L H wrote:

If you think ski-poles are necessary, just ask a Snowboarder. Ever see
one with poles ? We haven't..........yet ?

I thought you just said you're an experienced skier? I've seen
snowboarders with poles - they use them for poling on slight uphill
traverses; some just keep them collapsed in their pack when not in use,
others carry them in their hands.

Poles are valuable assets for many reasons. The only occasion where they
might be considered superfluous is when on groomed runs using shaped
carver skis to arc rudimentary repeated arcs. While groomed runs are
available at all popular resorts, nobody skis them any more - they're
too crowded (thank you Yogi.)

But I do agree with your previous comments about 54 being far from too
late to learn to ski, unless the owner of that 54 year old body believes
he's a tottering old geezer.