What pole design hurts thumbs?

"Kurt Knisely" wrote in message news:d1pr88
The ski pole arrest is very effective, and also quickly gets your skis
below
you so you can use the edges to help.

I think the key here was "quickly ski pole arrested myself". I've never
heard
anyone say the ski pole arrest is "very effective". It worked for you in
this
case and that's great. Try doing it after you've been sliding for a while
and
you have some speed up. Try it in an avalanche.

An ice ax is "very effective".

I don't usually carry an ice axe when downhill skiing. The ski pole arrest
always works for me. It has never failed. With straps on. I don't wait to
get speed up. I don't usually ski in avalanches. There may be conditions
where it wouldn't work, but it would be stupid not to try. At the least, it
will slow you down and get your feet downhill. If you prefer to just slide
wildly out of control down the hill till you hit something, that is your
choice.

Bob

dk_ wrote:
"TexasSkiNut" wrote:
no spam wrote:
How can you use the poles to self arrest when your hand are
in the straps?

I believe the idea is to grab the pole with your other hand
near the basket. At least, that's the technique I've used.

If both hands are in the straps, and you use one hand to try and grab

above the basket and plant the pole, the one hand would be near the
snow
surface, jsut above the basket and the other hand would be in the
strap,
about 48" perpendicular and above the surface of the snow. If think
this
would be quite a feat while accelerating down the mountain on your
stomach.

It all depends on how motivated you are. The last time I attempted a
pole arrest was on a double-diamond chute at Taos. My problem was I
waited until I had built up quite a bit of speed while sliding before I
decided it was time to use my pole. The fact that I still had both
skis on was a major contributing factor in my delay, as I wasted a lot
of time trying unsuccessfully to get my skis downhill. My busted left
shoulder (injured four days earlier) was another contributing factor.
Even though I wasn't able to lift my left arm above parallel I was
still able to grab the basket end of my left pole with my right hand
and attempt a self-arrest. I say attempt because I wasn't able to
bring myself to a stop, but at least slowed myself down enough to see
that I was about to slam into a tree. (See earlier thread on helmets)
After bouncing my helmeted head off the tree, I lost my grip on the
pole. As it was, I was fairly sure that there were no more major
obstacles in my path so I was relatively content to slide and bounce
down the moguls into the runout area. I came to a stop right next to
my skiing partner.

...there must be a better way.

For in-bounds resort skiing, probably not. Short of carrying an ice-ax
or using Whippetts, it's the best tool you've got. Besides, unless you
keep your pole straps fairly tight it's easy enough to pull your hand
out if needed.

"TexasSkiNut" wrote in message
It all depends on how motivated you are. The last time I attempted a
pole arrest was on a double-diamond chute at Taos. My problem was I
waited until I had built up quite a bit of speed while sliding before I
decided it was time to use my pole. The fact that I still had both
skis on was a major contributing factor in my delay, as I wasted a lot
of time trying unsuccessfully to get my skis downhill.

The ski pole arrest is (for me) the quickest way to get your skis downhill.

Bob

Bob wrote:
"TexasSkiNut" wrote in message
It all depends on how motivated you are. The last time I attempted
a
pole arrest was on a double-diamond chute at Taos. My problem was
I
waited until I had built up quite a bit of speed while sliding
before I
decided it was time to use my pole. The fact that I still had both
skis on was a major contributing factor in my delay, as I wasted a
lot
of time trying unsuccessfully to get my skis downhill.

The ski pole arrest is (for me) the quickest way to get your skis
downhill.

Mine was kind of an awkward fall and slide. After slipping on the
buried tree root/branch/trunk/whatever, I went down on my right hip and
started sliding downhill, more or less butt-first. No problem, I
thought, I'll just swing my skis downhill and stop. When I tried that,
my tails hung up on the snow during the process and spun me around so
my head was then leading the way downhill. I repeated this process
twice more before moving on to the attempted pole arrest. Even then, I
wasn't able to get my skis downhill during the three or four seconds
before I bounced my noggin off the tree. Not at all the preferred or
best way to procede and if I'm ever in a similar situation, hopefully
I'll do better. Live and learn.

TexasSkiNut wrote:
[snip stuff about pole arrest]

This is a skill I really oughta learn. I know someone posted something
about the technique here, but I can't remember when...anyone? Also,
anyone got ideas about a reasonably safe way to practice this?

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

Mary Malmros wrote:
TexasSkiNut wrote:
[snip stuff about pole arrest]

This is a skill I really oughta learn. I know someone posted
something
about the technique here, but I can't remember when...anyone? Also,
anyone got ideas about a reasonably safe way to practice this?

I can't remember what's been posted and am too lazy to Google right
now. However, I won't let that stop me from offering some advice. If
you want to practice, find a short but fairly steep slope with a clear
runout zone or at least a soft landing area (berm, anyone?). No bonus
points for wiping out tourons or fellow skiers. Flop down on your back
with your skis uphill and/or in the air. As you slide downhill
head-first, work on using your poles to arrest by grabbing one with
your opposite hand near the basket and levering it into the snow. One
of the websites mentioned here suggested getting the pole under your
armpit, but that's probably best reserved as an advanced technique.
Try to integrate getting your skis downhill while arresting with the
pole, per Bob's suggestion. You can also try this without skis, but
that may involve some hiking. Oh yeah, and you probably won't want to
do this in view of the lodge unless you feel like entertaining the
gapers. If you want to increase the difficulty a bit, wear a slippery
jacket/pants. Nylon works great for sliding.

When you feel like practicing something else, try rolling over to get
your skis downhill while sliding. On steep slopes, you can initiate a
tumbling sequence if you don't get it right. Hence the need for a soft
landing zone. In my slide at Taos, I was too chicken to try the roll
as the slope was around 45 degrees. That and it would've required
rolling over onto my injured shoulder.