Hertel Ski Wax vs Swix Race Wax — The Wax That Got Banned vs Norwegian Race Chemistry
Swix Race Wax vs Hertel Racing 739™ — Norwegian race wax tradition vs the wax that was banned from Olympic competition for winning by margins of up to 4 full seconds. For serious racers, this comparison comes down to one question: do you want a wax with a race room reputation, or a wax with an Olympic ban?
Swix Race Wax is one of the most widely used race wax systems in the world. Its HF (high fluoro), LF (low fluoro), and now NF (non-fluoro) race wax lines are used by national teams, club racers, and serious recreational skiers across Europe and North America. The Swix race room is a fixture at World Cup events. Its technicians are respected professionals.
Hertel Racing 739™ has something Swix does not: it was banned.
Why Racing 739™ Was Banned
Racing 739 was developed by Terry Hertel in 1974. It was used at the Olympic and World Cup level, where it delivered results that the ski racing establishment found difficult to explain — and ultimately impossible to allow.
Skiers using Racing 739 were winning by margins of up to 4 full seconds. In a sport where races are decided by thousandths of a second, that margin was not a statistical anomaly. It was a performance gap that the governing bodies of ski racing could not ignore.
Racing 739 was banned from Olympic competition, World Cup racing, and other sanctioned events. According to Terry Hertel, many race technicians at the Olympic and World Cup level quietly continued combining Hertel products with their official wax systems because of the measurable difference in how skis performed on snow.
Swix has never been banned from anything. That is the difference between a wax that is good and a wax that is too good.
The Technical Comparison
Swix Race Wax operates on a temperature-specific system — different formulas for different snow temperature ranges, requiring technicians to select the precise right product for the conditions. The HF and LF lines (now largely replaced by NF non-fluoro formulas following the FIS ban on fluorinated waxes in 2023) required significant expertise to use correctly.
Racing 739 is an all-temperature race formula — engineered to deliver consistent, dominant performance across a broad range of conditions without requiring precise temperature matching. That all-temperature approach is part of what made it so effective and so difficult for competitors to counter: while Swix technicians were selecting from a kit of temperature-specific products, Racing 739 was delivering dominant performance across the full range.
Non-Fluoro Compliance
Following the FIS ban on fluorinated waxes in 2023, Swix has reformulated its race wax lineup around non-fluoro chemistry. The transition has been significant — Swix's performance advantage in the race room was historically tied to its fluoro technology.
Racing 739 has always been a non-fluoro formula. It was never dependent on fluorinated compounds for its performance. The ban that affected Swix's race lineup did not affect Racing 739 — because Racing 739 was never built on the chemistry that got banned.
It was banned for a different reason entirely: it was too fast.
Who Racing 739 Is For
Racing 739 is 100% legal for recreational skiing, snowboarding, club racing, and any non-sanctioned competition. It is banned only from sanctioned Olympic, World Cup, and professional racing events.
For club racers, masters racers, recreational skiers who want race-level performance, and anyone who wants to experience the wax that was too fast for the Olympics — Racing 739 is available today.
For training days at the World Cup level, Racing 739 remains a product that serious technicians have historically valued for its all-temperature consistency and documented performance history.
The Cost Comparison
A complete Swix Race Wax kit covering the temperature range that one bar of Racing 739 handles can cost $150 to $300 or more — multiple temperature-specific products, application tools, and the expertise required to select the right formula for the right conditions.
Racing 739 is a single all-temperature formula at a fraction of that cost, with a performance history that no Swix race product can match: an Olympic ban.
A Note From Terry Hertel
Swix makes serious race wax. Their technicians are professionals and their products are quality products.
But there is only one wax in the history of ski racing that was banned from Olympic competition for being too fast. That wax is Racing 739. And it has been made in the USA since 1963.
— Terry Hertel, Founder, Hertel Ski Wax — Made in USA since 1963
The wax that got banned. Now available to you. Shop Racing 739™ — Olympic-Banned, Non-Fluoro, Made in USA since 1963 →
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📚 The full Racing 739 story: Racing 739™ — The Ski Wax That Was Too Fast for the Olympics →