Dominik Paris in Bormio: Photo Credit GEPA

Although he’s off to a slow start this season, Italian speed star Dominik Paris is confident in his skis.

The 33-year-old from South Tyrol is one of few World Cup skiers who has stayed with his ski company since day one. Like few others on the circuit, his relationship with his brand has lasted nearly 21 years. His career has ebbed and flowed, but his Nordica skis have served him faithfully since his first race.

“This is my 21st year on Nordica,” says Paris, who, after a string of top super-G results during his first Europa Cup season in 2007-2008, made his World Cup debut in 2008. “It’s much easier growing up on material that you know. Then you come to the World Cup. Racers in the World Cup want to keep [skis] the same because they don’t know how they will respond to another company or how their skis respond in the snow or on the hill. I like my setup.”

Lone wolf

Paris, who Red Bull sponsors, has a long history of serving as Nordica’s highest-achieving representative in the World Cup. However, the company is ramping up its fleet with a handful of up-and-coming athletes. Nordica’s younger squad includes Switzerland’s Olympian Yannick Chabloz, emerging slalom talent Marc Rochat and independent Reto Schmidiger. The current Nordica roster also includes Norway’s downhiller Henrik Roea and Paris’s Italian teammate, Europa Cup slalom skier Hans Vaccari. Additionally, on the women’s side, they have the very talented injured World Cup winner Andreja Slokar.

“We are a small company,” Paris says. “We go more for quality rather than [having] the most racers. Now we have some young guys growing up with Nordica. That is good so that the company can grow.”

Paris has 21 World Cup victories under his belt, 17 while racing downhill, including three wins on the notorious Hahnenkamm Streif in Kitzbühel. Paris was the World Championship downhill silver medalist in 2013 and was the super-G champion in 2019. However, the race he has had the most success with is the treacherous Bormio event, where he has won seven times.  He clearly likes the most challenging competitions.

He tore knee ligaments training in Kitzbühel in 2020, but in his first race after the injury, he was back on the top step of the Hahnenkamm podium in January 2021. Notably, he earned a trio of podiums (two wins) during the 2021-22 season. This season with disappointing snow-hammered Lake Louise and Beaver Creek results, he’s looking forward to finding his stride again on Europe’s steep, icy slopes.

“Back in Europe, the conditions may change a bit. I have the mind to keep fighting,” he says.

Paris is notorious for rising above the rest when the tracks are dark, icy, bumpy, and scary. The more demanding the course, the more he can use his power to push. The men will be racing in Bormio starting on December 28th, a home race fitting his skill set that he has won seven times.

One thing’s for sure – Paris has complete confidence in his skis.

Set up for success

“I like the setup I use, and I always try to figure out what I can do to make it better and better,” he says.” I feel comfortable, that’s for sure, and I know where the limit is. I’m very fast when I’m skiing well and can keep pushing. That’s the important thing.”

Paris says the World Cup should see more Nordica athletes in the coming seasons.

“They try to keep the young guys coming and push them a bit,” he says, “Hopefully, we will have some young guys that can do this when I retire.”