At NTNU in Trondheim, they want to make the world’s fastest fluoride-free skis – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio

– The goal is to make the world’s fastest fluoride-free cross-country skis, says Audun Formo Buene, associate professor of chemistry at NTNU. He is also the leader of the FramSki project. – Fluorine has become illegal to use in skiing. That’s why we have to start a project to try to get just as good glide, or actually better glide, but without fluoride, says Formo Buene. NOK 30 million will go towards the project, with half of this money coming from the Research Council. Three researchers will work full-time on finding a new superski for the next three years. Swix, Madshus and Olympiatoppen are involved in the project. That’s why fluoride is harmful – It’s harmful both to nature and people, says Stein Olav Snesrud, who is fluoride-free coordinator in the Norwegian Ski Association. According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, the main problem with fluorine is that it breaks down very slowly. Fluoride can end up in the drinking water of humans and animals, or be taken up in plants which are then eaten. – The substances can cause liver damage and birth defects, as well as affecting the immune system and cholesterol levels. It is also suspected that the substances may be carcinogenic, wrote the Norwegian Environment Agency in an earlier press release. In the winter of 2023/24, they recommended that skiers drop ski lubrication with fluoride. They recommended that people deliver fluorine lubrication as hazardous waste to a waste collection point. Must look at the whole ski. What they should look at is both the ski’s construction, the ski’s surface structure and the surface chemistry. Not just the lubrication. – In the fluorine-free wax you get now, fluorine has only been removed. We have set the entire development back several decades, says Formo Buene. Therefore, they want to create something that glides even better than ski lubrication with fluorine. Three years have been set aside to create the world’s fastest ski. Photo: Jøte Toftaker / news – It’s great, that. That is what we have been doing for many years in the Ski Association; tried to make the world’s fastest ski. That’s what Stein Olav Snesrud says. He is the fluoride-free coordinator in the Norwegian Ski Association. He says that when fluoride was banned, they lost their best tool for having good skis on all kinds of terrain. – Using resources to research and get good alternatives is very good, says Snesrud. Fluoride-free coordinator Stein Olav Snesrud hopes the superski will benefit Norwegian cross-country skiers first. Photo: Henrik Myhr Nielsen / news Ready for the World Ski Championships in 2025? What if the researchers manage to find a good alternative to fluoride? – Then I hope that it will benefit the Norwegian cross-country skiers first, at least, says Snesrud. He says that in the big picture, finding an alternative to fluoride will also remove the point of cheating. He says that at times there has been a problem, that some have used fluoride even though it was prohibited. The scientist says a new super ski probably won’t be ready until February. – No, I probably don’t think there is any hope that we will contribute anything to the WC, but perhaps to later championships, says Formo Buene. Published 08.10.2024, at 15.51



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