FRANCISCO (KINO) SALDARINI

kino1Fransico(Kino) Saldarini come’s from a successful background in the Lake Como,Italy area.Since 1882 the Family has been in the fashion business with things such as fashionable hand bags that are in high end retail outlets across the world.

Kino started sking at age 4 and joined the Lombardia region ski team when he was 13. At age 9 his grand father taught him to drive his car which made him crazy for speed. At 16 Kino became a water ski and bare foot instructor while doing some motocross, skydiving and organizing wild party’s with friend’s.

While attending Bocconi University for his business degree he commuted to training and ski racing in the morning and worked at his parents business in the evenings. He began focusing on strength and aggressive ski disipline and began racing Super G and down hill and easily gain good ranking’s. This is how the Italian ski federation noticed him and invited him to join the Italian National Speedski Team in 1993 by giving him a free plane ticket to Rovaniemi,Finland. His first race finished with a speed of 170 kmph. This got Kino addicted to the sport and todate has a top speed of 235Kmph.

Kino uses this insane sport to free his mind of the daily stresses of life and feel the satisfaction of being the best he can be. GRINDERFEST is proud to have such an excellent individual endorsing the GRINDERFEST way of life. Kino also is spreading the word to other world speedskier’s at event’s. It must be working since he say’s someone stole his GRINDERFEST ball cap at his France competion.

BE THE FEAR is what Kino live’s eat’s and breath’s.

Enjoy some of the photo’s of his event in France and the celebration in the lodge.

Photo Gallery

TRACIE MAX SACHS

Tracie Max Sachs was born on Oct. 28, 1972. She was born and raised on Long Island, NY. She currently lives and works in Manhattan.

Tracie is an artist who got her BFA in Sculpture at Washington University in St. Louis in 1994. After undergraduate school, she went to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan where she earned her MFA in Sculpture in 1996.

Tracie works as a freelance artist in New York City. Her jobs have ranged from Production Designer for Rattlesnake Pictures, to Metalsmith and Art Handler for the Guggenheim Museum and American Museum of Natural History, to Fashion Design Assistant. Tracie is also known to tend bar occasionally for a little extra cash and lots of fun.

You are probably wondering how Tracie got involved in Speed Skiing. Since the age of three, Tracie was part of the Hunter Mountain racing team. Her devoted parents took her and her sister, Lisajoy, all over New York State to Slalom and GS races.

Throughout college and grad school, Tracie continued to ski recreationally and participate in small races. One of the races she participated in with her sister Lisajoy was the JTB Speed Weekend at Hunter.

After a few years of taking first place in this annual amateur event, the organizer of the race, Naga Kusumi, suggested that she try something a little more challenging.

Intrigued by this, Tracie contacted Naga Kusumi and arranged to go to the National Championships in Snowmass, Colorado. After searching the Web to acquire equipment for the race, Tracie came up with nothing. She had a ticket to Colorado, but no equipment. The day before she left, Naga agreed to lend her a pair of skis. When Tracie arrived, she contacted Amy Guras, former Olympic team member. Amy agreed to lend Tracie a rubber suit for the race and sold her a helmet made by Dale Womack for $50. Dale was also a former Olympic team member. By the day of the race, Tracie was ready to go.

At that point, her goal was to break 100 mph. Successful in her goal, Tracie placed third overall in her first race, achieving a speed of 115 mph. After that she was hooked, and decided to join the World Cup Tour.

Tracie has continued her racing and has worked hard to achieve her goals. Her hard work paid off this season. She is now the overall FIS World Cup Champion

VISIT TRACIE’S WEBSITE AT QUICKCHICK.COM

Photo Gallery