From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
SuperTour race weekend in Craftsbury, VT, where Zach Caldwell (left) supported SMS T2 athletes. (Photo: Facebook Caldwell Sport)
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 ski preparation nulled. Since then, it’s been a brave new world.
Step into a wax room these days, and you’re unlikely to hear codewords like “Cera F” and “Jetstream” muffled from behind the gas masks that became standard issue near the end of the fluoro-era. The scramble to take everything into account—from snow temp to air temp, ski selection, grind, and base material too—and funnel it into putting the best ski on the snow for a race is still there. The rules may have changed, but the game is the same.
Two and half seasons into fluoro-free racing, there have been countless tests by wax technicians across the continent to figure out just what they’re working with on any given race day. Among them has been long-time American “ski whisperer” Zach Caldwell, owner and operator of Caldwell Sport in Putney, Vermont. As New England thawed out from its last snowstorm of the season, and US Skiing from the season that accompanied it, FasterSkier caught up with Caldwell to learn what he’s learned about where the limiter of fluoro-free waxing has started to push ski service.
Speak to Caldwell, and you’ll quickly get acquainted with jargon that acquaints you with his professorial approach to ski service. He’ll often talk about “solutions,” that is, the singular result of combining the “pie” of factors (see our 2022 discussion on what makes a ski fast featuring Caldwell here) that go into a race-ready ski. In that pie, you’ll find ski camber, ski flex, base grind selection, hand-applied structure, and everything that can be broadly categorized as wax. He also cites how “robust” solutions are the best solutions; that is, where the overall combination of the factors within that ski performance pie can be adaptable to a wide range of conditions. In Caldwell’s view, the ideal ski technician is as much engineer and artist as they are actuary. “Robust solutions limit the risk of sending you in the wrong direction.”
Zach Caldwell in his element. (Photo: Facebook Caldwell Sport)
“Wax with fluoro compounds occupied a big part of the whole pie when it came to ski performance,” Caldwell had said previously. His expectation when the US moved to eliminate fluoros from the wax slice of the pie two seasons ago was in line with many ski technicians. “I figured was that we weren’t going to accommodate for the lack of fluoros,” he said. “All we did by eliminating fluoros was make the comparative importance of everything else bigger.”
The key problems to which fluoros served as a solution were twofold. Fluoros resisted water better than any other compound. Fluoros were also better at helping to keep base-clogging dirt away. Those properties came from a complex interaction of chemical, ski, and snow. When applied to a ski, the chemical differentiation of fluorocarbons from a standard polyethylene ski base meant they formed a “top-coat,” not mixing with the other base wax treatments that helped change the bulk properties of the base. That fluorocarbon top-coat was extremely hydrophobic, which helped discourage water-on-water friction in wetter snow conditions most often found around or above freezing. The fluoro top-coat also abraded with dirt that otherwise would be picked up by the ski base, lending to the sensation of “durability” from skiers. In attempting to replace the water- and dirt-repellency offered by fluoros, ski technicians have most often looked at other slices of the overall solution “pie” to re-produce those qualities.
The initial expectation from Caldwell was that skiers would look to ski selection and base grind as factors readily available to assist in finding a solution. “When it comes to that, it’s played out 100% as I predicted it would” he said. “We’re selling way more skis, and grinding way more skis [at Caldwell Sport]. There’s a lot more active testing of hand structures.”
A ski being brushed. After the elimination of fluorocarbon wax products, ski selection and grind have jumped to the front of many skier’s considerations in race preparation. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In particular, skiers are looking to add more specialized skis to their fleets in the conditions in which fluoros once excelled. Higher camber skis—skis that ride higher above the snow and often have less prolonged surface run times than comparative skis—can help in having skis not pick up as much dirt. Base Grinds and hand structures, especially “V” shaped chevrons and deeper linear rills, can help channel water away from a ski base in wet conditions.
The push out to the ski itself, and grind selection, has led to a new dynamic in race day solutions. “In the past, you could show up with an inappropriate camber and get those skis into the game in the right conditions by using fluoros,” said Caldwell. “Now, showing up with the wrong ski or wrong hand structure is not doable. You’re unable to compensate with a great wax solution.
The dynamic of not being able to wax your way out of a mis-matched ski has come as a result of what Caldwell sees in the selection of new fluoro-free waxes that have been offered on the market.
“I’ve had to revise my expectations around the wax itself,” he said. “I knew we couldn’t replicate the performance of fluorocarbon chemistry, but thought that the difference between the teams that could test application methods and products ad nauseam and those who couldn’t would be emphasized. As it’s turned out, it has felt like many of the solutions just hit the ceiling for performance at about the same place.”
The result has been twofold. For one, it takes less resources to reach that lower ceiling of performance, and it can often be done by waxes from a much lower price point than the $150-200 fluoro blocks that used to contribute to a race day ski build. There are also more ways to get to an overall ski solution that precludes having found a particular wax product selection and application. Hence, the turn towards ski, grind, and structure selection for many skiers.
Caldwell sees a particular pressure point in the ski industry given the way many fluoro-free waxes have hit a similar performance ceiling, often at wildly unreliable price points: “Some of the big companies were very quick to introduce fluoro-free lines in an attempt to make a new market follow old rules.”
“The price points on those first fluoro-free products reflected that the big wax companies knew that there was a high tolerance high price points among consumers,” Caldwell said. “The thing that gets kind of lost is that those consumer tolerances were built around wax solutions that re-defined the sport. That’s what those 30-gram Swix Cera F vials did in the late 1980s. They were definitely revolutionary. We’re currently in a place now though, where a nominally $1 per application wax job can beat a $10 per application wax job, and after a while, that’s just going to frustrate consumers.”
Ski Techs sorting through test fleet on a race day. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Caldwell views the muddy value proposition offered by new fluoro-free waxes as contributing to a cultural shift away from the “essentially technical” nature of nordic skiing. “It’s creating an environment where the incentive is stronger than ever to control the role waxing places in the whole solution on race day.” That chiefly includes wax protocols, often modeled after the one introduced by Rocky Mountain Nordic in 2019 that now are enforced across a host of junior and collegiate circuits in the United States. “If we assume that on any given day, without fluoro, there is a certain amount of speed available,” said Caldwell, “[Then] by limiting the role wax plays, you’re decreasing the amount of creativity that can be brought to bear in getting to that total speed available. You end up with more of a disparity than you would have by allowing wax to be brought into the picture.” FasterSkier previously covered the discussion surrounding competitive and technical balance at play in wax protocols here; however skiers might form opinions on where the technical aspect of skiing meets its competitive culture, Caldwell was careful to point out that having those opinions is one of the essential beauties of the sport: “I was pretty young when skating came into the picture,” Caldwell said. “People lost their minds like it was going to change the sport beyond recognition, but what happened? There’s a dialectic that’s healthy, and we ended up with a sport that still includes classic skiing, and even there, a ‘classic skiing’ that is pretty advanced from what they were trying to preserve, right?”
“Progress is always going to be there,” Caldwell said. “And trying to halt progress is a bad idea… but that doesn’t mean you don’t try to steer progress.”
U.S. Ski Team wax truck during pre-season camp in Rovaniemi, Finland. (Matt Whitcomb)
On the contrary, the gyre of new ideas and new technologies spinning the sport forward keeps Caldwell, a seasoned-ski expert among seasoned ski experts, excited some fifty years into the sport. He hopes it will keep you excited, too. In that regard, he leads by pure example. In the brave new world catalyzed by fluoro-free, he sees a broad horizon to chart out skiers’ relationship to how they view their skis. He spins visions on how the World Cup could start promoting the technical aspects of the sport, broadcasting wax tests and highlighting ski profiles the way F1 motorsport does. He can rattle off, with passion, a broad architecture to incentivize ski companies to start producing their best skis for all skiers. “Imagine a world where Fischer had to produce a 50th percentile ski that Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo could win on!”
For Caldwell, all of it comes back to a deeply rooted experience in a nordic community he loves. “One of the really cool things about the US is that the nordic community is quite open, uncharacteristically open, compared to other countries. It’s full of a lot of good people, and I think that culture is, at present, one of the most sophisticated cultures in the world when it comes to ski innovation.” As to where are we in the fluoro-free world, two seasons in? “You mean in a world where you can’t brute force your way to good solutions with more resources?” asked Caldwell. “Well, it’s a world that puts a premium on collaboration and creativity? Turns out we’ve been pretty good at that for a long time over here.”
In this episode of the Devon Kershaw Show, we bring back Zach Caldwell, one of North America’s leading ski and wax experts. We get into the arcane and arguably misguided rules around the use of fluorocarbon waxes at high-level races, along with potential challenges for wax and ski technicians at the little-studied Beijing Olympic venue.
You can find a host of resources from Zach on skis, wax, and grinds that might more-directly apply to your own skiing and racing at CaldwellSport.com.
Testing the Fischer fleet in Davos. (Photo: NoridcFocus)
The cost of providing World Cup athletes with competitive skis is mounting at an alarming rate for teams without deep pockets.
This spring, coaches of US National Team athletes and staff from the Center of Excellence in Park City huddled around zoom for their annual meeting, called “Moving USA Skiing Forward.” Among the topics discussed were plans for the US Ski Team to keep pace with what Head Coach Matt Whitcomb calls the “waxing arms race.”
While high end ski service has never been cheap, costs have ballooned, in part due to the growing adoption of on-site grinding programs by well-funded national teams. The desire for teams to have grinding programs is expected to intensify should the fluorocarbon ban take effect in the 2022/23 season.
Cross Country Program Manager Chris Grover. (Photo: US Ski & Snowboard)
“A lot of technicians think it’s going to exacerbate some of the problems, because most people view the C8 fluorocarbons as being a great equalizer,” said Cross Country Program Manager Chris Grover. “There’s so many products that are so good… that they end up being quite similar in terms of ski speed.”
Because of the equalizing effect of fluoros, teams looking to gain a competitive edge have increasingly turned to ski selection, grinds, hand structures, and above all, testing. Grover said the challenge was to keep up with nations that can “take brand new skis and put a specific grind on them during the championships, and have the massive manpower needed to do the incredible amount of testing to figure out how every hand structure that they’re testing interacts with every one of the grinds that they’re testing, and doing all that before they even test an athlete’s fleet of skis, or apply those enhanced structures to the ski.”
As a result, Grover said that, “most nations are now spending much more on World Cup ski service than they do on their development budgets, or even their camp budgets.” A 2019 survey by FIS found that big ski nations spent 33% of their annual budget on ski service, compared to 15% for training costs. Dagbladet reported that of the costs teams pay at the World Cup itself, more than half goes towards race service.
When fluoros are phased out, Grover said it would, “put more pressure on the grinding and hand structure side of things, which is a place to spend a lot more money: a lot more R&D money, more testing money, more application and on the ground winter logistical money.”
Grover affirmed that “easily” a third of the US Ski Team budget has already been going toward ski service. He listed expenses such as paying wax techs, including their salary, lodging, and travel, as well as the cost of moving the wax truck around Europe. Add to that ski testing camps and purchasing wax. According to Grover, these costs are “putting immense pressure on all the teams.”
The USST wax truck, new in 2017, fully deployed. (Photo: Matt Whitcomb)
To catch up to the likes of Norway and Sweden, the US Ski Team has made large investments. In 2017 the team purchased a $600,000 wax truck. This season nine nations will haul their own waxing rigs around the World Cup circuit: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, France, Canada, and the United States.
Where wax trucks were once the cutting edge, grinding is now at the forefront of elite ski service at championship events. “As many as five teams bring grinders to championships,” said Whitcomb. “In a championship that is very wet…[that can] be a huge benefit.”
With the past two World Championships being held in summer-like slush—conditions that allow grinding programs to shine—a US Ski Team grinding program has become more appealing. Currently, most US skiers use factory grinds which vary from company to company. As a result, it can be difficult, especially in very warm conditions, to find a hand structure that works over a variety of grinds.
The advantage to having an in-house grinding program is less venue specific, in the opinion of Zach Caldwell, ski-grinding guru and owner of Caldwell Sport, and has more to do with “overall control of the process.”
Zach Caldwell with a pair of Madshus skis.
Still, Caldwell said in a call with FasterSkier that he believed a team grinding program would be “putting the cart before the horse.” Caldwell outlined the challenges to starting a grinding program: “You can get a very competitive grinder for seventy thousand to a couple of hundred thousand dollars. [The real cost would be] at least one dedicated person who is really going to learn the trade.”
Added to that would be two to four testers to “run skis as often as you can get them out on the snow, around the world, to as many different venues as you can. A good structure needs to work in a lot of different places…this is where the factories come in — they’re testing all the time.”
As it stands, Caldwell said that the US Ski Team has a “very underfunded service department. They don’t have a single 12 month employee…I think there’s so many areas to do super beneficial work by just adding one, maybe two or three full time employees.”
To get a grinding program up and running would require paying “full time employees, every year, and figuring that it’s going to take several years to make any advantages — and that’s only if you have people good enough to be close to the best in the world doing it. It’s just a tough way to make a small advantage,” said Caldwell. “Just adding a championship grinding operation to what they’re already doing doesn’t make sense.”
Testing the Salomon fleet in Davos. (Photo: NordicFocus)
The US Ski Team has been pursuing other initiatives to bridge the gap to leading wax nations. Gus Kaeding, who runs the analytics department for the US Ski Team, created a system to track weather conditions and skis used at World Cup events.
“Let’s take a place we go every year like Ruka, [Finland],” said Kaeding. “ [Previously] we just had the weather written down in notebooks somewhere. Now, every morning when the coaches arrive, they are able to attribute what skis they’re using to their athlete, all in a centralized system. We can look and see which skis performed and which didn’t, and what the weather conditions were.”
Kaeding felt that the old school method of logging conditions, waxes, and skis in notebooks was a “competitive disadvantage.” He pointed to the weather tracking system that Norway developed beginning in 2009, complete with their own weather stations at World Cup venues.
“They can tell you the weather conditions in Ruka from the last decade and a half and what happened down to the millisecond each day,” Kaeding said, adding, “They’re a decade ahead of us. In terms of information, there’s basically no way we can catch up to that, which is a bit frustrating.”
Nevertheless, Kaeding is optimistic that a couple of developments may help the team in the future. One is that a future fluoro ban may make much of other teams’ waxing databases less relevant. The second is the Beijing Olympic venue, which, apart from the Chinese ski team, has not been accessible to any of the teams.
This lack of access to the Chinese venue has hampered plans by Norway to conduct research and testing in advance. Normally, the Norwegian Gliding Project—a partnership between the Norwegian cross country, combined, and biathlon teams—conducts ski testing at an Olympic venue beginning four years in advance. In the lead up to the 2018 Games, the project spent 14.7 million NOK, equivalent to about $1.7 million USD. With the Beijing Olympic venue closed, the level of research a nation like Norway can have in its back pocket is severely limited.
“Frankly, when we go to a place, such as the Beijing Olympics — a venue no one’s ever been to — it gives us an advantage,” Kaeding said. “Because they don’t have 10 years of data on this place… It brings everyone to a more level playing field.”
Kaeding is among those who believe that a FIS ruling on limitations is the path to a fairer sport. “All the teams are dedicating such a high portion of our budgets just to improve the last 1% [of ski speed],” said Kaeding. “Which is a little ridiculous… I’m almost of the mind that we need to push harder on FIS to put something in place, and put more energy into doing that, because it’s going to benefit us if we can get on a more level playing field, and a lot of the other countries as well. Creating a more equal playing field should only help the overall health of the sport.”
Andy Newell (right) with U.S. Ski Team wax tech Patrick Moore (left). (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com)
Whitcomb explained that the US Ski Team is “supporting measures by FIS to try and cut back on this to make it more affordable.” Over the years, many ideas to equalize the sport have been floated, and a few have been implemented with little effect.
“The takeaway,” said Grover, “is that there’s been all kinds of workarounds, and the bigger nations have actually figured out a way to continue to do what they’re doing.”
In 2015, FIS attempted to limit the size of service teams by capping the number of technicians a nation could bring to an event at 22. Norway found a workaround by partnering with Great Britain and thereby increasing their quota to 35. That has been a boon for British skiers, while increasing pressure on smaller nations to find a patron state. Ireland now partners with Sweden, and Australia has partnered with the U.S.
Caldwell felt that quotas on race technicians wouldn’t get to the heart of the issue, saying, “the resources that big teams bring to bear are often offsite and in the background. So just limiting on site accreditations doesn’t level the playing field. As long as Norway can show up and take 200 pairs of skis from the factory to test for [Therese Johaug] and take just six and send them to the World Cup for further testing—good luck.”
In 2019 measures were introduced to FIS to prevent teams from traveling with grinding machines or testing at championship venues years in advance. As of yet, the measures have not been passed.
Grover has a seat on the FIS working group within the Cross Country Committee that will discuss ideas for rule changes. He wrote FasterSkier that “currently there are no formal proposals in front of the FIS Cross Country Committee for this season. The working group is discussing possible measures for debate and implementation in the Spring of 2022.”
Among the measures he said the group will discuss are: “banning grinders from venues, limiting cooperation between nations, limiting the size of service teams (i.e. staff reductions), limiting access to testing tracks/race courses, [and] homogenized waxing by neutral parties.”
Lenzerheide, Switzerland World Cup, Sweden’s Ebba Andersson tests her Fischer fleet. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
“The challenge,” Grover wrote, “is that no measure alone is comprehensive and there are always workarounds. It will be interesting to see where the discussion goes and if there are any meaningful steps we can take as a community.”
Caldwell believes that if the goal of measures is to limit spending, they should target that issue head on. “You have to find an economic instrument to limit the costs, like a budget cap,” he said. “I don’t know how you regulate it, but you have to start there.” He added that: “The Norwegians are out there with a basically unlimited budget just looking for creative ways that add value that they can spend their money on. They’re setting a bar that’s difficult for smaller teams. They just are.”
These issues are not contained to the World Cup. The fluoro free future, already in place in different regions and circuits, is changing the priorities of teams and clubs domestically. Caldwell believes that when teams are no longer focused on fluoros they will, “make room in their schedule and budget to focus on other things.”
The cost of these new priorities — ski selection, grinding, hand structure, and the intensive testing that comes with each — will easily make up, and likely increase, the cost of competitive ski service domestically. Caldwell pointed to the fluoro free (EISA) collegiate circuit, saying, “College budgets aren’t changing — they’re going to spend the money.”
“It always comes down to resources,” said Caldwell. “To be competitive you’re going to spend what you can spend.”
For more debate on this topic, listen to this episode of the Devon Kershaw show.
In this episode, we speak with Zach Caldwell — Putney, Vermont ski whisperer, and wax nerd at Caldwell Sport. We’ve received questions from listeners asking about the difficulty of waxing (for both skate and classic) as well as ski selection when the temperatures spike beyond the melting point for snow. That has been the case in Oberstdorf, Germany the last week, site of the 2021 Nordic Ski World Championships.
Testing skis and wax at the 2021 World Championships. (Photo: NordicFocus)
That said, it’s a “rest day” at World Champs, so no race breakdown in this episode — just wax and ski talk.
Jessie Diggins during training in Oberstdorf, Germany before the championships began. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Over two days in March, the North American World Cup races were cancelled. Amid rising health concerns, NCAA Championships also shut down after one race; Junior Nationals after two races. Canadian National Championships never got off the ground. After the abrupt end of winter, people are trying to assess how the pandemic will affect the coming winter.
In The Atlantic, Juliette Kayyem posits that “From a public health perspective, the pandemic will not end for another 18 months.” She speculates that it may take 18 months to develop a suitable vaccine, which must then be distributed. How will this affect ski racing as we have come to know it?
While this metric pertains to alpine resorts, it’s stark any way you slice it: with spring break looming or in full swing, alpine lodging occupancy dropped 54% from March 2019 when alpine resorts began closing.
“The timing of it couldn’t be better for the ski industry,” said Zach Caldwell, proprietor of Caldwell Sport. “We lost the tail end of the season. That was a big bummer. We had most of the season and it was a good one. We in the industry have the luxury of being able to sit back, observe, and see what happens, and wait to finalize plans.”
If one can extrapolate from one retailer’s experience, sales cratered in March after a strong start to the year. Matt Liebsch, a co-owner of Pioneer Midwest in Minnesota, concurs. Pioneer did very well at the beginning of the year, but saw March sales fall off as social distancing set in.
“We had really good growth in January and February,” Liebsch said. Pioneer finished March down thirty percent in revenue compared to last year. Prior to coronavirus, Liebsch said, Pioneer would sell two to six pairs of race skis each day. “We’re at zero right now. When you shelter in place, I think that means you park your money in place. The virus has thrown things off.”
Federico Pellegrino of Italy testing skis in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: NordicFocus)
According to Jeff Courter, Rossignol North America’s nordic category manager, the bulk of its sales to retailers were complete by the time social distancing became the new normal.
“For any major ski brand industry-wide, [the pandemic] hit at a time where the majority of sales had really happened already. We missed out on a lot of opportunities to capitalize on spring sales and spring break. We’re trying to help our retailers in North America to try and get through the times,” Courter said. He added that spring break sales can help retailers clear out inventory so they can prepare for the coming year.
Typically, Liebsch makes two trips a year to Europe for custom ski picking as well as pre-ordering skis to sell off the rack. He said that bulk pre-season orders from manufacturers were generally due to vendors between late February and late March. They’re shipped to arrive in the U.S. between mid August and mid October. “That’s all in the books. It’s kind of a shot in the dark.”
“We try to [work with] our discerning, race-oriented customers that want a wet ski or a better ski than what they have in September, October,” said Liebsch. “That clears my plate for [recreational skiers] and the start of [Minnesota’s] high school race season in November and December. I don’t get to talk about grinds, race wax, or camber construction. I’m explaining to mom and dad the difference between a classic ski and a skate ski.”
“The majority of our orders [for the coming year] have already come in by mid-March,” Rossignol’s Courter said. “But anyone – not just us – any ski company in general, once we get a little farther into this, and kind of see how things lay out for the fall, some of the smaller retailers may have to make some adjustments to what they thought about bringing in.”
While most retailers have ordered skis for the coming season, it’s not known how the pandemic will affect manufacturing schedules. Citing the safety of its staff and their families, Courter said that one of Rossignol’s main factories, located in Spain, had closed down for safety reasons in early April. It’s scheduled to reopen on May 4.
Looking for ways to get back on schedule, Courter said that Rossi facilities would be running three shifts. Normally, their ski production is done by July. At present, this year they plan on making skis through August.
“The majority of the factories that we work with have been able to stay open,” Courter said. He added that one factory had experienced a slowdown as some raw materials haven’t been delivered.
Bryan Cook, Madshus USA sales manager, wrote in an email, “Generally, we are constantly producing skis with the majority happening between the months of December and April. This means that we are just about wrapping up all of our preseason orders for the coming season. We then look to ship the skis, via ocean, between the months of June and September, as most dealers request their product to be in store between September and November.”
Krista Pärmäkoski of Finland testing skis in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
Zach Caldwell, proprietor of Vermont’s Caldwell Sport, also travels to Europe to pick skis. Speaking on April 13, he said the Austrian companies he works with underwent a mandatory shutdown, but are opening back up. According to Caldwell, they’re ready to schedule ski picking. While the ski companies seemed optimistic, Caldwell is waiting to see what happens when social distancing is relaxed.
“I can get to a ski factory and interact with about three people and pick the skis I need. What I do need to be able to do is travel. And that’s not something I’m willing to do right now, even if it was wide open. Once the international travel piece looks OK, there’s nothing standing between me and picking skis for people,” Caldwell said.
For both Caldwell and Liebsch, races next winter pose a bigger question than shipping schedules. How will the possibility, even the likelihood, of continued social distancing affect racing next winter?
“But both the competitive aspect and social aspect of competition is what drives a lot of our sport,” Caldwell said. “We’re going to lose a lot of people if we shut that off for a year. I think there are ways to prepare for a season of distancing measures, and that’s a bigger story from my perspective than what does the industry look like.”
“The biggest issue that I have is the prospect for racing next season,” he added. He’s concerned about the feasibility of having several hundred competitors, plus coaches and family, at Eastern Cups. [The Eastern Cup races are the New England qualifying races for Junior Nationals.]
Concerned about the impact social distancing may have on racing, Caldwell wrote to the New England Nordic Ski Association [NENSA], urging them to consider alternatives to traditional races.
“We should be making plans to ensure that there are competitive and social outlets for racers absent the ability to run [traditional race formats],” Caldwell said. “NENSA could put together a combination between Strava and NASTAR where they put standardized courses at touring centers and drop off chip timing. Develop an app that people can subscribe to and pay an entry fee with a head tax to check out a chip and go ski a course. Have the touring center handicap the snow speed with a ski trap and generate a score, generate a region wide points list and share it on social media.”
“There are a lot of models that can perpetuate that, absent an Eastern Cup circuit or a Craftsbury Marathon or whatever,” he added. “We as a sport need to be thinking about this because we’ve got a lot of lead time to prepare for this. We need to be thinking about that. One thing we can’t do is Zwift. We don’t have that technology in skiing.”
The wheels have been turning in New England when it comes to developing contingency plans. “This year is not going to look like anything we’ve ever had.” Amie Smith, Executive Director of NENSA, told FasterSkier.
“We’re saying, ‘what can it look like? What opportunities can we give our membership? How can we keep everyone connected during this time of sheltering at home?’” Smith acknowledged Caldwell’s email to NENSA, but didn’t touch on it directly.
Normally, NENSA conducts a regional elite group (REG) camp for juniors at Stratton Mountain School at the end of June. That’s been postponed to the end of August. Meanwhile, NENSA is devising ways to have a virtual camp instead. They are also planning virtual coaching clinics.
As for the coming winter, Smith asked, “Can we even gather? If crowds are limited to 50, we are going to have to totally change how we do Eastern Cups. It won’t be business as usual.”
Insofar as recreational skiing goes, Smith posited, “Would ski centers be able to open their lodges? How could they safely collect trail fees?” (Faster Skier contacted several ski centers for this article, but none responded.)
Some of the young skiers at the NENSA Eastern Cup in Craftsbury, Vermont. Young and old are welcome at the NENSA Eastern Cups. (Photo: John Lazenby)
“It’s not going to look like our normal race season, but hopefully we can have some great training, coaching education, race opportunities,” she said. “But we totally don’t know what that will look like. We need to have alternatives and ideas of how that would look. Will race starts be a minute apart? Will they be two minutes?
“Our staff is in a good place, we’re excited to see what we can put together and keep everyone engaged and feeling like there’s still a community,” Smith said. “Because I do hope we come out the other side, and that there will be a day when we don’t have to keep 6 or 9 or 15 feet apart, and that we can go back to doing our normal racing. But I don’t think that’s going to be next season.”
For the near term, it appears that business as usual on the race front and storefront is over.
The investment of early-season dollars and time as it relates to inventory will have to wait a bit longer to determine how the pandemic evolves and the gradual release of social distancing requirements. “I’m thinking we can still rebound and have a great winter next year, if we’ve got snow,” Liebsch said. “I’m confident that I’ll be ski picking in September,” Liebsch concluded. “If I’m not, the whole world has big issues.”
Relatively clutter free and ready for waxing inside the new USST wax truck. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
There’s truth in jest as the saying goes. While FasterSkier’s April 1 piece made light of the issues, it hit home in some unexpected places. During one of FasterSkier’s conversations with the Environmental Protection Agency to examine why it had begun investigating the importation and sale of perfluorinated waxes, the EPA’s representatives cited the April 1 piece to question why FasterSkier had begun reporting on the issue. Whether readers appreciated the humor or not, the April 1 piece was intended as entertainment. This is our first story detailing what we’ve learned so far.
Let’s start with the EPA.
As part of a broader national compliance initiative, the EPA has begun auditing the ski wax industry. After emailing detailed questions to the EPA regarding its regulatory guidelines, the agency stated it was unable to speak broadly about the ski wax industry. It remains an ongoing enforcement issue for the EPA.
“EPA has identified certain ski waxes manufactured, processed or imported into the United States contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), also referred to as perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), that may be in violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These waxes were identified both in brick-and-mortar stores as well as available for sale domestically on e-commerce websites. As a matter of policy, the Agency is unable to discuss compliance monitoring targeting and/or investigations in more detail.”
Challenges for Swix and Toko in Winter 2018
Swix and Toko are the two largest brands of wax imported and distributed in the U.S. Both lines are imported and sold domestically by Swix USA. Swix USA is a subsidiary of its parent company, Swix Norway. According to Steve Poulin, CEO of Swix USA, the company was first contacted by the EPA during the winter of 2018 about meeting specific EPA mandates. In what became a steep learning curve regarding EPA compliance, Poulin said Swix/Toko began a review of “every product in every mixture.” We’ll explore what being EPA compliant entails later on, but it remains an exacting process that involves knowing the chemical recipe list for every Swix/Toko products imported, sold, and used in the U.S.
That formal review process began 18 months ago for Swix/Toko. Poulin said the company quarantined its entire wax line in June of 2018. They then chose not to sell perfluorinated products on their direct sales websites or ship product to their U.S. based retailers this past ski season. Many non-performance wax product, known as non-fluorinated waxes were shipped to retailers and sold.
“I decided to quarantine everything because I wanted to go through the full review and be 100 percent compliant and follow EPA regulations,” Poulin said. “I decided to be completely safe and I guess cautious, so we decided to quarantine our waxes and not ship anything until we went through the proper review process with the EPA. It was our decision.”
The Swix and Toko LF, HF, and top-coat/finishing product you may have purchased from online or brick and mortar shops was the back stock retailers possessed from this year’s inventory — shipped before June 2018 — after Swix/Toko has been contacted by the EPA. Alluring teens wall crosser in accidental lesbian fucking with horny border officer Super Hot Mandy Shows Us What Shes Got And Shes Still Got Plenty Blonde teen Lily Rader gets punished by boyfriends big dick Horny officer picked up an undocumented immigrant Two horny schoolgirls sharing the teachers cock Close up view of lesbian pussy pleasure A Dodgeball Where Youll Get Naked And Expected To Fuck Amazing Afternoon Hookup with Mom Agreeable milf gets a doggy position fucking Samantha Saint, Jayden Cole, Shyla Jennings and masturbation with a dildo Monique Symone Gets Picked Up And By W fuck pornjk.com
“I shipped wax to retailers before I quarantined the whole line … I did ship wax, early preseason orders, I filled stores up,” said Poulin. “Because we were not bound, we did not find any violations at that point. And then when we discovered the true complexity of what they were asking for and compliancy regulation, that is when I put a halt to it. To be completely safe and in cooperation with the EPA.”
Outside of the Swix and Toko wax lines, skiers interested in a competitive advantage through ski wax chemistry had perfluorinated options from brands like Vauhti, Start, Star, Solda, HWK, Rex, Holmenkol, and others. The impact of the current regulatory environment on those brands is less well understood, but most were available this season.
Poulin said in a July 8 phone call that Swix/Toko will be selling performance ski wax this upcoming season.
Speed Comes at a Cost: Fluorochemistry Background
Get ready for some basic O-Chem. (For your reference, click the image titled “A Toxic Family Tree” to assist with understanding perfluoros and their chemical lineage.)
According to Dr. Merle Plassmann, the lab manager at the ACES (Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry) at Stockholm University in Sweden, perfluorinated ski wax is complicated. Plassmann’s Ph.D research examined fluorinated compounds in ski wax and their presence and fate in the environment.
“Family tree” of PFASs, including examples of individual PFASs and the number of peer-reviewed articles on them since 2002 (most of the studies focused on long-chain PFCAs, PFSAs and their major precursors). (Source: Environ. Sci. Technol.20175152508-2518. A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)? Zhanyun Wang†Jamie C. DeWitt‡Christopher P. Higgins§Ian T. Cousins*∥
Plassmann explained that his research detected numerous fluorinated compounds with carbon chains between C6-C22 in some ski waxes. He added that many fluorochemicals found in ski wax are not added deliberately but are impurities from the manufacturing process. He referred to those chemicals as PFAAs – or Perfluoroalkyl Acids. He also wrote that ski wax manufacturers do add semi-fluorinated and fully fluorinated alkanes to their product. Again, these compounds are long carbon chains with the “semi” versions partially fluorinated, the “full” versions are saturated with fluorine. Plassmann went onto explain that the constituent parts of today’s wax could be more complicated. He has not assayed ski wax since 2011.
Some skiers may throw caution to the wind and take ski speed at all cost. It’s well known that in certain conditions, perfluoros applied properly to a ski base makes those skis faster. So we asked Plassmann the burning question: What are the ingredients in ski wax that might be of concern?
“Of potential concern are not only the impurities (the PFAAs which show low levels but still can be found in the ski tracks afterwards) but also the main ingredients, which are either fully fluorinated alkanes or semi-fluorinated alkanes,” Plassmann replied. “To my knowledge, nobody has studied their environmental fate, except the one study we performed on their behaviour during snow melt and presence in snow and soil from a ski track in Sweden. Here we found that they strongly sorb to particles and thus can be found after snow melt in the soil underneath the ski tracks. But nothing is known regarding their possible breakdown. As the Carbon-Fluorine bond in molecules is a very strong bond, those chemicals will be very persistent, but for example with the semi-fluorinated alkanes, the not fluorinated part could be breaking down, thus potentially leading to the formation of PFAAs. This, however, has not been studied and shown to happen.”
In May of 2016, the EPA released a document explaining some of the health risks associated with exposure to certain perfluoros. They include thyroid disorders, hypertension and preeclampsia during pregnancy, and testicular and kidney cancer.
Bringing Science to the Market
When you head into the local shop and ask for the wax goods, the response can be confusing. We’ll refrain from using the term “pure fluoro”. There are varying percentages of fluorocarbons in gliding and kick wax product, none that we can confirm are 100 percent “pure” fluorocarbon. The products containing the highest percent perfluorinated compounds are used for glide and often come in the form of a powder, block, liquid, or gel.
All brands have their own trade secrets when it comes to percent perfluoro and hydrocarbons added. The terms used in the industry like low-fluoro, high-fluoro, and super-fluorinated are marketing terms, not a standard. Brand X might have a 40 percent perfluoro HF wax, brand Y, thirty percent. Amongst the super-fluorinated gliding products, those percentages vary too from brand to brand as do their naming devices. Start wax’s naming devices, for example, use the term “ultra high fluor glider” for its highest perfluoro content finishing product.
Hydrocarbon or paraffin wax is what we would consider the cheaper and sometimes less effective means to make a ski slide on snow. These waxes are perfluoro free.
We’ll refer to any wax with fluorinated compounds as perfluorinated wax.
PFAS, the broad group of perfluorinated substances to which PFAAs belong, are ubiquitous and can be toxic. From fire suppressing foams, stain-proof carpet and upholstery coatings, non-stick pans and food wrappers, and that snazzy waterproof jacket, fluorochemicals make these products “work”. The perfluoros in ski gliding products fall into the PFAS class.
This February, the EPA published a “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan” to further address the issue of perfluoros in the environment. The action plan states, “there is evidence that continued exposure above specific levels to certain PFAS may lead to adverse health effects.”
Fluorochemicals were once considered a miracle. They are hydrophobic and repel grease, oils, and dirt. Better living through chemistry? That’s now up for debate as the EPA moves in.
The leading science journal Nature published a piece in February detailing how researchers have traced fluorochemicals in the environment back to their source. Fluorochemicals are not naturally occurring. They are all man made. So if it’s in the environment, its there due to direct use in the environment like fighting a fire at an oil-depot, or they are residual compounds from the manufacturing process that have not been contained.
(This oft-cited Scientific American article speaks to the bioaccumulation of ski wax chemicals in the blood.)
The chatter in the ski wax industry usually has to do with a subclass of PFAS called PFOAs. PFOAs will be banned in the EU for most uses starting July, 2020. In the ski wax industry, PFOAs, or what many ski-wax junkies call “C8”, is often referred to as the magic behind wicked fast skis: the actual perfluorinated turbo boost when conditions call for it. Those C8s will be replaced in perfluorinated ski products with C6 compounds. The C8 refers to a perfluoro with an eight carbon spine with fluorine atoms branching off. The C6 is a shorter six carbon spine.
Those PFOAs are often called “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment. The carbon-fluorine bond is amongst the strongest known in chemistry. C6 compounds, however, reportedly breakdown more readily and are considered more benign. Many claim the C6 half-life in the environment is shorter.
Anecdotally, many ski wax experts report C8 perfluoro finishing products most often outperform C6 analogs. You probably all know someone hoarding C8 product right now. That raises several other questions about wax equity at all levels of racing.
For now, let’s put aside the O-chem and focus on the nuts and bolts of domestic regulations and remaining EPA compliant.
The EPA and the Toxic Substances Control Act: The Tools for Oversight
In 1976, during the heyday of the environmental movement in the U.S., the federal government sharpened the EPA’s regulatory teeth by passing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The TSCA allows the EPA to better monitor the “production, importation, use, and disposal” of chemicals in the U.S.
For years, domestic ski wax producers and importers were literally off the EPA’s radar. In 2016 and 2017 the TSCA was updated with new guidelines. The hands off EPA stance evolved. The law’s 2016 amendment is called the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
According to a Harvard University Science in the News article, the 2016 amendment, “gives the EPA the authority to ban new and existing chemicals that pose a risk to human health and the health of the environment. To do this, the EPA must now make an affirmative determination on all new chemicals and all new uses of existing chemicals.”
The prevalence of fluorinated compounds in the environment and the increased awareness of the potential health risks those compounds pose began to focus attention on fluoro-intensive processes. The outdoor textile industry is literally awash with perfluorocarbons — high tech fabrics that repel water owe that functional property to the carbon-fluorine bond.
A few degrees separated from outdoor performance textiles are perfluorinated ski waxes. If the EPA was following the supply chain tree to determine where fluorinated chemicals are used, at some point they’d branch-off to the ski wax industry.
The TSCA requires wax importers and domestic wax manufacturers (importers are considered manufacturers under TSCA) to properly document the chemicals used within the country.
In the past, before the EPA glanced at the ski wax industry, ski wax importers might simply declare “ski wax” on a TSCA import compliance checklist and claim the shipment complied with TSCA guidelines.
I certify that all chemical substances in this shipment comply with all applicable rules or orders under TSCA and that I am not offering a chemical substance for entry in violation of TSCA or any applicable rule or order there under.
I certify that all chemical substances in this shipment are not subject to TSCA. The statement must be typed or stamped on an appropriate entry document or commercial invoice or an attachment to that entry document or invoice.
With greater oversight, it appears the EPA found a disconnect between the chemicals contained in ski wax and what was being declared.
To be clear, none of the importers we spoke to acknowledged any intentional non-compliance. In other words, there was no intent to omit or misrepresent through their TSCA declarations. However, there appears to have been either confusion, misunderstanding, or a shift in how EPA scrutinized the forms or applied the standards that resulted in a major disruption to the ski wax market.
CAS Numbers: Millions of them
The TSCA regulatory comb is fine toothed. To meet TSCA compliance standards, wax importers require CAS numbers. CAS stands for the Chemical Abstracts Service. Every chemical substance disclosed in scientific publications are assigned a unique CAS number. Think of that number as the chemical’s numerical ID. Well beyond one hundred million chemical substances have been assigned CAS numbers. The EPA maintains a record of all the chemicals either produced within or imported into the U.S. This is known as the TSCA inventory. At its most basic, the TSCA inventory is a list of CAS numbers.
There is both a public inventory that is downloadable, and a private inventory that includes information for proprietary substances a company may not want publically available.
Here’s what’s at issue. Any material coming into the U.S., like a ski wax, must have all its chemical components, the parts that make up the sum, on the TSCA inventory. In other words, the importer must ensure that each chemical substance’s CAS number is registered on the TSCA inventory. (The TSCA inventory is organized by CAS number.) If an ingredient’s CAS number is not on the inventory, the substance cannot be imported. Further, those chemicals on the TSCA inventory must be approved for public use/consumption if sold in the marketplace.
Boulder Nordic Sport (BNS), the importer of record for several wax brands, was sent a subpoena from the EPA to ensure the CAS numbers of the perfluorinated compounds imported in their wax product were on the TSCA inventory.
“The letter from the EPA specifically asks only about fluorinated compounds,” BNS owner Nathan Schultz told FasterSkier on March 28. “However, legally, everything that is in those substances, everything that is in the wax, including dyes, colorings, perfumes, whatever, every chemical compound has to be on the TSCA inventory.”
Finding and cross-referencing CAS numbers on the TSCA inventory meant Schultz had the tedious task of obtaining a chemical specific ingredients list for every perfluoro containing product BNS imports. BNS imports Skigo wax, Holmenkol and Guru products.
“And so basically what people are finding out is that this really complex process of having to identify every compound in the substances that we are importing,” Schultz added.
“All these formulations are secret. That had been one of the challenges, that all of this information has to be kept confidential, and so we have to take extra steps to protect it from when the suppliers give it to us. One of the suppliers refused to give us the information. They say they will only give it directly to the EPA. Right now, there are some fluoros available that are on the TSCA inventory and they are OK to use. And then there are some that aren’t and the ones that aren’t are not available, they are off our site.”
In Schultz’s case, he began cataloging CAS numbers during the Federal Government’s shutdown which ran for 35 days beginning on December 22. So getting timely responses from the EPA was challenging.
As Schultz bolstered his knowledge of the TSCA, he learned that if a specific CAS number (or compound) is not on the TSCA inventory, importers do have a few options. One option is to apply for a pre-manufacture notice. (Again, importers are treated as manufacturers when it comes to TSCA compliance.)
A pre-manufacture notice is no small hurdle to jump. The notice must be filed 90 days prior to manufacture/import. The EPA also requires mounds of chemical related information including available test data on the effect to human health or the environment.
Another option to continue importing and selling a product with an ingredient not on the TSCA inventory is to file for a low volume exception. This is what it sounds like: it’s a way to declare that the substance in question will be manufactured/imported in low quantities. In this case, at or below 10,000 kg/year.
Each low volume exemption filed is for a specific chemical. If, for example, a type of performance wax contains 10 distinct chemicals, that’s 10 distinct low volume exceptions to be researched, filed, and paid for.
The potential cost associated with filing a single low volume exception is prohibitive for a small business like BNS. Those costs also don’t factor in potential legal fees.
“It is hard to say and it is also a challenge because a low fluoro paraffin wax is probably going to be 5% maybe 10% of the fluoro compound itself,” Schultz said as he contemplated how much perfluorinated substances were being imported via the wax industry. “So the pure fluoros, I would imagine in the entire U.S., we are certainly under 200-300 kg of just the fluorinated substances. The whole number is small when considering the fluorinated compounds and I mean, 100 kg, 1000 kg I don’t know what it is. I have not calculated that out. It is a small number. Certainly, all of the wax industry in the country could be under that 10,000 kg weight limit for a low-volume exemption. So relative to other uses, we are tiny.”
How did we get here?
Longtime industry insider, Andrew Gerlach, knows the ins and outs of importation. For many years he’s imported Start wax manufactured by Start Finland through his business Endurance Enterprises. According to Gerlach, Start products are the third most widely used nordic ski wax in the U.S.
Athletes, coaches, and techs test skis on the 2019 World Championships course in Seefeld, Austria. (Photo: John Lazenby/lazenbyphoto.com).
The common story about wax importation and environmental regulations that we heard from Gerlach and others was something premised on the notion that European safety guidelines are stricter. The assumption was U.S. importers of ski wax must be in TSCA compliance if the waxes in question could be sold within the European Union.
“We have been doing things the same old way for decades,” Gerlach said in early April. “The European manufacturers or primarily the European manufacturers of the wax have told us, have given us a broad opine of all the ingredients in our wax and said this meets or exceeds European standards for chemical transport chemical distribution chemical use. And therefore if it meets European standards, they are tougher in every aspect than American standards, so you are good to go. So we import wax and we have a very good understanding of the ingredients within that wax but not the final nature of their pure chemical compound because that is very proprietary and most of us are mere distributors of the brand and the products and not part of the parent company.”
The EPA’s involvement with ski wax has nothing to do with EU chemical regulations known as REACH. And the EU’s regulations on the use and sale of perfluoros have nothing to do with cross-referencing CAS numbers with the TSCA inventory and being EPA compliant.
That said, the domestic wax importation industry in the U.S., like Gerlach said, had been following Europe’s lead.
EU chemical regulations originate with REACH, or Regulation, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. REACH dates back to 2006 and has evolved and been refined many times since. The REACH net has captured the use of PFOAs, or “C8”, in the supply chain.
PFOAs will be banned in the EU for most uses starting July, 2020. They will be replaced in the ski wax industry with C6 compounds.
“We have taken Europe’s word for it,” Gerlach said. “That if their products meet or exceed European REACH standards, which they have all, they are told in the research they are tougher than American standards. So we import the wax, and everytime we have an import shipment coming in, we sign a form that says these products comply to TSCA standards.”
Back in November 2018, Gerlach said he heard rumblings within the ski community that Swix and Toko were having issues selling product. He initially, like many people, thought this had to do with pending EU restrictions on the use of PFOAs.
C8 or C6, Gerlach assumed he was TSCA compliant. Good enough in Europe, by default, meant good enough in the States. But the story circles back to CAS numbers and the TSCA inventory.
“I felt that I had better figure out what was going on, because if Swix-Toko had errors, there is the likelihood that I had errors and every other wax company that is importing had errors because we are all pretty much importing like substances in the same manner,” Gerlach said.
Gerlach contacted an EPA official in Chicago since his company is registered in the Midwest. He left a voicemail and some follow up emails. Gerlach heard nothing back.
In the meantime, Gerlach said he conversed with Schultz at BNS and became better informed about the CAS number TSCA inventory dilemma. He also communicated with the EPA’s Washington D.C. bureau and received a response when the government shutdown ceased in January. During this time, Gerlach reached out to Start Finland to secure CAS information and detailed wax recipes.
“I discovered that the vast majority of ingredients in Start wax be it perfluoros, be it hydrocarbons, be it alcohol based liquids, petroleum based liquids, on and on, all used ingredients as Start signified since day one that are on the TSCA inventory,” Gerlach said. “We did have a couple waxes with CAS numbers not on the inventory and so overtime, it took a while to delve and discover and learn all these things.”
Gerlach self-imposed a ban on selling or continuing to import product he believes is not in full compliance with the TSCA. He even went a step further.
“We have done our own self-disclosure to the EPA, saying ‘hey we have imported, unknowingly, we have imported some wax with ingredients that are not on the TSCA inventory,” said Gerlach. “They amount to these items with this amount of volume in the past five years and this is what we are planning on doing etc. with them’. As far as I can tell from my brief discussions with the EPA, I just need to focus on my ingredients list and make sure they are on the TSCA inventory and with a double bullseye focus on the perfluorocarbons and make sure those are on the TSCA and if they are on the inventory they are good to go and there’s nothing to report.”
The TSCA compliant Start products, which Gerlach said was 97 percent of the Start Wax line, are still imported and distributed to dealers around the country. His non-compliant inventory remains under quarantine in his warehouse and is not included on next year’s price list. This self-imposed restriction was taken not due to any EPA action, but as a precaution until he is told what to do with those items by the EPA.
Gerlach also explained that moving forward, Start Finland’s ingredients would meet TSCA requirements. According to Gerlach, Start Finland does not produce its own perfluorocarbons for use in their waxes. They source that from a chemical manufacturer and supplier.
“Start Finland now examines the ingredients they are putting in beforehand, “ said Gerlach. “Before they start mixing up compounds, they make sure that the ingredients that they are using are on the TSCA inventory. I am talking milliliters of fluorocarbon and grams in all my waxes that are fluorinated and whatever the law is we need to follow it. I am much more educated on what is in our waxes than I was a year ago. And Start Finland is much more aware that being good enough in Europe is not necessarily in itself good enough for America.”
Gerlach’s initial chemical bookkeeping and self-reporting were steps. He was told by his lawyer to use a statute of limitations of five years for documenting what he had imported during that time span and discerning if it was on the TSCA inventory.
That five year limit appears to be an unofficial timeframe for the statute of limitations on importing non-TSCA compliant chemicals.
“A subpoena letter I have seen did not put a date on it,” Gerlach explained. “It said, tell us all about waxes with fluorocarbons in them and the times you have imported them. And surprisingly it did not give a time frame. It just said tell us everything.”
Exhausting his avenues to remove his “violating items” from circulation Gerlach contacted Start wax retailers.
“I have looked at my orders for the last two years of these and emailed the dealers and explained that if you have any in stock I will take it back,” said Gerlach. “I did a recall of any of the waxes and none of those waxes are left in stock. And so there is nothing to recall because it has been such small quantities.”
This was what Gerlach called a voluntary recall.
In years past, Swix USA has shared prime real estate with a retailer at the American Birkebeiner expo — they were housed within the same display.
Not this year. At the Swix concept area at the expo, Swix did not sell perfluorinated product. However, Swix perfluoro products were for sale through a retailer at the expo.
FasterSkier is unaware of any official recall of non-compliant ski wax product. According to Section Five of the TSCA, any chemical not on the TSCA inventory is considered a “new chemical”. “New chemicals” to be imported and used within the country are subject to rigorous guidelines to determine their fate. A recall of pre-existing non-compliant substances by importers/distributors and retailers appears not to be one of those steps.
A quick search on the web shows product still available for sale by retailers in limited quantities.
In my candid interview with Gerlach, he was mildly prophetic as we signed off.
“So, the earthquake has happened, no one is sure about the tsunami, but no matter what, there will be a shakeout of brands and or waxes because of this,” said Gerlach
In early May, I received an email from a reader saying HWK USA was no longer in business. At the time of publication, FasterSkier had not received a reply from HWK USA after messaging and emailing the company.
Ear to the Ground
Like Gerlach and Schultz, Caldwell of the eponymous Caldwell Sport based in Putney, VT. has had his ear to the ground. Caldwell is known for custom ski selection and grinding services, but also retails wax. In the past, he was an importer of Vauhti wax out of Finland. Vauhti is now imported by Park City, UT., based Sisu Sports.
Caldwell sells wax online, or onsite at select races during the season. He sells Rex, Rode, Star, and Vauhti products.
“So what I know is that the EPA instructed [Swix] to stop selling when they went through item by item and reviewed the contents of what they were selling — and that is it,” Caldwell said when asked what he knew about the direct discussions between Swix/Toko and the EPA.
At the time of our conversation on April 9, Caldwell said he had had no contact with the EPA to date.
Caldwell Sport’s role as a retailer rather than importer means its relationship with the TSCA is indirect. Caldwell Sport is not responsible under the TSCA, for ensuring the wax it sells is compliant — that remains the importer’s role.
“My understanding is that the EPA’s concern is with importation and that they are not concerned at the retail level,” Caldwell said. “They are concerned at the chasing things to their source, where they are coming into the country. So I have not heard of any retailer who is not an importer being instructed to stop selling product. For instance, no Swix retailer that I am aware of has been told they cannot sell Swix waxes. But Swix the importer which is also owned by Swix Norway has been told they cannot sell waxes which would mean both at wholesale and at retail.”
Caldwell’s process of obtaining perfluorinated wax products is simple. For example, he orders Vauhti product directly from SISU Sports. It then ships UPS from Utah to Vermont.
“As far as I know, there is no oversight of that aside from regular domestic shipping restrictions on air, on flammable goods for air shipments,” said Caldwell. “You cannot put some of the solvents on an airplane. So we have to be cautious about that and plan shipping. We are just ordering form those guys.”
For Caldwell Sport, it has been business as usual. Caldwell said he resupplied with Start and Vauhti this spring with no issues. Yet Caldwell was mindful of his stake in the high-end wax game. As a small business he is evaluating how to proceed as perfluorinated waxes come under scrutiny.
“From our point of view, the question has been whether we should try to anticipate action by the EPA and pre-order a whole bunch of stuff or whether we should continue to run as we normally do to run a lean family business,” said Caldwell. “We cannot afford to carry a huge quantity of really high-end wax because it cost a whole lot to have. As a family business retailer, we are in a position where we need to be pretty cautious about how far we stick our neck out on a lot of high-end product.”
Patrick Coffey, the Vauhti brand manager for Sisu Sports, emailed FasterSkier to state that as of May 24, he still had not been contacted by the EPA.
“There’s no reason for me to expect it at any given point, but given that it’s the offseason, my approach will be to see what we need to do to make sure that there will be no delays in delivery late summer when the product comes from Finland to Utah,” Coffey said during an April phone call.
“If someone within a government agency wants to get in touch with us and ask for information, I’m going to get that information,” said Coffey. “The goal here is not to keep our head down and hope nobody notices, I want to make sure that we’re in a position, because retailers are asking ‘are you able to bring product in?’ and I’ve told all of them at this point ‘yes’. If anything changes they will be the first to know, because I don’t want them to all of a sudden to realize in December that they are not getting product.”
The Bigger Picture
The wax industry remains a drop in the financial and environmental degradation bucket when considering the widespread use of perfluoros in industry. But, perfluorinated compounds are making news. High Country News published a piece about PFAS pollution on May 30. Several news outlets have reported that the state of New Hampshire is suing chemical giants 3M and DuPont “for damage it says has been caused by a class of potentially toxic chemicals found in pizza boxes, fast-food wrappers and drinking water,” according to a Boston.com piece.
The ski wax industry has been reforming when it comes to using the more caustic C8 and longer chain chemistry in its waxes. The type of fluorochemistry that has been newsworthy. Longchain fluorocarbons are on their way out and C6 chemistry is in.
Is the ski wax industry and the quest for ski speed to blame for shirking environmental regulations and drawing attention to itself? Probably not. It’s simply that the EPA has the law on its side and the science to support its stance to bring more oversight.
Although Swix and Toko did not ship perfluorinated wax last season, it appears the EPA is conducting a broader industry-wide review. Ski waxes are obviously not the domain of skinny skis alone. Imported and domestically manufactured alpine specific waxes fall within the same regulatory benchmarks applied to popular cross-country wax brands.
Fast skis are a drug. That first slide on a slippery pair of perfluoro soaked boards can be dreamy. But, everybody pays to play for that speed.
For now, it seems certain that your ski speed fix, thanks to modern chemistry, will and can be satiated when snow falls next winter. But the Swix/Toko challenge this season has the potential to be a more significant industry wide challenge moving forward. There’s no question, those little vials of speed be it in liquid, block, powder, gel, or fluorinated hydrocarbon form, will have regulatory fingerprints all over it.
Editor’s note: For the second-straight year, we’re presenting another 12-day holiday gift guide, brought to you by the one and only “FBD”, our gear-review guru. Kicking the series off, recommendations for recovery gifts to keep you and your ski buddies on the trails and injury free. See also: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6
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Day 7: Nordic Tech
Since no one has more style, steez and flow than the FBD, we’re going to mix it up a bit today and bring in, for lack of a better expression, an expert guest speaker to help walk us through today’s gift suggestions for Nordic Tech. I actually tapped into two experts for today’s gift ideas, Nathan Schultz from Boulder Nordic Sport and Zach Caldwell from Caldwell Sport. Spoiler alert, the Colorado guy was super chill and low-key. The guy whose Twitter handle is @GrumpySkier, was, well, grumpy. And surly. And at times, just plain mean. But, since all of you are probably as tired of reading my labored prose as I am of producing it, I thought I’d offer up someone new about whom you can complain.
A few important points here:
For those of you out there who think I can dish it out, but can’t take it, you are in for a treat, as one of these so called experts comes at me pretty good. That’s OK though, I’m a big boy (especially “South of the Border,” if you know what I mean) and I can handle it. In fact, most of this doesn’t even count as abuse in Philadelphia, it’s called just a normal day.
Remember my quip on Friday about “special” people? Well, I swear to God that the comments that you will hear from Zach shorty were not staged because, A.), I would never lie to you people, I am too good a man and B.) if you know my boy Caldwell at all, you know that there was no way in hell that he would deliver this hilarious video on schedule, allowing it to be carefully reviewed and edited. Oh no, that would be too easy. Instead, Mr. Caldwell elected to sent it to me at 11:30 p.m., the night before publication (and the night in which I was leaving for the airport the next morning at 5 a.m. Awesome). The point here is that I had already published my column in which I refer to “special” people before he submitted this video. All of these events do, however, raise several serious questions about his time-management skills and most importantly, who really is the “special” one in this relationship.
Furthermore, I am greatly intrigued with Zach’s assertion that I take myself too seriously, as he clearly has not been following my earlier detailed descriptions on awkward and hopefully fictional encounters with my family physician regarding problems “downstairs,” allegedly related to dirty tractor seats and improper Speedo use. Does this sound like the work of a man, albeit a great, great man, taking himself too seriously? I’ll let you all decide, as I trust you people to do the right thing here.
Once you have drawn the correct and logical conclusion that Zach is clearly out of his mind, please send all angry comments to zach@CaldwellSport.com. Suggestions for the subject line include, but are not limited to: “FU Zach”, “FBD is a god”, or even “Leave Brittany Alone,” have we learned nothing from Anna Nicole Smith? I know it’s hard to see FBD as a human being, but trust me, he is. He’s a person. He’s like you or I. (Well, actually, much, much better, but you see my point).
So without further ado, we are now going to shift gears a little bit and depart from our wonderful, established format and let an angry Vermonter and my good buddy Zach Caldwell, take cheap shots at me while prattles on about how to properly tune skis.
Watch this video in its entirety, then find the links to all of the products shown in the categories below. Please note, as usual, I have better visibility on the nordic world than Zach does from his remote outpost in rural Vermont, so please don’t just listen to Zach’s demanding and bossy tone, as the other products listed here are also top notch, they’re just being presented with a little less fanfare, which is no way, shape or form is a reflection on their value or efficacy.
Don’t let Zach fool you on this, I have tested about 20 different models and I called HIM about this, since naturally he didn’t have it on his website (the things I do for that guy). Regardless of how much he badmouths it in the above video, since not all of us have relatives slaving away on a lathe to create custom tools for us, I think this groove scraper is the best one out there. As much as I can tell, so does Zach, I guess? Buy several, as everyone is going to borrow yours and never give them back.
(Note, these are also not yet available on the Caldwell Sport website, as apparently he needs to spend less time busting my balls and more time running his business. This tool is sweet though, so email Zach directly. Be sure to give him a hard time about not putting the products he is trying to sell in a place in where potential customers can actually purchases them. #Business101
This baby made the cut last year and is getting a rare “FBD retweet,” just because it is that good — it’s pretty rare that you can find an extremely high-quality product for under $10, so when you do, you get as much mileage out of that beast is possible. I mean, if you can’t spend $10 on someone’s gift, you probably shouldn’t be buying them a gift in the first place.
It has two beveled edges that peel away kick wax quickly and effectively and it is small enough to fit almost anywhere, in particular in your new wax box (more on that in a minute). It will change your kick-waxing life. Really.
Remember my assessment on Friday of coffee nerds? Well, move over coffee losers, as there’s a new sheriff in town, and he’s saying things like, “All professionals prefer a 3 mm scraper width.” How you can utter a phase such as that while maintaining even a shred of dignity is beyond me, but I don’t have a shirt that says, “You’re doing it wrong”, so what the hell do I know? Baller shirt, too, by the way: look for those in next year’s 12 DOFBD.
As for the thicker scraper and how to properly scape ski sidewalls, oh my God, could a person possibly be more patronizing? I can’t believe I let this guy grind my precious skis, as YES ZACH, I know to use the side of the scraper. You see the sh*t that I have to deal with, people?
Having said that, please also let the record note that I did buy the 5 mm scraper, as it does in fact work better for ski “technicians” of my very limited aptitude. DEMAND that he send you one with the custom FBD logo though, as this are already a collectors item. If he says no at first, just keep asking: he likes that.
Holmenkol Natural Wax Fluid is a truly “universal” wax for all snow types and temperatures. This wax not only performs well in the cold (unlike most universal waxes), it is made from sustainable sources (no petrochemicals) and is 100-percent biodegradable. Application is easy with an integrated sponge applicator and polishing felt. Use it for training or on waxless skis tip to tail to improve glide and protect the bases.
Also a great way to travel wax when when you are leaving from the venue with your hair on fire, you have 60 minutes to catch your flight at an airport that is 70 minutes a way and there isn’t an iron in sight. This magic goo got the FBD race fleet home safe and sound from Switzerland last year after Master Blaster Worlds and I never leave home without it. That is, when I remember it. #NotAlwaysThatPro
Have I told you how much I hate it when Zach is right about something, anything? Ironically, for a race just a few weeks ago, I had a few of the very knowledgeable people who Zach name-checks at the end of his hate-rant video prep my race skis with this product, and the skis were fast. How fast? Two podiums fast. If you buy them and don’t podium, call Zach, as he loves to field calls like this and he’s a very, very lonely man.
On a related note, if you send your skis in to him for a new grind (which you definitely should), please be sure to also demand that he return your skis with the EXACT SAME skis ties you send out. If you receive any other ski ties than the ones that you shipped, as always, keep calling until he finally returns the correct ones.
Star Liquid Paraffin Waxes (50 ml spray bottle. Each bottle is good for 15+ pairs of skis):
This was featured at 6:29 in the video and is also a personal FBD favorite. I don’t know what else to say here — use it, don’t use it, but I like it and Zach likes it, so take that for what it’s worth. I’m guessing that my recommendation carries more weight than Zach’s, mainly because I weight more than Zach and that’s just simple physics people. Either way, it’s a nice brush.
This might be more than many of you are willing to pay for a groove scraper, but it IS really nice, especially for ski brands with wider grooves. It is simple but unbelievably effective.
And before anyone gets all huffy about the price, this thing is bomber. It has two different diameter aluminum cylinders that never dull at either end of a solid plastic handle and it removes wax so well it will shock you the first time you use it.
SkiGo HF High Fluor Glider (45g): FBD pick for $30-$99
Universal wax is ubiquitous in the ski world, but previously its performance has generally been only good enough for recreational skiers looking for a simple solution. SkiGo has shattered that barrier with a truly “universal” racing wax. Available in HF and LF versions, SkiGo Universal wax is a high-quality racing wax that works well in aggressive cold snow AND warm, wet, soft snow. Many teams use it in all conditions as a reliable base layer and focus their energies on testing powders and topcoats instead of paraffin layers. The LF version ($70, 200g) is a great training wax and also good for wax standards in races that are LF-limited. HF Universal ($80, 45g) is an excellent racing synthetic paraffin. -18C/0F to +5C/41F.
Let’s assume that you’re drinking the Kool-Aid and you are going to get styled out with the latest and greatest swag shown here. How the hell are you going to get all of this crap to races? As usual, *I*, NOT ZACH, have you covered. Toko just released this amazing Soft Wax box and it is da bomb. It’s just the right size to transport essentially everything you need to your next local, national or even international race, yet it is also perfect for your bench at home. Load’er up once with all of the crap Zach is droning on about and boom, all of your problems are solved. Well, all of your waxing problems.
After seeing that terribly mean-spirited video and reading just these few short item descriptions, I’m sure you can imagine how much it pains me to admit that Zach is right about not one, but two things, but what the hell, here we go: I bought this brush from him last year and even with the hurtful, tech-shaming sticker, and his most-recent, very unnecessary, spiteful commentary, this is without a doubt my favorite brush. I use it to groom the Great Dane, my hair (head, back and “elsewhere”) and promise to some day try it on my skis.
Like every good nordic skier, I am a glutton for punishment: I do intervals with elite skiers, knowing full well that they are going to destroy me, yet I somehow feel the need to make myself miserable anyway. I ask some of the most hyper-critical coaches in the sport for technical feedback on my skiing, knowing full well that it will be delivered with searing sarcasm and bitting commentary, and perhaps worst of all, I somehow think it is a good idea to post another one of Zach’s videos, again, knowing full-well that I am going to take an absolute beating:
Zach does a pretty good job describing how this system works and why you should have it, and thusly I only have a few things to add, the first one of which is by far the most salient. When I was staying at Zach’s house just a few years ago, I asked him when he didn’t use Roto brushes. I’ve spent my fair share of time in World Cup wax cabins (as a matter of fact, I just did so this past weekend), so I’ve seen some of the best techs in the world prep skis. Almost 100 percent of them use Roto brushes. Sure, they are usually preparing lots of skis in a short period of time, but their ultimate goal is fast skis, so those guys follow whatever protocol yields the best possible outcome. This means using Roto brushes almost exclusively.
Armed with this knowledge, I asked Mr. Perfect a few years ago during my stay in Putney which one I should get. His response? “Goddamnit, FBD, you don’t need those stupid things, regular brushes are much better.” Ah, how the tables have turned … it’s been a wonderful journey watching the student become the master. Confronted about this very point yesterday via what was I’m sure a very painful phone conversation for him, he confessed, “Yeah, I was anti-roto for a while, but I have come around. Part of this is because drills are now much better, as are the Roto systems. Yes, I wasn’t that into them before, but this is my ‘must-have’ for this season.” All fair points.
I’ll even cut Zach a lille slack on this (very little) and allow for the possibility that he was correct on both occasions, as the technology has come a long way. What this means to you, is if you are also a stodgy Vermonter, or Midwesterner, or whateverner, and are one of those, “We never used those back in my day….” type of people, that’s OK, you probably did have a valid point “back in the day,” but the technology has improved significantly across the board in all aspects of the system and you can now produce better skis, with less effort, and in less time. I think that’s a winning formula for skiers at all levels.
If you’re a guy like me to loves skiing, but hates working on his skis (and is terrible at it, though not nearly as terrible Zach is laying out), this is a slam dunk, as I am out of the fume-choked garage faster than even, doing what I truly enjoy — skiing — on skis that are faster than ever.
If you’re into the tech side of the sport, you are even crazier if you don’t take the plunge, as ZC has about 50 combinations of brushes, felts, steels, cottons, tweeds, licorice, and other crazy compounds, diameters, durometers, and all of that crap, therein allowing you to lock yourself in your garage away from your annoying family for longer periods of time than ever before. Everyone wins. Your poor family doesn’t have to listen to your disjointed, rambling theories on the under-appreciated value of a good structure tool and you don’t have to listen to whatever the hell it is that normal people talk about these day. I literally have no idea, as about 99 percent of my conversations ultimately come back to structure tools for some strange reason.
As to how you execute this transaction, you can stick a toe in the water, wade in, or dive in head first to the deepest water that you can find. As you all know, I’m of the belief that is something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well (not to mention the fact that there’s no such thing as going too far), so my advice is to not just dive in, but go full “Acapulco Cliff diver” on this mo-fo and get the big-daddy set. That’s what I did and I don’t regret it for one second. Sure, I probably won’t use most of the attachments, and yes, the ones I do use I will most likely do so incorrectly, but I’ll have the best, and that makes me happy. Since I’ve been marooned in Philadelphia for WAY too long, I’ll also derive a perverse amount of satisfaction from knowing that I have a better set than most of you (in more ways than one). I know this is wrong, and this is most certainly not something that I am proud of, but it’s true.
Sure, you can chintz out if you want to and not go with the “professional package” (insert your own ‘package’ joke here), but don’t come crying to me when everyone at laughing at you behind your back as the guy with the incomplete Roto brush set. I have nightmares over stuff like that and I would hate to see this indignity befell you.
Pre-order partnership on Earth Day supports ski-focused climate change activism
We are lucky to have a business that allows us to pursue our passion as a job, and to earn a living doing what we love. We are lucky to have a client base that values our work and shares our values. We help our customers get the most out of their investment in a passion and a hobby, and we’re lucky to see the very best of the people we work with. We’re lucky to share our favorite lifestyle with a cool kid, who also loves skiing, and to travel the world as a family, and call it “work”. We have worked hard to make the life we’ve got, and we’re lucky that we work in an industry where everybody is willing to work hard and make sacrifices to ensure that we get to keep skiing. The question we are faced with is a big one; how long will our luck hold?
Climate change is happening, and the future of winter sport is uncertain. We believe in a future for winter sport. We’re not ready to throw in the towel and give up on winter, but we can’t continue to count on luck to ensure the future of our lifestyle and livelihood. Like most people that we know and work with, we’ve had our heads firmly buried in the sand. We’re not denying the scientific reality that confronts all of us, but we haven’t exactly been willing to face it head-on. It’s time to change that approach. We’re in a good position to call attention to a cause and to forge partnerships with our suppliers and our customers to make a difference. So here’s what we’re going to do:
On Earth Day, April 22nd, we will accept $100 deposits for new ski orders. Those deposits will be applied to the cost of a new pair of skis, and the $100 deposits will be donated in their entirety to Protect Our Winters. For specifics, and to place an order and a deposit, follow this link to our webstore.
Why Protect Our Winters? Well, we looked at them first because of their partnership with Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton. We reached out to those guys, and they both endorsed the plan. POW is a non-partisan organization with a goal of “mobilizing the outdoor sports community to lead the charge towards positive climate action”. They focus on political advocacy (that’s lobbying, where massive fossil fuel industry dollars are focused), education, and community action. They recognize the potential power and influence of the outdoor industry as a 650 billion dollar contributor to the economy. They’re a perfect fit, and a very well regarded organization.
We’ve approached our ski industry partners with this idea, and Fischer, Madshus and Salomon have all agreed to support this project. Fischer is especially connected, since Simi and Andy, along with Fischer athletes Kikkan Randall and Steve Nyman (USST Alpine) are part of POW’s Rider’s Alliance. We’re really pleased that all of our major ski brands have been quick to offer their support and will share the cost of this project.
What’s the bottom line?
We don’t really know what to expect from this. At a minimum, we hope that this causes our readers to pause and reflect. We hope that it provides an opportunity for our customers to contribute directly to a cause that concerns all of us. We hope that you recognize that participating in this project is a great way to leverage our commitment, and the commitment of our ski suppliers, to contribute to fighting climate change.
We don’t expect this to generate a huge amount of new business for us. That’s not the goal. But we hope it makes our commitment clear, and we hope that it generates a meaningful contribution to POW.
It’s also good timing, since we’re currently planning our ski selection trips for the season, and it’s time to be taking orders. So, think it over, and let us know if you have any questions.
Editor’s note: This year, we opted for a spin on the holiday gift guide. Rest assured, we tasked the right guy — our gear-review guru — with the job of compiling a 12-day list of gift ideas (in various price ranges) for all the nordies in your life.
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It’s only Day 4, but we’re getting picking up steam here, I can feel it. We’ve teed up a vast array of skiing-related products and gear, but no self-respective gear review is complete without diving headfirst, like Billy Demong into a shallow pool, into tech. And not just tech, TECH. Kinda like when Billy Ray Valentine fought off the police. “It wasn’t COP, it was COPS, with an ‘S’.” (Fast-forward to 7:30 in). This isn’t tech, it’s TECH (still not with a ‘s’, though)!
Like any good prima donna ski racer, I hate working on my skis. I just want them to be fast. Nathan Schultz and the gang at Boulder Nordic Sport have gotten me race-ready many-a-day. Usually if I ask them what they did, they tell me to STFU. This might seem a bit harsh, but it reality it works out well for everyone as I really don’t want to know, as this would perhaps lead me to think that next time I could do it myself, which we all know that I cannot. Thanks to some “tough love” from both Nathan and Zack Caldwell, I learned long ago that I’m actually better off NOT knowing what’s happening out there in those mysterious shipping containers, as I need to focus all of my energy into skiing fast. Since it’s the holiday season though, Nathan seems to have let his guard down a little, as he gave me one of his secrets, Holmenkol Natural Wax (comes in solid & fluid). I believe his exact quote was, “This stuff is amazing, not only it is fast, but even you can put it on, FBD.” No offense taken, as I’m still going to have him do it. I’m no dummy, this way I can blame him if the race doesn’t go well. #SoPro. Available at Boulder Nordic Sport.
On those warm, transformed days when any hard wax that grips wears too fast or ices, this binder lets you run a harder grip wax, solving both problems. A shoulder-season star. Available at CaldwellSport.com.
Speaking of Zach Caldwell and ski-tech curmudgeons, when Zach’s not busy shaming Tad Elliott and me into attempting to properly apply klister (in case you missed it yesterday, here’s the video again), Zach spends his free time putting together what is perhaps simultaneously both the most nerdy and the most awesome article on brushes ever written (be sure to watch the embedded video, too; it’s totally worth it). This of course begs the question: is this the only article on brushes ever written? I sure hope so, but regardless, it’s excellent. I’ll save you the humiliation of having a link to this video in your browser cache by cutting to the chase and telling you to simply get one of these: Red Creek Golden Magic Ultra Steel Brush. Available at Caldwell Sport.
Now we’re approaching super-nerd territory. Love it or hate it, fluoros are like pesticides and condoms — necessary evils. Again, I must have caught the head honcho on a good day, as Nathan was doling out all sorts of secrets. As noted earlier, I hate every part of this process (burning my skis, burning my beautiful, expansive eight-liter lungs, and burning a hole in the Ozone layer just so I can put Smullin in his place in races), so I made Nathan write the description on this one. I’ll see you in Hell, Schultz.
“These new fluorocarbon powders from Holmenkol are the result of 3 years of development and testing. The investment seems to have paid off – in testing over the winter of 2015-2016 we found this new line to be consistently at the top of our results, and many times far superior to everything else. As a bonus, the new raw materials in the Syntec line are not subject to the pending EU environmental fluorocarbon ban.” (After reading just this one paragraph, I bet you miss me already, right? Don’t lie.) Shop options (cold, mid & wet powder) at Boulder Nordic Sport.
Back to the ultimate ski curmudgeon, Caldwell (hell, his Twitter handle is @GrumpySkier, which pretty much says it all). I love talking to Zach as he’s perhaps the only person in the world more cantankerous than me, which is probably why we get along so well. You know how the saying goes though, “It pays to have friends in low places,” and trust me Zach excels here. He’s logged more time in World Cup wax cabins than almost anyone I know, so when I recommends an iron, you KNOW it’s legit. So legit, that I bought one. (Yes, yes, I know, you’re thinking, “I thought FBD never preps his skis…” HA, I got cha! I rarely race prep my skis. I prep my skis all of the time. So if I am going to be forced into this dreaded task, why not bring a gun to a knife fight and tackle the task with the best iron available to man. Thanks to my incredible foresight and vision, there is mind-blowing continuity in this recommendation as well, as this is the iron of choice when applying fluoros. #MindBlown. Available at Caldwell Sport.
(From left to right) BSF skiers Silas Talbot, Jennie Bender, Paul Everett, Logan Diekmann, and Max LaChance during a rollerski in Bozeman, Mont. (Photo: Austin Caldwell)
The pale wood grain of a wax trailer’s interior walls and the sound of a power-tool firing up can only hold one’s attention for so long, especially if that someone has the coaching gene. As the grandson of John Caldwell, a former U.S. Ski Team (USST) head coach, and son of Sverre Caldwell, the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) nordic director and head coach, it may be no surprise that John — who goes by his middle name of Austin — Caldwell, also heard the call to coach.
After spending this past winter working for Caldwell Sport as a wax technician, Austin, a 24-year-old Dartmouth grad, wanted a challenge and change. Not only in his work, to include a greater focus on interactions with athletes, but in his whereabouts as well.
“I really enjoyed working with Zach and Amy [Caldwell] wax-teching last year,” Austin said on the phone while in Bozeman, Mont. “But part of me wanted to spread my wings a bit and try some new place outside of the east and outside of Vermont where I’ve lived all my life.”
Austin, Sophie and Isabel Caldwell (l-r) during their Christmas visit to Europe in 2013 to see Sophie race on the World Cup circuit. (Photo: Sophie Caldwell/sophiecaldwell.blogspot.com)
Growing up in Peru, Vt., alongside his two sisters Isabel and Sophie Caldwell (the latter of which is a USST member), skiing was not just what Austin spent his spare time doing. It was the family mealtime topic of choice; it was how vacations were spent with relatives — his uncle Tim Caldwell, a four-time Olympian, and cousins are all avid nordic skiers as well.
Surrounded by skiing his entire life, Austin did not want to give it up anytime soon. When the head coaching position for the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) elite nordic program opened up and his cousin, Anya Caldwell-Bean, BSF’s U18/U20 junior coach, told him of the opening, he saw an opportunity to not only stay involved with skiing, but further himself and his experiences in it.
“I loved wax-teching last year, that was really fun, but I also enjoyed coaching in the past for junior skiers,” Austin said. “My dad is a coach and I’ve always been interested in coaching … so now I get to coach and wax tech.”
Stepping into his new role and responsibilities as the head coach for the BSF elite team — his first coaching position of this caliber — Austin is aware of the challenges that rest ahead for himself and his athletes. Prior to this year, his work with athletes involved coaching juniors last year in Putney, Vt., and at SMS youth summer camps over the past five years.
“I have gained most of my understanding of coaching from my relationships with Sverre, Ruff Patterson, and Zach and Amy Caldwell,” Austin wrote in an email, referring to his father, college coach, and first cousin once removed (and his wife), respectively. “Those four have been great mentors and in the process they have taught me almost everything I know about skiing.”
Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) 2016/2017 Roster:
Elite Team Jennie Bender
Silas Talbot
Nick Power
PG/Collegiate
Paul Everett
Max LaChance
Nick Matelich Summer Collegiate
Noah Anderson
Logan Diekmann
Currently eight athletes will work with him during the summer and throughout the season. Three athletes, Jennie Bender, Silas Talbot and Nick Power comprise the elite team, and five others make up the post-graduate crew, with a few of them heading to college in the fall and being replaced with new post grads for the upcoming school year.
“We’ll have some kids taking classes and then partway through the winter, people will be going different ways depending on how they do [during the season],” Austin explained. “So that will be, as far as managing at that point, that will be one of the bigger challenges.
“But I think it’s something all teams face,” he added. “Just having kids at different levels and different age groups as well.”
On a personal level, Austin admits one of his biggest adjustments so far has been learning Bozeman’s trails and rollerskiing roads, as well as not getting the team or team van lost in Montana’s mountains.
“For me, I guess the biggest challenge that everyone has been helping me with is finding my way around Bozeman and finding new routes for rollerskiing,” Austin said. “Every week I’ve been trying kind of to add a new place to rollerski … because it’s important to switch it up.”
“I plan on staying in the ski world for as long as I can, so far BSF and Bozeman have been great and I plan on remaining here for the coming years.” — Austin Caldwell on becoming BSF’s elite head coach
But even if navigating Bozeman has been a bit of a learning process during the beginning stages of his coaching career, the city and a well-established elite program were two of the draws that pulled Austin to apply and eventually take the position.
“Having a strong program in place and being in Bozeman were the two main factors [why I considered working with BSF],” Austin said. “I also talked with Dragan [Danevski, BSF’s head coach and program director] and with my cousin Anya and it just seemed like it would be a good fit.”
With the goal to remain involved with skiing for as long as possible, Bozeman and BSF struck Austin as the ideal program and place to be a part of.
“I plan on staying in the ski world for as long as I can, so far BSF and Bozeman have been great and I plan on remaining here for the coming years,” he wrote in an email.
Danevski respectfully declined to comment on Austin’s hiring. In the last two years, the BSF elite team has weathered several coaching transitions, most recently with the departure of Bernie Nelson — the team’s coach since the fall of 2014.
In his first season as an elite head coach and with eight athletes to oversee, his greatest ambition involves pushing his athletes to their full potential. Talbot, 23, Austin’s former classmate, co-captain and fraternity brother at Dartmouth College, and now an athlete for the BSF elite team, saw the transition to having Austin as a coach as uniquely strong.
“For myself, it has been hugely beneficial to have Austin coaching because he knows my athletic background so well,” Talbot, originally from Anchorage, Alaska, wrote in an email. “He already knows my strengths and weaknesses (which are especially prevalent in the dryland season), and so there is no need to build up the trust and/or understanding between us from scratch. In short, having someone I know well as a coach makes the adjustment to the new program — something that for many after college is a tough step — much easier.”
Bridger Ski Foundation elite and post-graduate athletes during a classic rollerski in Bozeman, Mont. From left to right: Max LaChance, Nick Power, Logan Diekmann, and Silas Talbot. (Photo: Austin Caldwell)
Entering her fourth year on the BSF elite team, Bender also found Austin a positive addition to BSF and the greater Bozeman area.
“Austin waxed for me during the last few World Cups at the Canadian Tour this past March, and I was instantly impressed with his professionalism,” Bender wrote in an email. “Austin taking the head Elite/PG coach position is a great attribution to not only BSF, but to the Bozeman ski community as a whole.”
So far, Austin too, cannot ask more of his athletes and training group. The higher level of focus and preparation he finds evident with the BSF elite and PG level athletes gives him confidence in the season and performances to come.
“I think the key to success is having a group that motivates each other and pushes each other,” Austin said. “And I’m very excited about this training group we have going into the summer. They’re all working very hard and they’ve come together really well. It’s like they’ve been training together a lot longer than three weeks … everyone in this group is always trying to push the limits and do everything they can do to get better.”
Sophie Caldwell is our poster child from now on. She’s much better looking than Noah Hoffman. She might spend less time at our house than Noah, but she’s technically family.
This is a paid advertisement for Caldwell Sport, a retail and service shop for racers and enthusiasts who want to do their best, and could use some help from their equipment. http://www.caldwellsport.com/
We believe that the industry should be a resource to consumers, supporting the pursuit of the best and most rewarding experience that skiing has to offer. In most respects the industry is a great resource, providing continual innovation and product refinement, and making great performance accessible. However, the industry is bad at providing technical background and a solid informational basis for decision making. Somewhere in the labyrinth of marketing stories and advertising campaigns, good ideas and bad ideas all start to look the same. It can be hard to know what to make of marketing hype, and to distinguish real innovation from a bunch of hot air.
2013-14 is a big year for new product releases, and while there is sure to be a lot of hype (and no small amount of good old-fashioned BS flying around), there are also some genuine and meaningful innovations. In recent weeks we’ve published a series of articles examining some of the new stuff that will be coming at you next year. Most new race gear hits the World Cup a season or more before it hits the market. We’ve got quite a lot of experience with this year’s “new” offerings, so listen up!
You can pretend, as you read these articles, that we’re not trying to sell you new skis, and that we’re only trying to give you good, neutral information. But we really are trying to sell you new skis. Think about it.
Fischer Speedmax – http://www.caldwellsport.com/2013/04/fischer-speedmax/
We’ve known these as “HM” skis since 2010 when they were released to World Cup racers at the Olympics. Kikkan wins most of her medals on a pair of these, so you know they’re good. But the regular Carbonlite remains the more prevalent ski on the World Cup circuit. We think these are the future for Fischer, but you should read up on them.
Madshus REDline – http://www.caldwellsport.com/2013/05/madshus-redline/
Most of the time when we think about adjusted thickness profiles we’re talking about tenths of millimeters. The REDline skis from Madshus are a much bigger departure than that. Yet they represent an evolution in a 20-year-old design concept.
Three companies are coming to market with clear-base skis. They’ve been gaining popularity in World Cup racing, and have a firm foothold on the biathlon circuit. But what are they for?
Fischer 902 Classic Skis – http://www.caldwellsport.com/2013/05/fischer-902/
OK – these aren’t exactly new, but did you know that they’re the most popular classic ski on the World Cup? You might be interested…
Noah Hoffman at U.S. nationals in Rumford, Maine. (Photo: Caldwell Sport/FlyingPointRoad.com)
Around the country people are just starting to get skis on snow, and that means we’re just starting to get feedback on our work. I get nervous for the early feedback every year, but every year the feedback gets better. It’s not easy to write a glowing review of your own work without sounding conceited, so a press-release on early season feedback is really hard. Lucky for us, one of our customers has taken care of it! We decided not to publish his name because of the cough (cough, cough) that he developed on the day he got his new skis. He thought a pseudonym would be fitting, and suggested “Einaar” or “Leopold” or maybe “Jerome”. Take your pick!
This fellow is currently excited about Madshus, which is great. But as he points out, it could have been any brand. We work hard to put people on the skis that will support the best experience possible.
Caldwells:
Zach Caldwell with a pair of Madshus skis
Thanks for the three pairs of Madshus skate skis! I wanted to drop you a note about my impressions. Zach may recall from our conversations that I’m not exactly an elite skier. I do think, though, that my experience so far may be useful in talking to other less-than-elite skiers who may be on the fence about whether they need great skis.
A reality check first. I just dropped a bunch of money on skis, and I’m surely interested in validating my purchase. What’s more, I’ve done the usual reading about skis in deciding what to buy, so there’s no doubt that some of what others (including you) have said has been knocking around my brain, perhaps creating certain expectations. In addition, I just don’t have the years of experience on different skis that provides an ideal foundation for noting the nuances.
However, in balance, I’ll note this: as a long-time racer of bikes who’s desperately trying to get away from racing, it was almost criminally easy to unload some redundant gear (still leaving me with multiple levels of redundancy, in some cases) and turn it in to new skis. So, really, I almost felt like I was getting something for nothing when the new skis showed up. Second, while I haven’t been on hundreds of skis – not even a dozen, probably – my years as an obsessive bike racer have left me, for better or worse, with what I think is a fairly attuned sense for some of the differences between different materials and equipment. With skis, many of those differences surely drown in my sea of bad technique, but at least some of my ability to perceive these things is there.
So, getting to it… I spent last season, my first on skate skis, on a pair of off-the-rack (top of the line race skis). I found them at a low advertised price, was told the shop had a pair that would work for my 70kg, and got skiing. I suppose I bought them in the same way some people shop for bike components online. They were fine, so I thought, until I happened upon a couple of hard snow days and found myself all over the place. Frightening. Over the summer I did the obsessive Internet reading thing, eventually deciding to find something new. With your help I ended up with a Madshus 118 and 119. My wife will be skiing on her pair of 118s this weekend.
Although I was mentally ‘over’ the old skis and waiting for the new skis, I couldn’t resist the chance to ski and took the old skis out on Sunday. The snow was a couple of days old and shallow enough that grooming had been done by dragging a trash can lid behind a sno mo, or something. Again, they were fine. A little skittish, a tendency for the edges to wash out on push-off, but they were what I was accustomed to. It was simply great to ski in the sun.
Yesterday, well, there wasn’t any new snow, but there were new skis from Caldwell Sport. With a light calendar at work, I was able to develop a small cough (cough cough) that, unfortunately, prevented me from making it in to the office. I returned to the trails to find the same shallow, now even older snow, transformed to very granulated sugar. I couldn’t resist the 118, so skied them first. The higher camber and different feel was apparent right away. The 118 felt like it wanted to run away from me at first. So I skied some more. My confidence increased and I was navigating trails much easier than before, especially descending and twisting trails. And then I skied some more and, after about 45 minutes, realized I was working harder than I ever had on my other skis. It was like the skis were allowing me to work harder, but in a good way. As the hour ticked away I realized that I had become a better skier on the 118. They still seemed vaguely foreign, but it was as though they were helping me start to get it in a way that a season on my old skis had not.
Amy Caldwell with a pair of Madshus
I was impressed, but it was time for the 119. Things were warming up a bit, and it was probably a 119 day anyway. I changed skis and right away, the 119 felt somewhat familiar, or at least more familiar than the 118. I suppose the 119 felt more like the old skis to me, at least in some respects. Lower, closer to the snow, less motion than the 118. It felt amazing. The 119 felt like it was easier to bring the ski under on recovery, like the swing weight was less than the 118, but that’s hard to nail down. They were great. Very comforting and friendly.
After an hour on the 119 I went back to the 118, and the Holy Shit moment happened. As soon as I got back on the 118 there was something instantly apparent that hadn’t been there before. The difference between the skis, and what the 118 felt like in particular, actually had me blurt out “Holy shit!” as I skied away from the cabin. The ski-to-ski acceleration on the 118 was scary. The initial hour hadn’t really made that obvious to me, but now it was after coming off the 119. I kept skiing, switching back and forth a time or two, and ended four hours of solo skiing feeling like I’d made as much progress over one day as I did during the whole of the previous year.
The skis seemed to allow me (or force me, or encourage me) to ski better and ski harder. I can’t say that I prefer one pair or the other, and in reality, I think I could be happy skiing either in most of the conditions we routinely see.
So, what does this mean? Well, most importantly to me, I’m incredibly inspired to continue working to be a better skier. After 15 years of competing in a different sport I’m telling myself I won’t be racing skis anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the desire to push myself and improve. These skis are motivating me to continue doing that work on skis the same way I do it on bikes or with running, even though I hope I never pin a number on again. I may not be a typical customer, in that I’m more obsessive and driven than a typical casual athlete, but I’m no longer focused on competition.
However, for those non-racing skiers out there, don’t believe the advice about not needing top level skis. You need top level expertise to get the most out of the sport. In cycling, I wouldn’t advise a new rider to get a ProTour team bike and adopt a pro’s position right away. While I do believe that most ‘comfort’ and enthusiast positions are ridiculous and that good racing bikes are the most comfortable bikes, there’s no doubt that using that kind of equipment can require some adaptation and progression before a rider can be comfortable and efficient on pro gear in a pro position.
Skis are different, I think. I see no reason why a developing skier shouldn’t be on top level skis, assuming the ability and willingness to pay for them. In many cases we’re talking about a few hundred bucks between average and great, so if it’s possible to bridge that gap, skiers will benefit from doing so. I was told by someone that Madshus skis were ‘harder’ for a new skier to learn on, something that my initial experience suggests is totally wrong. The Madshus skis got me skiing better in a few hours and I can’t wait to keep it going. I certainly don’t mean to knock other brands, because I’m sure I’d have done well with a properly selected pair of Fischers or Salomons too, but good skis are good skis, for everyone.
So, thanks. I appreciate the time spent on finding the skis and all the other advice along the way. Looking forward to the winter.
This article is a paid advertisement by Caldwell Sport, a ski-grinding service and new-ski retail shop operated by Amy and Zach Caldwell in Putney VT. It’s busy season in the ski industry and we’re cranking away at selling and grinding skis, so we’re recycling an article that Amy wrote for our website in late August. How many of you were paying attention in late August? OK – then this will be new material for you!
This summer I was fortunate enough to visit several different ski factories in Europe with Zach. After our first year back in operation as Caldwell Sport, we felt that investing in my understanding of skis from the ground up was important for our business. We’re a small business, and it’s necessary for both of us to have a high level of expertise in all aspects of the operation. There is no better way to learn about skis than to go to the source and handle skis every day for a few weeks with no distractions. I am pretty sure this is Zach’s idea of heaven.
Our first trip of the summer was to Norway. Zach planned the trip so that we could spend a few days skiing on the snow at Sognefjell, about a 3 hour drive north of Lillehammer, with some of the US Ski Team guys that he coaches. Sognefjell is a remote mountainous area located above the Sognefjord. Its elevation is about 4500ft and holds snow well into the summer. There is a hostel-like lodge there that serves five very carbohydrate rich meals a day. They salt and groom a 7km winding loop (with hills and turns) twice a day.
When we were there, all of the major ski companies were testing their products along with some of the Norwegian National Team, German Biathlon, United Bakeries Marathon Team and a host of other teams from Norway, Sweden and Finland. Because all of the major ski companies are based out of Europe, this ends up being a relatively close testing area for them. While we were there, we were able to test some prototype products that are really interesting ideas. If all goes well, these products will be brought to market over the next few years. We were able to get a sense of what concepts ski companies were working with and what direction they are headed.
After 15 hours of skiing in 6 sessions at Sognefjell, we headed back to Lillehammer to spend a week picking skis at the Madshus factory in nearby Biri. I have become a bigger and bigger fan of Madshus skis over the past few years, so I was really looking forward to going to the factory. Although any factory setting is far from glamorous, the Madshus factory was a totally impressive facility. They take extreme care selecting all of the materials that go into their skis and have built some of the most exact machines in the industry. They are so exact that they have to make slight adjustments during a production cycle so that not every pair of skis is identical! Anyway, after a week of drinking the Madshus “Kool Aid”, I left Madshus feeling even more excited to test their skis this season.
After Madshus, the next stop on the ski pilgrimage for me was to the Salomon Headquarters in Annecy, France in August. While Salomon produces their skis in Altenmarkt, Austria; their World Cup service team is based out of Annecy and all their development and prototyping happens there. They actually have a press in Annecy where they can produce a new ski to test without having to halt the whole production line in Austria. It was a great opportunity to spend a little time with Patrice Frisson-Roche, one of the Salomon World Cup service guys, to learn a bit about what skis they have been testing and liking on the World Cup.
Over the next two days, which also happened to be a weekend, we spent 10 hours on road bicycles near Annecy biking several of the roads and Cols that the Tour de France often visits. Thanks much to Alex Haas, the Salomon international marketing director, and his good friend who is the marketing director for German soccer for showing us some incredible riding around Annecy. In spite of very sore bums and legs, it was an amazing three days.
From Annecy we went to the Salomon ski factory in Altenmarkt, Austria. Salomon shares a factory with Atomic which are both owned by Amer Sports. It is interesting to see two totally different ski companies working side by side. They have two separate design teams that work independently of one another. Most of the factory workers are working for Amer and not directly for either ski company. Jean-Marc Draeyer works for Salomon and is very involved with ensuring the quality of every pair of Salomon skis.
Overall, my impressions of the Salomon factory were very positive. Although Salomon hasn’t been making skis for all that long compared to the other ski companies out there, they’ve done a good job bringing in some very hard working and knowledgeable people.
Riding in Annecy, France.
We were also very fortunate to have 2 free days in Altenmarkt due to an Austrian holiday and another weekend day. Zach and I took advantage of the nice weather and the Austrian Alps and did 2 fantastic hikes from Ramsau, one of them taking us up and around the Dachstein glacier. Although the Dachstein is used as a summer ski training venue, August tends to be its low point for good skiing during the year so we were happy to be hiking instead of slogging around on dirty, very slow glacier ice.
Dario Cologna’s skis at Fischer.
Also, during our week in Austria, we were able to squeeze in a day visiting the Fischer factory in Ried. Although Ried is unfortunately not located in the beautiful Austrian Alps, it was a great opportunity to get to take a look inside the factory that has been the leader in making cross country skis over the past few decades. The Fischer factory certainly did not disappoint. It is definitely the largest of the factories and it is clear that they continually reinvest in their machines and technology. It was also great to see into the racing department and see a whole bunch of Dario Cologna’s skis get dropped off for grinding. Thanks to Andy Forstner (another World Cup service guy) for showing us around.
In all, I learned a lot about the different ski brands we carry this summer. One of the biggest lessons that I learned was that to be truly knowledgeable with skis, one must be a continuous and eager student of skis. Ski companies are constantly trying to refine their skis and make them lighter and faster. They come up with new concepts, develop them and then test them over and over again. I know one thing that I will do this winter is use every ski as a ski testing opportunity. Knowledge comes with hard work. Fortunately, like all of our customers, I don’t mind this type of “hard work”.
The Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) waxing staff (Caldwell Sport photo)
This article is a paid advertisement by Caldwell Sport, a ski-grinding service and new-ski retail shop operated by Amy and Zach Caldwell in Putney, Vt. We ride the coattails of any successes that we can claim an association with. This week we’re taking credit for the astonishing successes enjoyed by the Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) in recent years.
Last spring, USSA named Rob Bradlee domestic coach of the year, recognizing the rapid ascent of the Cambridge Sports Union to the upper ranks of U.S. Junior clubs. Rob is quick to point out that the award may be in his name, but it recognizes the contributions of many coaches, volunteers and athletes. CSU has about 55 kids involved in the program, and 20 to 25 of them regularly attend Eastern Cup (Junior Olympic Qualifier) events. Six years ago they placed no skiers on the New England JO Team. Then, for a couple of years they got two kids onto the team. Then seven, and nine, until last year they claimed 12 spots on the perennially strong NE team. At JOs last year they had the top girls club, and second overall club score. They had three individual JO champions, and five all-americans.
CSU is the only major club in the greater Boston area. The skiers are the normal brand of bright stars that we see involved in Cross Country everywhere, multiplied by the intensity of a major urban environment. Skiing competes for attention with a huge number of scholastic sports and extra-curricular activities. They ski primarily on short loops of manmade snow at the Weston Ski Track. In a time when standard complaints and excuses from clubs all over the country are focused on bad snow and too many other commitments, CSU makes you wonder what most other clubs in the country are waiting for. How do they do it?
CSU head nordic coach Rob Bradlee (Caldwell Sport photo)
It’s the skis.
No, it’s not actually the skis. But the CSU approach to skis gives some insight into the way the club is organized and how they have formulated their recipe for success. And while skis may not be the key to success, CSU does a great job, week after week, of competing with various ski academies and eastern colleges. It’s notable these days when they don’t have among the best skis in the race. And they do it with a big team, using an army of volunteer parent-waxers. There is no top secret wax-guru mixing up fancy solutions in the background. There is, instead, a system.
This might be a good time to introduce Jim Stock. Jim is a quiet and intense guy with a brain that is wired to create order out of chaos. He is a Harvard professor of economics, and in his spare time he quietly shapes global macro-economic policy. No, really, he does. In his other spare time he coaches the Eastern Mass BKL group, otherwise known as the CSU farm-team. In the ski world he’s better known as Chris and Corey Stock’s dad.
I don’t actually know how the system was developed, but I’ve been involved picking and grinding skis for the club for the past four or five years. I imagine that Rob and Jim sat down and made a list of variables, assets and liabilities. The liabilities are what most clubs offer as excuses; we don’t have any waxing gurus, we don’t have great opportunities to test, we’ve got a ton of kids with a limited number of skis, we’ve got to get wax on all these skis really quickly. These liabilities got recast as limitations – the framework within which the club had to operate to produce good skis. And the most important thing they did was make a creative assessment of their assets. What do they have a lot of? Parents.
Normally, in junior ski racing, parents find themselves in the role of helpless bystander, and potential liability. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen one or two coaches scramble to get kick wax on skis for a dozen kids while a dozen parents hover nearby hoping that everything works out. CSU parents are involved with their kids, and concerned for their success. In different circumstances we’d be talking about an epidemic of helicopter parents. But at CSU the parents find themselves in the “assets” column, and they have klister on their hands. How do you get 25 kids waxed for an Eastern Cup race? You deputize parents as waxers! The CSU waxing juggernaut can race-wax 25 pairs of skis in 40 minutes. And they’re loud and boisterous – quite obviously having a great time. In the noise contest it’s a toss-up between the Dartmouth girls and the CSU waxers.
Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) hard at work. (Caldwell Sport photo)
In order for relatively inexpert (at least at first) parents to do good work waxing skis, there have to be clear instructions. And this is where the CSU system really shines. Starting four or five years ago, Jim and Rob have clearly defined what they’re looking for in skis. When we started working together they were quick to point out that they often need to deal with klister, and that really soft classic skis were hard to work with. The majority of the CSU kids have one pair each, skate and classic, and so we worked together to define, specifically, what a single-pair CSU classic ski needed to be.
And then, with help from Chris Li at Bikeway Source in Bedford, Mass., we developed a way to quantify and mark the pockets. CSU was among the first clubs to identify, appreciate, and utilize residual camber as a characteristic in their classic ski. They developed a standardized system of marking skis so that they could give specific instructions to parents for precisely how to wax whichever pair of skis was on the bench in front of them. And it worked! The skis come from one source, they are selected to fit one system, they are measured and marked using one system, and chaos has been given a time-out.
It’s not just classic skis and kick waxing either. Rob has been a Toko guy for years, and had no desire to change to a completely different system. But he asked for suggestions on specific products that could broaden the range of wax possibilities for glide, and he introduced them, a couple at a time, to a contained testing process. He bought test skis, and a Finite Finish structure tool, and we discussed basic standard structure modifications. And then we standardized grinds for the whole club. As I type this we are processing final structure on some of the 154 pairs (including some for Masters) of CSU skis that we’re grinding this Fall. On any given race day the CSU waxers should be working with only one or two different structures, so testing hand structure and modifying skis is a controlled and sensible process.
In part, the CSU approach to skis and ski service is representative of a willingness to invest. As a rule, the kids going to Eastern Cup races all have top-of-the-line hand-picked skis that are up to date. This costs money, and parents are expected to support the system. But because there is a system, the investment in equipment isn’t a leap of faith – it’s an integrated part of the program. We do a huge amount of work with teams from all over the country, and often we’re grinding a mish-mash of skis that have been assembled from various brands and various sources over the past decade. When we work on these skis it’s no mystery to us why CSU might have more success than some of these clubs. CSU is one of our most satisfying partnerships because their systematic approach and willingness to invest makes our work look good.
This article is a paid advertisement by Caldwell Sport, a ski grinding service and new ski retail shop operated by Zach and Amy Caldwell in Putney Vermont. Caldwell Sport only does skis, and we have much more fun in the summer than those poor suckers who have to sell bikes as well.
Since 2007 we have made an average of three trips a year to Europe for ski-related work. A lot of that has been coaching and ski service at events ranging from OPA cups and World Junior Championships to World Cups, Tour de Ski and World Championships. But well over half of the days spent in Europe during that whole time have come in the summer. Since FasterSkier is reduced to reporting on multi-sport events, we thought we’d take the opportunity to provide a little content and brag about how much fun we have in the summer.
Kikkan at Sognefjell. Kikkan is BIG right now, so we’re definitely using a picture of her.
Our goal is to provide our customers with access to the highest level of knowledge and understanding available. Doing World Cup ski service keeps us in touch with what is happening in the service world at the highest levels of ski racing. But providing the best available skis to our customers requires more than an understanding of World Cup service. We also need to know the skis, inside and out. So we go to the ski factories to learn.
World Cup service is all about making the best of available materials (skis and wax) in a short amount of time. It’s hard work with a great deal of time pressure. In the summer we slow things down, examine materials closely, and ask a ton of questions. We talk to the factory race service guys about what other teams have had success with, and what direction they’re going in the future. And we look at (and select) a lot of skis.
Original ideas are very rare. We can count the number of truly original ideas we’ve had on one hand. Almost everything we know and do with skis is learned, borrowed, adapted or flat-out stolen from something we’ve seen somewhere else. Summer trips to ski factories account for a huge portion of our stolen ideas. There are some amazing people working in the ski industry, and we’re lucky to be able to mine them for understanding.
Browsing skis at Madshus.
Our June trip this year is shaping up to be especially fun. Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman will be flying to Norway at the beginning of June to join the Norwegian National Team for their on-snow camp on the Sognefjell snow fields. Amy and I will fly over to join them for three days on snow at the tail end of their camp, before heading to Lillehammer and Biri to work in the Madshus factory. Noah will also grab a day at Madshus to get an inside look at how his skis are made.
Sognefjell in June is a scene worth checking-out. It’s not a glacier, but high snowfields near the top of a pass in the Jotunheim mountains, not far from the tip of the Sognefjord, the largest fjord in Norway. There’s not much up there – only what you need for a perfect summer ski training operation. A hotel with great meals, trails groomed and salted twice a day (fresh tracks for classic skiing after lunch), and a measurable portion of the world’s best skiers.
Sognefjell also happens to be an easy drive from Lillehammer, and Biri, the headquarters of Madshus. Most of the ski companies conduct some ski testing with many of their top athletes at Sognefjell in June, but it’s almost like a home base for Madshus – they can come and go with new materials as they like, and it affords them a great opportunity to test new ideas for wet-snow skis.
I was last there in June of 2010 with Nathan Schultz and Erik Nilsson for a couple of great days of skiing and testing. Per Wiik of Madshus had made all our arrangements, but was too busy with product and marketing meetings to come up skiing with us, so he asked Thomas Alsgaard to take us out for dinner on the company. I’m pretty sure Per figured we’d go get a pizza, but Thomas had a different idea. He booked us for a phenomenal meal at a restaurant owned by the chef who cooked for the Norwegian National Team when Thomas was racing. So we had a great meal with Thomas, Jorgen Brink (he’s won the Vasaloppet three times in a row now, but had just won it once at the time), and Stian Grønås, one of the Madshus racing guys (former Factory Team waxer, and Norwegian National Team waxer), and Peter Hale.
During the meal Stian told us a funny story about how they found a pair of Thomas’s skis in the factory – the pair he used to win the relay gold for Norway at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. They mounted NIS plates, put a fresh grind on the skis, and put them out with a batch of new skis for Thomas’s next testing session without telling him anything. We all looked at Thomas for the conclusion of the story. “So, how were the skis?” “I can’t believe I ever skied on such crap”, he said.
After dinner, Thomas holding his “crap” gold-medal skis from 1998.
Marketing-message interpretation aid for those of you who are not susceptible to subliminal messages:
1 – Caldwell Sport is incredibly cool.
2 – You should go to Sognefjell sometime.
3 – If you’re still skiing on skis from 1998, even if they were the best skis in the world, it’s time for something new.
This article is a paid advertisement by Caldwell Sport, a ski grinding service and new ski retail shop operated by Zach and Amy Caldwell in Putney Vermont. Caldwell Sport has recently returned to Vermont after a four-year adventure pursuing coaching, ski service and business opportunities in British Columbia and Colorado.
Our recent return to Vermont has reacquainted us with many friends and customers from before our departure in 2007. It’s been quite a lot of fun to see skis that we selected and ground five or six years ago come back for a new grind. In part, it’s good to see that the skis we were picking back then were pretty good, and the grinds continue to serve people well for quite a number of years! It’s great to see how many of our customers love their skis, and take great care of them. It has also reminded us how much progress has been made in new ski design in the past four years. The bottom line is that skis have gotten better, and they’ve gotten better in tangible and specific ways. Since we’re in the business of selling skis, and we currently have a good inventory of hand-picked new skis, we figured it might be a good time to make a case for the excellence of the new materials!
Ski companies generally change their cosmetic appearance every two years, but most of the ski racing public is sophisticated enough to recognize that these are cosmetic changes – not new ski designs. Sometimes a tangible, visible change is made and a new product is launched. The hole ski; the new Madshus shape from two years ago; the Soft Ground ski from Salomon this year. But all of this misses the continual, ongoing incremental changes in ski design that add up to true progress.
To put it in perspective, Fischer has produced skis from their 610 mold for over two decades, yet the current skis bear almost no resemblance to the original 610. The process of refinement is ongoing, and remains highly significant. At a World Cup level it’s rare to see skis more than two or three years old getting used in races. There are notable exceptions – particularly on the classic side of things, but those exceptions are rare enough so that they serve to underline the general rule. It was striking to see Marit Bjoergen racing with an old RCS model skate ski in Gallivare last November, instead of a ski with a hole in the tip. And that’s because, in general, the new skis are better.
In the past four years it seems that all of the manufacturers have been working hard to develop better active skiing speed in their skate skis. The straight-ahead gliding speed of skis in 2006 and 2007 was quite good, and really hasn’t been surpassed. In fact, some of the skis from that era still have a more slippery feeling than many of the skis produced today. However, the newer skis help to produce speed in motion, and result in higher skiing speeds.
This phenomenon is well illustrated by the experience of my friend Mike Temkin, from Troy Michigan. Mike is a crazy Russian engineer who works for Chrysler on the proving grounds – designing tests for cars. I know he’s crazy because one year he decided to drive out to VT from Michigan to pick up his skis, and he spent a couple of days working in the shop with me. We had him visit in Boulder our first year there as well – another long drive to pick up some skis! Mike bought a pair of used demo Fischers from me in 2005, and we have struggled over the years to find skis to match that pair. We did pretty well with a pair of 610s in 2008, but that 2005 pair remained something of a standard. Last year I sent him a new pair of 610 hole skis, but this time I sent him some instructions as well. I told him not to make up his mind about the new skis until he compared his times between the new and old skis on a loop of several Ks. We even put the same grind on the new skis and the old skis so he would have a fair test. I was picking Gunnar up from school when I got the call on my cell phone – Mike was still out of breath from his test and I could hardly understand him between the Russian accent and all the huffing and puffing. “Zach! It’s Incredible! I felt for sure that the old skis were faster, but I made the test anyway. 10 kilometers, and I am skiing one minute faster with the new skis! How is this possible?”
How is it possible? Well, I think it’s mostly a question of balancing priorities. To build good energy return into the skis it’s necessary to emphasize the strength and elasticity of the materials under the foot, and to place the load higher on the camber. In 2006 we were normally mounting a pair of 192cm 610s at 870 to 880 mm from the tail of the ski. Now the 610s are being mounted at 890 to 900mms in order to take best advantage of the materials and the design. This puts a greater load on the forebody of the ski, and you can feel the difference. But the skis are fast by any measure, and faster than ever when you measure their average speed in a loop. All of the brands have a different design concept and a different feeling. Anybody who has been a Rossignol skier can tell you that the concept of an active ski is hardly new. I see the most successful brands converging on a certain common ground in terms of balancing speed and action with ever-increasing levels of refinement and excellence.
We have quite a lot of specific information on the brands that we carry on our website at http://www.caldwellsport.com/ and we invite you to read through that information, and pass along any questions you might have.
Caldwell (right) grinding skis in Boulder, fall 2009. Photo courtesy of Zach Caldwell and Erik Nilsson.
Zach Caldwell’s role within the ski industry is hard to define. In trying to come up with a single phrase to describe his job, ‘ski technician’ isn’t nearly sufficient, as it doesn’t quite capture everything he is—structure designer, snow whisperer, wax chemist, engineer, ski evangelist, and occasional coach (he calls it his “hobby,” as if working with Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman were as ordinary a pastime as fly fishing). Caldwell’s expertise in everything from kinetic friction to classic technique comes from his willingness to be a constant student of the sport. He is always designing and testing new structure patterns, wax combinations, binding placement—even wax bench efficiency.
When it comes the companies producing the skis he spends so much time with, his attitude is no different. Caldwell recently returned his ski selection and grinding business, Caldwell Sport, to Vermont after a few years of partnering with Boulder Nordic Sport in Boulder, CO. In addition to the new locale, he’s introduced Salomon skis to his inventory, and recently returned from Europe for the second time this summer for his inaugural tour of Salomon’s factory. There he met with their design team, observed the production process, and picked skis from their race selection to take back to the shop.
FasterSkier caught up with Caldwell a few weeks ago, while he was still in Altenmarkt, Austria and was scheduled to get his first Salomon factory tour the following day. He talked about what goes into building a relationship with a new company, why he’d made what seemed to be a complete 180 on his opinion of Salomon, and his perspective on the whole ski business after almost a decade in the industry.
FasterSkier:First off, it’s been a few months now since you left Colorado. How is the settling in going back in Vermont?
Zach Caldwell: It’s a little chaotic, as you might expect, especially with the timing. We packed up and started driving at the end of May, got back [to Vermont], unloaded the truck, and then four days later I flew over to Europe. We hadn’t even unpacked.
Amy was back home looking for shop space, checking everything out, sending me real estate listings, and she started saying that we could either pay $1,000 a month for shop rent, or just buy a place where we can set up house and shop and do the whole thing under one roof. We ended up getting a contract on a place in Putney that’s zoned appropriately, and we’re supposed to close on that about three days after I get back.
We’re living out of boxes, but it’s been fun to be back east.
FS:Are you worried that living and working in the same place will mean you never get a break?
ZC: Actually, I think it’ll mean more and better time for myself and the family. It’s not a standard retail operation with set hours. We have flexibility. There are large chunks of time when we’re working really long days. But there’s also a lot of time when we get to have some fun, go skiing, etc. So I’m not too worried. Less time commuting, and less time working retail during the holiday season sounds pretty good to me!
FS:Talk about your decision to start working with Salomon. You haven’t been their greatest fan in the past, and you explained on your website that working on Tad Elliott’s skis this winter brought you around. Was that all it took to change your mind?
ZC: You’re right, I haven’t always been a huge fan of them. Salomon’s been one of my favorite companies to pick on in the ski industry, largely because they put so much energy into marketing their product, telling the story, and getting the word out, so it’s easy to look at them as a marketing-based company. But you have to respect their ski boot business; they’ve dominated the market in the U.S., and internationally I think they’re getting to better parity in terms of the binding systems. They’re a pretty major player, so you can’t really ignore them.
When they first started making skis, it became apparent they weren’t going to do the manufacturing. They contracted Fischer to do it, and those were OK skis, but obviously Fischer had no incentive to develop a really good ski for Salomon.
Then they got bought by Amer [Sports], which is also the parent company of Atomic, and all of a sudden they’re a fully-fledged ski company, because their parent company owns the means of production. Then the question is, who gets to call the shots inside Amer? Who’s deciding what’s what? What became apparent is that Salomon has their own design team and own design concept for skis.
There’s no way to launch something from nothing and have it be successful right off the bat. In my opinion, to put it bluntly, that first generation of Salomon skis were bad; they just weren’t very good skis. This would have been three or four years ago. What I’ve seen is that Salomon’s stuff has gotten better, and it’s gotten better on the fly. They’re making adjustments, and adjusting quickly.
So, when I started working with Tad’s skis…I was prepared to tell him to drop the relationship and sign on with someone else. And over the course of working together a bit, I found that that wasn’t my take at all, in fact I found that the skis were quite good, very competitive.
But a lot of companies make good skis. Its not like deciding to work with Salomon was a decision that their skis are better than, say, Rossignol. Rossi makes great skis as well. But from a business perspective, I’m looking at their whole company. Salomon is a very big, very capable company, with really good sales support, really good distribution support. You’ve got a lot of people working for you with a project with Salomon. I never would have made the decision to do it if I didn’t considered their skis to be good.
That doesn’t mean they can’t improve; every company is looking to improve. I’m looking at: what is the direction for developing the product further, and do they have control of the process? So this, for me, is a bet on the future for them. I feel they’ve reached a level that is undeniably good, I’ve got access to work directly with their racing department over here in Europe, so logistically they support my business model. They’re very willing to hear criticism and take feedback, and they’re not defensive at all about critique.
It’s an investment in a company that I believe is very serious about making good skis, and that’s coming from the point of view of not having [previously] been a fan. I feel like to take on their brand, I needed to take on a really good working partnership; these guys are eager to work with me, so it seems like a pretty good fit.
FS:In working with Salomon, are you involved in any official capacity in the design process?
ZC: No, not at all. My job is to learn the skis from the inside out. When I say “work with them,” I mean “hang around like a leech and try to suck information out of them”. On what they’re trying to do, what their design process is, how they produce the ski and, more importantly, reproduce it.
My willingness to work with a ski company depends on their openness to showing me the design process, letting me ask questions, and becoming a workable expert in what they’re doing. Once I understand what they’re trying to do, it’s really easy to assess how successful they are in meeting their own goals.
Generally, a ski company that meets its own goals is coming up with pretty good skis.
FS:Where do you begin the process of learning their skis?
ZC: It’s backwards on this trip because of everyone’s vacation schedules. Normally my preference would be to start with their R&D department and talk to the people who come up with the concept. You have to have an idea of how the ski will work, what the guiding philosophy is. How does the ski function? How is a classic ski going to kick and then glide? How is a skate ski going to be stable on edge and then supple when running? You’ve got to have an idea about how this will be accomplished.
Then you have to understand the materials and production process. Ideally, I’d have someone explain the concept to me first, then let them explain the choice of materials and how they work with their production capacity to realize that concept, and then I’d actually look at the skis.
This time around, I’m in Altenmarkt now, and on Monday I’ll go into the factory first with Jean-Marc Draeyer, a Swiss guy who speaks six languages, has worked with a bunch of companies in the industry, and just started with Salomon last year. Within the company, he handles the highest number of skis. He’s actually working in the factory directly with the production department to get what the racing department needs from them to put out into the world.
FS:When you’re at the factory, how do you begin the process of sifting through everything, to get to what you want to bring back?
ZC: Part of the reason for coming over to Europe is to get to skis that have already been selected by the racing department and to have their people there to work with, to guide you through the process of what they’re trying to do. There’s always sifting involved; you never take everything. I’ve got a good starting point from working with Tad last year, looking at a lot of skis and testing a bunch of stuff for him at the Tour de Ski, and then again at World Championships. I’ve got good ideas about the starting point. It’s pretty fast work once you start to identify the qualities you’re looking for.
FS:What qualities are you looking for? Do Salomon skis fit a certain type of skier?
Salomon skis are pretty universal. It’s easy when we’re talking about other brands to [generalize]. I feel that Madshus skate skis work really well for a skier who’s active in their motions, sets up in an active position, is on their edge early and always moving in their skiing. This, compared to Fischer or Rossi, which accommodate someone who glides for a long time on a flat ski. I don’t think [Salomon] is a pigeonholed ski at all.
The interesting thing I found in working with Tad is that he has some skis that are really pretty low camber, and with the binding fairly far back in the bridge they’re really pretty slippery and surfboard-like. Then he’s got some other skis that are mounted further forward that are higher camber and more active, they ski really energetic and action-based. I think the company gives us materials to work with a broad range of skis.
In the end, the materials and construction are a means to an end. It’s the control of those aspects and the mastery of the people who design the ski and use the materials and construction methods that really helps, so that’s what I’m betting on with the Salmon guys, is their control of that.
FS:Taking a bit of a step back and looking at your involvement in this business for nearly a decade now, what have you learned? Are you setting things up differently this time around?
ZC: I guess the learning curve is continuous—it never stops. I’ve learned a ton since I’ve started, but I don’t know as much as I will a year from now, or even a day from now. The business model is structured to facilitate the continuation of the learning process. I don’t want this business to become stagnant. The core business is pretty much unchanged from when I first started—I provide services and add value to products. I don’t carry products where I can’t add value. It’s a small business, just Amy and myself, and so we have to use our time to best effect.
This time around I’ll try to organize things a little more professionally, encourage people to make appointments so that I’m setting aside time for customers, but am also setting aside time for work on the skis.
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