Flourine is allowed...or not...at US FIS sanctioned races
Thu, Nov 5, 2020 - By Ian Harvey
US Ski and Snowboard List of Nordic Ski Races where Fluorine is Allowed...
Recently the USSS clarified the waxing policy for events after the FIS postponed the fluorine ban for a year. The current domestic situation is that all non-FIS sanctioned USSS races continue to have a fluorine ban except for the following events which are FIS sanctioned races. For the events below there are no waxing restrictions.
21-22 Nov: Fairbanks, AK
28 Nov: West Yellowstone, MT
4-5 Dec: Fairbanks, AK
5 Dec: Craftsbury, VT
11-13 Dec: Sun Valley, ID
12 Dec: Craftsbury, VT
19-20 Dec: Anchorage, AK
2 Jan: Craftsbury, VT
2-7 Jan: Houghton, MI
16-17 Jan: Palmer, AK
16-18 Jan: Midway, UT
30 Jan: Craftsbury, VT
30-31 Jan: Fairbanks, AK
30-31 Jan: Vail, CO
30-31 Jan: Bozeman, MT
20-21 Feb: Minneapolis, MN
21-22 Feb: Fairbanks, AK
25-26 Feb: Anchorage, AK
27 Feb: Cable-Hayward, WI
11-13 Feb: Ripton, VT
25-28 Feb: Sun Valley, ID
Here is the website link to the above information on the FIS website (in case you want more information or to monitor any changes).
Otherwise if you want to know about waxing restrictions for citizen racing, contact the organizers if they haven't already put something out on their website. Some events (or event locations) have been clear about this ahead of time others have not commented.
...but some events are rejecting USSS/FIS rules!
There are at least three venues though that are rejecting this and saying that they are a "fluoro free venue" and that there will be no fluorine waxing at their venues, even for these FIS Nordic races. The venues that I know about are Theodore Wirth Park, Michigan Tech Trails, and Craftsbury Outdoor Center.
The issue is if an event is a FIS event or not. A FIS sanctioned event yields FIS points for the athletes which are then used for team selection. We are one year before an Olympic year, so this is an especially big deal. The FIS says that an event organizer (or the USSS) can not legally sanction a racer using fluorinated wax because fluorine is not banned in FIS races for this coming season. For this reason, it is the position of US Ski and Snowboard that the event organizers (in this case Loppet Nordic Racing, Michigan Tech, and Craftsbury Outdoor Center) need to delist their events as FIS races and simply hold NRL races which do not yield FIS points. Were they to do this, they could then sanction or penalize someone for using fluorine. (Is there any point in banning fluorine if you can not penalize someone for using fluorine??).
So, it looks like US Ski and Snowboard can not sanction a FIS event in the US with wax restrictions. If an event organizer does not want to allow fluorinated waxing, they need to delist their event from a FIS Nordic event to a simple NRL event.
I am trying to provide clarity on waxing and waxing restrictions because the ski racing public needs to know and because we provide wax tips for these events which are heavily depended on. This is why I am trying to communicate regarding this. I don't care at all about fluorinated waxes. I have been vocal from the start about being totally happy with a fluorine ban and putting the onus on the ski wax companies to come up with fast non fluorinated products.
From USSS this morning, "US Ski and Snowboard is currently vetting a clarification document regarding FIS events and venue or host specific fluoro-free policies. Please look for that document in the coming days."
There will be those who will say that US Ski and Snowboard need to provide some leadership and that Tiger Shaw (the president of the organization) has spoken openly against fluorine and his intent to keep US racing fluorine free. I don't think this has anything to do with the USSS except they are working with lawyers to try to provide clarity in the disjoint between the newly changed FIS waxing policy and the organizers who signed up to host FIS sanctioned events. This is the core of the issue. When these event organizers "signed up" to host the events, they were fluoro free FIS events. Now, as of very recently, there can not be fluoro free FIS sanctioned events (anywhere in the world). This is the core of the issue. The rules were changed by the FIS after the venues signed up to host the events. This really has nothing to do with USSS, except they have to live with the situation. The FIS designates the rules that apply to FIS sanctioned events.
So, I have provided as much clarification as I can at this time. I think the events at Theodore Wirth Park, Michigan Tech, and Craftsbury will probably be delisted as FIS events in the next while which would then mean that they would be fluoro free events. In that case, the list of FIS events where fluorinated waxing will be allowed (shown below) will change. We will see how things unfold.
What's Toko doing?
The Toko wax tips will be fluorine free for this winter (and in the future) except for the above races. If a person wanted to use fluorinated Toko waxes, they would just need to translate the colors into the fluorinated wax level that they wanted to use. For example, if we recommend Base Performance Blue covered by Base Performance Liquid Paraffin Red, go with LF Blue (or Black) covered by High Performance Red (hot wax or liquid paraffin).