats, two pairs of poles (one for slalom and one
for GS and super G), a ski tuning kit with assort-
ed waxes and jogging shoes. And a corkscrew.
That’s it. When I travel, it’s tough just getting in
the equipment groove, and the less equipment,
the better.
