Vuokatti’s sports technology specialists support Finnish ski success
Even if a professional skier has trained as well as possible during the training season, their performance may be compromised already before the start of the race because of poor equipment maintenance or ski selection. However, the right equipment can also give the athlete a significant competitive advantage over their opponents.
In the upcoming ski season, the most important events in cross-country and Nordic combined are World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, and the biathlon in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. In Trondheim, skiing conditions on the fjord in early March can be extremely varied and challenging. The 10-km interval start race in classic technique cross-country skiing has traditionally been a strength of Finnish skiers, meaning expectations are high.
The World Cup season traditionally starts in Ruka at the turn of November and December, where the opening race on Friday is again the Finnish speciality, the 10-km interval start race in classic technique.
The conditions in Ruka are often demanding: temperatures can be above freezing on the shore of Lake Talvijärvi but below zero when approaching the stadium, making ski service a real challenge.
Skiing enthusiasts are already looking forward to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in February 2026. The cross-country skiing and Nordic combined events will take place in Fiemme Valley, and biathlon events in Antholz. In February, daytime temperatures in Fiemme Valley can reach 15 degrees Celsius. The venue is at the foot of the mountain, so the effect of sun and shade on the temperature differences at different points on the ski track can be very significant. These fluctuations in the weather will again place extra demands on ski service.
Fluoride ban extended to Finnish competitions
In addition to challenging conditions, the fluoride ban has been a hot topic in the skiing world for several years. Last season, the ban came into effect for international competitions and it is also in force in Finnish ski competitions.
The fluoride ban has kept maintenance teams and athletes busy over the past year, as skis, ski bags and clips, maintenance tools and facilities, and transport vehicles such as service trucks have been cleaned of fluoride residue.
Similarly, fluoride testing in competitions has put pressure on waxing schedules because skis must be tested before the start.
National teams already have their routines in place, but in domestic competitions fluoride testing will be a challenge for organisers, athletes and support teams next winter.
Sports technology supports cooperation in ski service
The requirements for successful ski service are becoming more demanding every year and, when successful, ski service can provide a competitive advantage.
The size of service teams has grown. All major countries have their own service vehicles and a skier can have up to one hundred pairs of skis. This places enormous demands on equipment technicians.
On race weekends, the service team tests different glides, surfaces, grips, grinds, structure patterns and endurance tests, and the final selections on the race day are based on these tests.
In response to the growing challenges of maintenance, Finnish snow sports have established a cooperation project for major competitions between the service teams for cross-country skiing, the biathlon and Nordic combined. The project, unique on an international level, started at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and has now become an ongoing practice.
The service managers of the different snow sports regularly discuss and share their test data using a common platform. This activity is led by Teemu Lemmettylä, who works as a project manager at the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit of the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ and at the National Olympic Training Centre Vuokatti-Ruka.
The sharing of data utilises the skills and measurement technology of the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit including, for example, a ski tester that measures the friction coefficient of skis.
The tester has already been used for a decade to match the test packs of the service teams so that the packs are as similar as possible, which allows the differences between waxes and grinds to be identified as accurately as possible.
The Finnish ski grinding system aims to give competitive edge
There is also a special team outside the service teams for major competitions. The team visits the venues of forthcoming major competitions and carries out preliminary tests of both the waxing and the machined and hand-made structure patterns.
To support this work, the National Olympic Training Centre Vuokatti-Ruka and the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit of the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ launched a joint project in the summer of 2023. The EAKR project is funded by the Regional Council of Kainuu and involves the Finnish Olympic Committee, the national snow sport associations and central Finnish wax and ski equipment manufacturers.
The project is developing, for example, the Finnish ski grinding system. The aim is to create a competitive advantage over other countries by using customised grinding structures.
As part of the project, the Vuokatti unit is also updating and re-implementing the ski service test database. The new software will improve data collection and accessibility.
In this type of specialised work, it is vital that we maintain control over product development. This is where the expertise of the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit comes into its own. The team has qualified data and digital experts who are in charge of database and application development, while ski service training materials are being updated and migrated to digital platforms to meet today’s requirements.
With projects such as these, the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit supports the success of Finnish snow sports using research data and cooperation, guided by the principle of “from science to practiceâ€.
Olli Ohtonen works at the Vuokatti Sports Technology Unit of the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ as a development manager. He is part of projects working on, for example, data strategy for elite sports, acting as a link between research and practice in world-class snow sports. Ohtonen is also the coach of Olympic champion Iivo Niskanen.
