Updated December 30, 2021:
(Recent additions are in redline and recent deletions are in strikeout.)
"Exactly where & when must I wear my non-valved respirator-grade mask?"
You must wear a non-valved respirator-grade mask -- aka Filtering Facepiece Respirator ("FFR") -- for the mass start, finish, and awards for podium pictures only. (At most races, a single location will be used for all three of these functions, i.e., in addition to the usual protocol of starting and finish the race at the same location, awards will probably definitely be outside for this season.)
Once the race starts, you must continue wearing your mask until you reach the demasking point marked with pink flagging -- this will be a much shorter distance than the prior season, probably only about a minute's worth of skinning. After that, you need to wear your mask again only if you linger at the finish or attend the awards.
The usual race start countdown of "Ten Seconds, Racers Ready -- Five Seconds -- Three -- Two -- One -- Go!" will be immediately preceded by "All Racers, You May Now Remove Your Mask If You So Choose."
"What's up with other racers who keep wearing their masks even more and/or try to maintain more distance with me when socializing outside?"
Please be respectful of your fellow racers who adopt an even more cautious approach than required by the race rules.
"Will the chip in my vaccine allow Bill Gates to genetically match a discarded mask to me?"
We are still working on that functionality! But seriously, stow your mask securely, and NOT in a skin pocket, where taking out your skins at a transition could allow your mask to slip out and contribute to the dreaded Mask Trash.
"Might a venue impose additional masking requirements upon us?"
Details on venue-specific requirements will be posted in the on-line pre-race briefing, but be prepared to wear a mask upon entering the lodge given the rapidly changing resort rules. (One of our venues already by August had a mask requirement for its lodge, as the town reimposed an indoor mask mandate. < This was subsequently lifted in early November.)
And regardless of venue-specific rules, you face a non-negligible chance of becoming infected with the Omicron strain from just a relatively brief maskless duration inside the lodge (even an empty lodge, given the ability of aerosolized covid-contaminated droplets to linger in a poorly ventilated structure) to put on ski boots, use the restroom, eat lunch, etc. Although a vaccinated and generally healthy racer is highly unlikely to contract a severe case of covid, you could easily miss an entire week of skiing/training/racing. Individual risk-reward/cost-benefit assessments might differ, but spending any maskless time inside a lodge just doesn't seem worthwhile.
"What are you trying to prevent via this mask requirement?"
Click HERE for a picture of a mass start for an aerobic endurance competitive event held during the summer of 2021 in the Northeast.
How about just setting up the mass start with adequate distancing between racers?
ISMF race director guidance for this season specifies exactly such a setup. But only one of our venues (DCR Greylock) can accommodate such a mass start configuration.
"What exactly is a respirator-grade mask?"
Take your pick of national/regional specs HERE.
"This looks even more complicated than figuring out skimo race gear -- what's a reliable source for a respirator-grade mask that consistently tests out really well?"
https://bonafidemasks.com/Powecom-kn-95/
"That looks perfectly fine, but ... perfectly fine just isn't good enough for me! I demand the very best from all my skimo race gear, so what resource can you provide that will give me the competitive edge I need for that sixty seconds or so of masked skinning?"
Sort the columns HERE to find the model with the lowest value for "Pressure Drop" while still meeting one of the national/regional "Certification" standards. Also, a "No" for "Collapse" means that the mask will not get sucked up against your face during inhalation. And note that the "Quality Factor" score is not a measure of fit & finish or durability, but rather a calculation that combines "Pressure Drop" with "Filtration Efficiency" (i.e., mask breathability is *NOT* necessarily correlated with efficacy).
"Were I to do all that ... what would be the top picks for the new sport of [short duration] masked skinning?"
Probably the Savewo Ultra 3D, followed by the Kimberly Clark N95 "duck bill" design (i.e, the good kind of duck bill, not the telemark version), with the Savewo 3DMask EX Pro rounding out the podium, and almost any 3M model as a podium contender yet DNS (since very hard to buy legitimately outside of healthcare industry procurement distribution channels) [< never mind, these things are widely available now, no longer unobtanium], plus numerous KF94 models as top ten material.
^ The preceding two entries are somewhat moot given the revised plan to eliminate any masked skinning.
"Was it inevitable that you would combine technical information on respirator-grade masks with mockery of telemarking?"
Probably.
"For school, do these types of masks come in smaller sizes for kids? And while we're talking about kids, how about smaller-sized skimo gear?"
Very helpful mask info in this video HERE. For bindings, the new ATK Candy 5 starts at a 1.5 release value, and the Hagan Pure 8 starts at a 3.0 release value. For boots, the smallest model is probably the Scarpa F1 Women in size 21.5/22.0 for a 256mm bsl. (Be wary of many other models that list a very small size yet really are a far larger shell size modified merely with more internal padding!)
"Wait, what, the aerosols engineer who produces that massive spreadsheet of his test results has videos for his mask testing ... and for his cyclocross racing -- how cool is that?"
Not as cool as if the videos were of skimo racing, but still very cool!
"How about a valved-mask?"
Any respirator-grade mask with an exhaust value (typically intended for construction work) is explicitly prohibited.
"Does a so-called 'surgical' or 'medical' mask meet the requirement?"
No: even setting aside the recent proliferation of blue pleated masks that probably have not been tested to any standard, ASTM F3502-21 specifies only a minimum of 20-percent filtration efficacy against sub-micron droplets (as opposed to 95 percent for N95 and KN95, or 94 percent for KF94).
"How about planning on no mask requirement at some point during the 2021-22 skimo race season once infection rates dramatically decrease?"
Perhaps. But unfortunately that kind of planning hasn't worked out so well thus far. Let's just hope the newly relaxed masking requirement reflected above in strikeout and redline hasn't jinxed the season! Too late, Omicron has arrived just in time for the race season alas.
