Glenn Randall

I-Search Rough Draft

Week # 13

May 5, 2004

 

Fluorocarbon Ski Waxes

            When I started skiing as a small child, I could never have imagined what skiing would do to me.  The first time I skied, I was probably no older than two and my parents had merely put skis on my feet and let me wander around the house with them on.  I'm not sure when exactly I got on snow, but I know that ever since then I've been hooked.

Even as a small child, I had a huge urge to race.  My parents told me that I could race as soon as I could climb the biggest hill on the local 1 km course.  While I now know that the hill was very small and gradual, at the time it was a momentous trek, seeming more like cycling's L’Alpe D'Huez than the small hill that it actually is.

Ever since I could climb the hill and have been allowed to race, I have loved it.  As I got better and learned about topics such as force, energy, and friction, I began to wonder why a ski works, and what sort of magic makes some waxes faster than others.  Since I have been a small child, I have grown up around skis and ski waxes, but I never knew why or how they worked.  The purpose of this paper is to find out what makes skis fast, how fluorocarbon waxes differ from other types of wax, and what makes fluorocarbons fast.

There are two types of ski waxes, glide and kick.  Kick wax is used in classic skiing, but not in skate skiing.  It is applied to the ski to keep the ski from sliding backwards, giving the ski what skiers call "kick."  This term merely describes how well the ski holds to the snow when the skier kicks backwards on the snow for foreword propulsion.  It is relatively easy to imagine how a stickier kick wax works better for icy snow, and a less sticky kick wax works better for slower snow.

Glide wax is what makes the ski fast.  It is more complicated.  Most glide waxes have to be melted into the base of the ski.  Ski bases have been made of polyethylene for quite some time (Talbot 8).  Polyethylene skis are translucent (Onion).  Eventually, people figured out that graphite could be added to ski bases (Charonnat, Understanding Glide Waxes).  Graphite is a soft black form of carbon (Advanced Dictionary).  It reduces static electricity and transfers heat to the center of the ski, speeding it up (Charonnat, Understanding Glide Waxes).  Modern ski bases have a microscopic structure made up of many hair-like structures.  This creates places where ski wax can be absorbed (Talbot 8).

Most people think of snow and ice as being characteristically slick.  It is not.  In fact, at cold enough temperatures, people can walk on ice without fear of slipping.  This is because under the pressure of a foot or a ski a thin layer snow and ice tends to melt.  A 100 lb skier going 60 mph down a hill produces energy equivalent to if they had three 100 W light bulbs on the bottom of their ski (McKibben).  This thin layer lubricates the area between the ice and the foot (Onion).  When trying to get to a car on a snowy day, this may be bad, but when trying to ski fast on snow, this is a very good thing.

Cheap glide waxes that can be bought in the store are usually hydrocarbons (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).  A hydrocarbon is a chain of carbon atoms with hydrogen atoms bonded to the carbon atoms (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).  Two hydrogen atoms are bonded to every carbon atom throughout most of the hydrocarbon molecule.  Hydrocarbons exist in many forms.  Polyethylene, the ski base material, is a very long hydrocarbon, consisting of thousands of carbon atoms.  This length gives it a very high melting point and an even higher boiling point.  On the other extreme, propane is a hydrocarbon consisting of three carbon atoms (Talbot 8).

Figure 1:  Talbot, Chris.  “The Science of Ski Waxes.”  (6 January, 2003)  17 pp.  14 April, 2004 http://www.nensa.net/equipment/TheScienceofSkiWaxes.pdf pp. 8

Before the use of hydrocarbons, ski racers made their own wax, with conglomerations of bear fat, honey, sap, and oil, to name a few ingredients.  The recipes of waxes were top secret, but crude (Talbot 3).  Today, wax companies have top-secret recipes of chemicals.  They are sold to whomever wants to buy them (Toko® Tech Manual).

There are three types of hydrocarbons used in glide wax.  Paraffins are chains of 25-35 carbon atoms.  They are soft candle-like waxes used for warm temperatures.  Paraffins have a low coefficient of friction, meaning that they do not experience much friction.  Because they are such short chains, snow crystals easily puncture paraffins.  This makes them not work well in colder conditions, when snow crystals are very hard and pointy (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

The diagram below shows a hydrocarbon.  The C's are carbon atoms and the H's are hydrogen atoms.  The subscripted numbers next to the carbon atoms show which carbon atom it is, numbering from left to right.  This paraffin has 24 carbon atoms.

Figure 2:  "TokoÒ Chemical Makeup of Glide Wax"  Toko® Information Center  20 April 2004  http://www.tokous.com/Chemical%20Makeup%20of%20Glide%20Wax.htm

Branched hydrocarbons with 25-50 carbon atoms are known as microcrystalline.  Microcrystalline waxes have a slightly higher coefficient of friction than paraffins.  This means that they experience more friction than paraffins.  Microcrystalline, however, has more strength than paraffins, so it can be used in colder snow, when snow and ice crystals are long and sharp.  Microcrystalline and paraffins are often used together in the same wax, because hydrocarbons bond together fairly well (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

A third type of hydrocarbon is synthetic wax.  Synthetic waxes are slightly branched and contain 50-60 carbon atoms.  Because they are so big, they have a high melting point and are also very hard at skiing temperatures.  This makes them work very well on cold snow (Talbot 10).

Fluorocarbon waxes are very similar to hydrocarbons, except that fluorine atoms have replaced some or all of the hydrogen atoms.  Fluorine is the most electronegative element known.  This means that fluorine attracts negatively charged electrons better than element.  This makes fluorine very hydrophobic, which means that it repels water.  Wax companies borrowed the idea of using fluorocarbons to repel water from fishermen.  Fluorocarbons would be painted on the bottoms of boats to help repel water (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

The first fluorocarbon wax was polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE.  PTFE is also known as Teflonä.  PTFE is a branched fluorocarbon chain with over 500 carbon atoms (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

The first commercially available fluorocarbon ski wax was Cera F, produced by Swix.  Cera F is a perfluorocarbon, meaning that fluorine atoms have replaced all of the hydrogen atoms.  Perfluorocarbons usually have around 20 carbon atoms, making their melting points low (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

At the 1987 Oberstdorf World Championships, the Italians started using fluorocarbons.  By the 1988 Calgary Olympics, fluorocarbons were being used extensively (Karlson).

Figure 3, shown below, shows a perfluorocarbon.  The spelling in figure 3 is due to the fact that it was originally made for Europeans.  As with the figure 2, each C corresponds to a carbon atom, with the subscripts next to the carbons showing which carbon is there, numbering from left to right.  Each F represents a fluorine atom.  Because this is a perfluorocarbon, a fluorine atom has replaced every hydrogen atom.  This fluorocarbon has 14 carbon atoms.

Figure 3:  “Toko® Chemical Makeup of Glide Wax.”  Toko® Information Center  20 April 2004  http://www.tokous.com/Chemical%20Makeup%20of%20Glide%20Wax.htm

Fluorocarbons have a very negative surface, because of fluorine's high electronegativity.  Fluorocarbon waxes not only repel water, but also dirt particles, which tend to be negatively charged.  This keeps dirt off of ski bases.  Dirt slows down skis, so this is important to skiers.  This makes fluorocarbons work very well during spring skiing, when snow tends to be very dirty (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).

Fluorocarbons are very expensive, mainly because they are produced at very few places in the world.  Wax companies buy fluorocarbons from these facilities and then customize them.  Fluorocarbons also lack structural strength, like paraffins (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).  Most fluorocarbons also have a high melting point.  This means waxing irons must be very hot in order to melt fluorocarbons into skis (Glenn Randall).

Torbjorn Karlson, a former US Ski Team coach and a co-founder of fasterskier.com, wrote of waxing with fluorocarbons in an e-mail interview, "You use high heat, have to be careful and constantly move the iron - you have to develop a feel for how to do this right."

Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are banned refrigerants.  CFCs contain chlorine, which makes them damaging to the ozone layer.  Fluorocarbons and chlorofluorocarbons are not the same.  Fluorocarbons do not contain chlorine, which is what makes CFCs damaging to the atmosphere (Charonnat, Understanding Glide Waxes).

Fluorocarbons and hydrocarbons do not typically mix well together.  This can be compared to oil and water.  The reason is that hydrocarbons have electrically neutral surfaces, while fluorocarbons have negatively charged surfaces.  Ski bases, as I have written before, are made with hydrocarbons.  In order to mix fluorocarbons and hydrocarbons, a hybrid is made (Talbot 11).

Fluorinated waxes have one side that is fluorocarbon, and the other side that is hydrocarbon (Charonnat, Fluorinated Waxes).  Fluorinated waxes are made with different amounts of fluorine.  More fluorocarbon is not always better.  Waxes for dry, cold conditions fluorinated waxes usually contain much less fluorine than waxes for warm, wet conditions.  This is because not as much snow melts at the colder conditions, and substances with more strength than fluorocarbons are needed (Toko® Tech Manual 4).

Figure 4, on the next page, shows how fluorinated waxes actually consist of a fluorocarbon molecule that is combined with a paraffin molecule.  This figure is also made for Europeans, so spellings for many words are different, but this figure illustrates what fluorinated waxes are quite well.

 

Figure 4:  “Toko® Chemical Makeup of Glide Wax.”  Toko® Information Center  20 April 2004  http://www.tokous.com/Chemical%20Makeup%20of%20Glide%20Wax.htm

Other types of waxes include graphite waxes and molybdenum waxes.  These waxes are mainly used to decrease static charges and lubricate the ski bottom (Toko® Tech Manual 4).  An example of the atomic structures of graphite and molybdenum waxes are shown in figure 5, below.  Graphite is shown on the top, molybdenum shown on the bottom.

Figure 5:  “Toko® Chemical Makeup of Glide Wax.”  Toko® Information Center  20 April 2004  http://www.tokous.com/Chemical%20Makeup%20of%20Glide%20Wax.htm

Every skier wants fast skis, whether they are backcountry skiers or Olympic champions.  For backcountry and recreational skiers, fast skis just make skiing easier, but most of these skiers do not do too much to make their skis fast.  I often see skiers drive down the road with skis mounted on the top of their vehicle.  This fills the skis with dirt and makes them slower.  When these skiers get to the ski trails, many of them put on their skis and ski through the parking lot.  This scratches the bottom of the ski and fills the base with dirt, both making the ski slower.

Most of these recreational skiers do not know better than skiing through a parking lot.  Many of them also don't find fast skis important enough to spend the money to buy wax and then spend the time to put it on.  Some do, but many of these skiers take their skis to ski shops for a "tuning."

Ski racers, on the other hand, are willing to do what it takes to have fast skis.  Greg Randall, my coach, told me in an interview, "There are some races that without fluorocarbons, you would lose a minute in a 5 km."  In a 5 km race, seconds and tenths of seconds usually are the difference between skiers.  For racers, the threat of losing a minute or the draw of gaining a minute is well worth expensive fluorocarbon waxes, or even sending skis to be stone ground by experts with expensive machines around the country.

Torbjorn Karlson, in the e-mail interview, stated, "The best feel is when you out glide your competition."  This draw of having faster skis than the other racers encourages most skiers to spend many hours waxing with hydrocarbon training waxes, and then spend more time waxing on fluorocarbons.

I have found that having fast skis is very important.  Races can be won or lost by the speed of the skis.  While it is the skier on the ski that is the most important, to win a big race, a skier needs fast skis.  While watching the 2003 World Championship Nordic Combined from Val de Fiem on television, I could tell that Johnny Spilane, the winner of the race, had much faster skis than anybody around him.

I have waxed skis a lot.  I never knew quite what I was doing, just that I was making the skis fast.  Now I actually know what is happening while I wax, and what will happen when the ski is on the snow.  Skiing fast, for me, has been well worth every moment spent waxing skis.

My parents have never let me wax with fluorocarbon waxes.  This is because they give off hazardous fumes when ironed into the ski.  Fluorocarbon waxes can reduce lung function 10-25%.  According to Greg Randall, the effects of waxing with fluorocarbons without a respirator are, “Sore throat, hacking up white stuff the next day, and an angry wife.”  I have asthma, so not only would I get the regular ill effects of fluorocarbon fumes, but also probably have problems with my asthma.  Respirators keep others from having ill effects, but that is a risk that my parents are not willing to take, especially since we only wax with fluorocarbons for races, so any ill effects would be during a race the day after waxing with fluorocarbons.

Greg Randall uses a respirator when he waxes with fluorocarbons.  With a respirator, he feels no ill effects.  Torbjorn Karlson, on the other hand, says, I used to use one when I daily waxed skis for other skiers. I often find myself not using one these days since I mostly only wax my own skis and are not feeling any ill effects. I might go back to using one since it's not uncomfortable wearing one for that short of a period. It's better to be safe than sorry later.”

I have also heard others talk about waxing.  The US Ski Team had people hospitalized last year after they “overdosed” on fluorocarbons.  Now, the US Ski Team always uses respirators that look more like gas masks.  They supposedly have a battery, and I know that these respirators cover the entire face.  This is much more than the simple respirators my family uses.

Greg says of waxing with fluorocarbons, “It’s just smoky, and I have stuff all over my glasses, especially if the iron’s too hot.”

In my experience with other hydrocarbons, I never have smoke and debris floating around.  I only see wax melt into the ski, and then solidify.

I have raced on very fast skis before.  Fast skis make skiing seem effortless.  With fast skis, I have total control of the ski and move very quickly on uphills, flats, and downhills.  Fast skis also have a special mental advantage.  When I do have fast skis, I know that my skis are going to be as fast if not faster than anybody’s on the course.  This gives me a confidence boost and makes me more excited for the race.

Slow skis, on the other hand, are terrible.  I have skied on very slow skis before.  I usually don’t have slow skis other than in training, and then only if I am about to have a race with entirely different conditions than I am skiing on.  Slow skis break morale and require a lot of effort.

Everyone agrees, fluorocarbons are fast.  If they weren’t fast, people wouldn’t be willing to buy them and wax with them.  Torbjorn says he waxes with fluorocarbons at “80-90% of all races.”  Greg waxes with fluorocarbons, “weekly during ski season.”

While fluorocarbons may be expensive and unpleasant to wax with, they are fast and give a good control of skis.  Most skiers feel that these benefits outweigh the drawbacks of waxing with fluorocarbons.  Waxing with fluorocarbons is just one of the sacrifices skiers make, just like hard training or long trips to races or snow.

I predict that in the near future, skis may be become electrical.  The electricity would melt a thin layer of water from the ice on the bottom of the ski.  This would increase the need for fluorocarbons, because there would never be conditions cold enough to have snow not melt.  Synthetic waxes would suddenly become almost obsolete, because they are for cold conditions, when the snow underneath the ski does not melt.

Through the course of writing this paper, I have learned that fluorocarbons work for real reasons.  They do not work with some sort of magic.  Most skiers don’t know much about how fluorocarbons work, only that they do.  I now understand how fluorocarbons work on an atomic level, microscopic level, and macroscopic level.

I feel that knowing more about how skis glide and waxes work gives a better understanding of the entire sport.  Skiing is more than just a recreational activity.  It is also a way of life, meeting people, and thinking.  Understanding how a ski actually glides along the snow gives a greater appreciation of skiing, skiers, and nature.


Works Cited

Charonnat, Noel.  “Fluorinated Waxes.”  Sierra Nordic  (5 January 2001)  14 April, 2004 http://www.sierranordic.com/tech_tip_four.html.

Charonnat, Noel.  “Understanding Glide Waxes.”  Sierra Nordic  (21 November, 2000)  15 April 2004  http://www.sierranordic.com/Tech_tip_two.html.

“Graphite.”  Advanced Dictionary.  1988 ed.

Karlsen, Torbjorn.  E-mail interview.  20 April 2004.

McKibben, Bill.  “Frozen World.”  Cross-Country Skier  February, 2004 23.4  http://www.crosscountryskier.com/frozen_world_feb_2004.html.

Onion, Amanda.  “Skiing Science:  How the Right Wax Can Make All the Difference.”  ABC News (8 February, 2002)  15 April, 2004 http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/skiwaxing_olympics.html.

Randall, Glenn.  Personal experience.  Many cities in many states at many times.

Randall, Greg.  Personal Interview.  26 April, 2004.

Talbot, Chris.  “The Science of Ski Waxes.”  (6 January, 2003)  17 pp.  14 April, 2004 http://www.nensa.net/equipment/TheScienceofSkiWaxes.pdf.

“Toko® Chemical Makeup of Glide Wax.”  Toko® Information Center  20 April 2004  http://www.tokous.com/Chemical%20Makeup%20of%20Glide%20Wax.htm.

 “Toko® Tech Manual Nordic 2003/2004.”  Toko® Information Center  17 pp,  19 April, 2004  http://www.tokous.com/InfoCenter.htm.