MoonMan wrote:

David Harris wrote:

"yunlong" wrote in
groups.com:


Also, if poles don't help balance, why do
downhill racers carry them?

Security crutches, maybe.


Okay, following along this increasingly silly thread, this line
jumped out at me.

First, I wouldn't restrict the question to downhillers, but include
ALL alpine racers. Every one of them. For ever.



Two main reasons,

1) to get out of the start gate.
2) (in slalom) to protect oneselfe from the slalom poles.

Nonsense to both. The start gate could easily be constructed to perform
the function that the poles are used from in the start, and the
"protection" from the slalom gates is performed (in part) by the guard
on the top of the poles. You could accomplish the same thing by
carrying a small, similarly-shaped piece of plastic, not an entire pole.

--
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield, other days you're the bug.