In article ,
Peter Clinch wrote:

gr wrote:
Is carbon too fragile for backcountry skiing (ie; they break instead of
bend like aluminum)

I would guess that all else being equal a carbon pole would be slightly
less dependable, but where do you want to draw your lines? If the most
dependable pole was a "no brainer" then pretty much nobody would use
telescopic poles, but probably the majority do...


If you whack your boots with your poles (whack the sides of the soles)
to knock snow off the bottom of the boot, my experience is that carbon
poles will rapidly fail, aluminum won't.