2019-09-02 Bloomberg Businessweek

24

Bloomberg

Businessweek

/

SEPTEMBER

2,

2019

THE ELEMENTS

PHOTOGRAPH

BY

EVAN

ORTIZ

FOR

BLOOMBERG

BUSINESSWEEK

a tighterchemicalbondwithcarbonthananyother,andit

creates, essentially, a shield against the ski-slowing moisture

that pervades snow most thoroughly when temperatures ap-

proach or rise above 32F. Fluorine is exquisitely unreactive; it

scarcely sticks to anything. That’s why PFOAs are a key ingre-

dient in Teflon. When firefighters spray foam laced with PFOAs

ontoa blaze,it hasa suffocatingeffect.

As youmighthave guessed, PFOAsarebadfor the

environment. Numerous studies have noted contaminated

drinking water near airports because of the PFOA-laced fire-

fightingfoamusedtoputoutairplanefires.Andin2010,after

Sweden’sVasaloppet,theworld’sbiggestNordicskicontest,

with30,000entrants, scientists tested the snow and soil and

found them tainted with fluorocarbons, which have been

linked to cancer, liver damage, birth defects, hypertension,

and strokes.

In July 2020 the European Chemicals Agency will ban the

sale, manufacture, and import of all products containing

PFOAs.Slightlylesstoxicandlessmiraculoustoskiers,with

a backbonecontainingjustsixfullyfluorinatedcarbonmol-

ecules,C6fluorocarbonseemspoisedtobecomeillegalin

Europein2022.Meanwhile,theU.S.EnvironmentalProtection

Agencyis investigatingnumerousU.S.waxpurveyors,includ-

ingSwixSportUSA, whose Norwegian parent company, Swix

Inc.,makesabout60%ofallfluoroskiwaxworldwide.

SwixSportsUSAdenieda requesttodiscusstheEPA’s

investigation; the EPA said in an emailed statement that certain

waxesareinviolationoftheToxicSubstancesControlAct.The

agencywouldn’tcommentonwhysomefluoroskiwaxesare

stillbeingsoldinshopsandonline.“Asa matterofpolicy,”it

said,“theagencyis unabletodiscusscompliancemonitoring.”

Speculationaboundsamongskiersthatit’sjusta matter

oftimebeforetheEPAoutlawsfluorowax.Since2009,Swix

hasbeentryingtofinda moreenvironmentallyfriendlywax

that’sasfastasfluoro.FastWax,basedinWatertown,Minn.,is

experimenting,too,andit planstostopjostlingforfluorowax

marketshare.“WhyfightfordeckchairsontheTitanic?”says

ownerCaseyKirt.

Infact,fluorowax,whichmadeitsdebutinthelate’80s,has

neverreallybeena bigmoneymaker.It isn’twildlypopularwith

thedownhillskiingmasses(overa quickthree-minuteschuss,

itsbenefitsarescant),andit accountsforonlyabout$50million

inannualsalesworldwide.Still,fluorohaslongcasta troubling

hazeoverthefewthousandcold-tolerantectomorphswhohud-

dleatthecoreoftheNordicskiuniverse.

PatrickWeaver,theNordiccoachattheUniversityof

Vermont,saysthatwheneverhewaxeswithfluoro,hedons

rubberglovesandwearsa $1,200vacuum-packfaceshield

repletewithtoxin-mitigatingfans.“Thestuffisn’tgoodfor

ourbodies,”Weaversaysaswediscussa 2011Scandinavian

findingthatskitechnicianshadupto 45 timesasmuch

fluorocarbonintheirbloodasnonskiers.“Andforme,this

is a career.”

ThankstoWeaver,fluorowaxisnowbannedfrommost

EasternIntercollegiateSkiAssociationraces.ManyU.S.

highschoolleagueslikewiseallowonlycheaper,slower

hydrocarbon-based wax, in part because pricey fluoro advan-

tages wealthier athletes. The bans are tough to enforce,

though, since there’s no inexpensive way to test whether a ski

is fluorinated. Last year, after the Norwegian Ski Federation

banned fluoro from all races for kids 16 and younger, it paid

a lab about $6,000 to swab 48 skis, one each from 48 youth

racers. Twelve skis carried “strong indications” they’d been

treatedwithfluorine; 12 morecarried“indications.”Dothese

resultsmeanthatNorwegianchildrenaredisproportionately

evil?Notnecessarily.Thenascenttestis hypersensitive;even

usinga fluorocarbon-tainted wax brush on a ski could yield

“strong indications” of cheating.

ThegoverningbodyofNordicskiing’sWorldCupcircuit,

theFédérationInternationaledeSki,hasnoplanstopro-

hibitfluorouse.KeyWorldCupracesdrawabout 14 million

Europeantelevisionviewers.Theworld’stopNordicskiers,

JohannesKlaeboandThereseJohaug,bothNorwegian,make

about$1million a year. With this kind of lucre at stake, a ques-

tion looms: What sort of desperate measures will the pros take

when fluorinated wax is illegal to bring into Europe, where

most races are held?

Some ski savants are battening down for a dystopian future.

“I’ve got to believe there’s going to be a black market,” says

Gardner, the ex-coach, who now runs a Vermont-based sports

marketing firm. “Will people cheat?” asks one ski store owner,

begging for anonymity. “I know they’re capable of it, because

I sell the wax.”

Myself, of late, I’ve been thinking about this half-used bar of

fluoro that sits in my basement, glinting like a contraband gem-

stone. The European Chemicals Agency advises against taking

fluoro to a landfill (it’ll just leech), so I’m going to use it in my

next race. Why not? One more hit of eerie, unnatural speed—

that’s all I ask, just one more hit. <BW>

THE RUB

This is the bar you’ve

got. Here’s what you

do withit.

((1)) Heat waxing iron

to about 295F;

temperature

depends on snow

conditions

((2)) Rub bar of wax on

baseofhot iron

((3)) Apply the melting

waxbarontoski

((4)) Letthe skisit

for 10 minutes,

optimally outside

inthe cold

((5)) Scrape with a thin,

flexiblescraper

((6)) Brush the ski six

to eight times with

a copperbrush

((7)) Brush repeatedly,

maybe 25 times,

with softer nylon

brush, until you can

no longer remove

wax from the ski

((8)) Ski