The last several years have seen tumultuous changes in the ski waxing world. After the fluoro ban went into effect, manufacturers have been scrambling to bridge the performance gap between now prohibited fluorinated wax and non-fluoros. But it’s not just wax manufacturers who have been busy trying to figure out how to build a better mousetrap now that the most powerful weapon ever developed in the waxing arsenal has been sidelined. Wax technicians have also...
On January 17th, 2022, a US Ski and Snowboard (USSS) ban on using perfluorocarbon-based wax products (“fluoros”) at all International Ski Federation-sanctioned (FIS) races in the country went into effect. The action marked the critical point in a rapid evolution of policies meant to limit competitive nordic skiing’s emission of perfluorocarbons, part of a class of especially environmentally persistent, and potentially health-concerning, chemicals known as PFAs. Overnight, The cumulative knowledge of 40 years on...
Many of the season’s biggest races are a month away: The American Birkebeiner, High School State Meets, Junior National Qualifiers, and countless important citizens’ races. Here at BNS, we get a lot of questions in the weeks leading up to races about how to make your skis the fastest possible on race day. Truth is, much like training your body to be fast on race day, you have to prep your skis for the big races, too....
Editor’s note: FasterSkier is fortunate to have the sponsorship support of Fast Wax; therefore, we are proud to highlight the innovative spirit that Fast Wax brings to the cross-country skiing marketplace. This article is less an endorsement of one company’s products than it is a recognition of the hard work undertaken by so many companies in the the ski industry. Dan Meyer likes to innovate. So naturally, as he became more interested in Nordic skiing,...
All in the family People often lament the demise of small artisanal crafted goods. The dominance of huge retailers and manufacturers is often viewed as something between a sign of the approaching apocalypse, and proof of various conspiracy theories. In many industries, when you think of the absolute pinnacle of quality and performance, smaller companies often come to mind: Ferrari for cars, Shinola for personal goods, and, (showing my personal bias) Jenny’s for ice cream....
Here are links to earlier installments in this five-part series. The first two parts (part one; part two) spoke to the perspectives of high level wax technicians and industry representatives, while part three focused on the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League. To read the beginning of this article on the wax protocols of Western clubs, part four, click here. Leveling the Playing Field In regard to the question of whether the policy widens the gap in...
In speaking with representatives from each of the leagues featured in this series, a few main points rose to the foreground in this discussion: the level of competition matters, how the policy came about matters, and how a program can enhance athlete support holistically by relieving wax-related expenses – measured both in time and dollars – matters. Before jumping into discussions for club level programs across the West, here are the links to view the...
In case you missed it, here’s part 1 and part 2 of this series, in which industry representatives and expert ski technicians discuss ski performance theory and what impact a single-wax policy may have on competitive skiing. What goes on inside the wax cabins and trucks at high-level competitions from the SuperTour to the World Cup seems, in equal parts, expertise, artistry, and alchemy. And, for those looking to understand to which conditions their pair...
Click here to read part 1 of this story. In most states, youth skiing is divided between club and high school programming, where club programs support skiers looking to race competitively on a regional, national, or international level, perhaps with goals of NCAA skiing and beyond. High school ski programming is typically more participation focused, and comes with a much lower price tag for families, consequently with a much smaller program budget. It’s less about...
In November 2021, the Wisconsin Nordic Ski League (WNSL), which oversees both high school and club level youth programming state-wide, accepted a sponsorship proposal from Swix and Salomon, which would provide the league with $10,000 in funding per year for three years. The proposal also included stipulation that a standardized wax protocol using Swix waxes would be adopted by the league at all affiliated races, including the state championship. In practice, this would look like...
The ski community has known there’s a problem for awhile now. Fluorinated waxes, whose extreme hydrophobic properties make them ideal for fast skis, also are by that same property impossible to break down in the environment, allowing them to permeate through the soil into water supplies. The compounds are also known carcinogens, and frequent exposure to these compounds, particularly when heating and inhaling the fumes of waxes in which they are contained, is linked to...
A team of familiar faces is soon headed to the American Birkebeiner, and rumor has it, their race suits will be something to behold. Spearheaded by brand ambassador Simi Hamilton, the team of Sophie Hamilton (Caldwell), Sadie Maubet-Bjornsen, Liz Stephen, Matt Gelso, Sylvan Ellefson, and Erik Bjornsen will be racing as members of the mountainFLOW Eco Wax team. Based in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, where Hamilton grew up, mountainFLOW Eco Wax is the...
Jeremy Hecker leads a waxing clinic ahead of our 2022 marathon racing season!
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. In fall 2021, following last-minute revelations that a long-promised fluoro-detecting device did not, actually, work as efficiently as planned, FasterSkier previewed an upcoming domestic race season in which U.S. Ski & Snowboard-sanctioned races would ban the use of fluorocarbon waxes, but anything would be fair game at FIS races. (For an overview of the difference between the sanctioning bodies and the rankings lists they generate, see...
Some skiers have tossed them, some have squandered them, some have disposed of them according to specific guidelines for toxins at their local landfill. Some have donated their speed-goods to the U.S. Ski Team as it burns through its supply of high-quality fluoros. Some have simply stored them in a wax cabinet, a symbol of what was. We’re talking fluorinated wax, powders, gels, liquids, and yes, small-batch slurries. U.S. Ski and Snowboard has banned fluoros...
In mid-March media outlets in Norway and Sweden reported complications with the proposed hand-held fluoro testing tool FIS plans to use next season to enforce their fluoro ban. Already, the ban was pushed back a year due to delays with accurately measuring per-fluoros residue on ski bases. A group involved with developing the Fluoro Tracker (FT) as the testing device is known, released a paper last month titled “Detection of fluorine in skibases and skiwaxes.”...
A glance at the weather across North America, and no surprise, spring has arrived some places, while in other locales, deep winter has clawed back in. Jackson, New Hampshire, warmed to 59 degrees Fahrenheit today. Ditto in Lake Placid. A bit lower at 46 degrees in Hayward, Wisconsin, and a chance of rain. This morning in Bozeman, Montana was just below freezing with 92% humidity. It fell to – 4.3 degrees Celsius in Sovereign Lake,...
Over the past few years, FasterSkier has reported on per-fluorinated waxes, powders, liquids, and pastes. Entities like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Europe’s equivalent, the European Environment Agency, are phasing out eight-chain fluorocarbons. We know, after diving into the scientific literature, the evidence suggests these compounds are not good for your health, and they persist in the environment as they do not readily breakdown into inert substances. We also know that skiers love fluoros....
Covering the basics with Lina Hutlin. With the growth of cross-country skiing, we decided to literally get back to the basics. We understand not all coming to the sport arrive with an encyclopedic knowledge of how and where to start. That’s where this series comes in: It’s for those new to cross-country skiing or those looking for an easy entry point for ideas on how to wax, what skis to buy, and literally placing one...
Swiss athletes ski testing in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: NordicFocus) Much has already been written about snow. There are countless pictures of perfectly grown snow crystals, but very little about snow found on the slopes or in the cross-country skiing tracks. The newest article in our science series provides a vivid picture of snow in its many forms. With a cell phone and a mini microscope, you get fantastic pictures of snow grains. You can...