Poles

bbense+rec.skiing.backcountry.Mar.31.04@telemark. slac.stanford.edu wrote in message ...

_ If you don't kick'n'glide or skate, then fixed length poles are
probably a better way to go.

Just back from Norway, where kick and glide is the name of the game
for a lot of touring. A *lot* of people with fixed length poles,
including me this time. Previously I've used BD Flicklocks and I'd
crank them up for skating, but I don't skate too much with a big pack
and snow you sink a bit in.
I do find adjustables useful, but mainly as a one size does track as
well as downhill cost saver rather than something I fiddle about with
during a day's touring.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

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In article ,
Tommy T. wrote:

bbense+rec.skiing.backcountry.Mar.31.04@telemark .slac.stanford.edu wrote
in message
_ If you don't kick'n'glide or skate, then fixed length poles are
probably a better way to go.


I disagree with that comment about fixed length. If you use your poles when
skinning up (long so the push is coming well behind the foot) and again when
bombing down (short so your weight stays forward and your hands are carried
low), you need adjustable.

_ I really try to avoid poling much while climbing slopes steep
enough for skins, for me it seems to work better if I keep my
hands low and use my poles for balance. While you can't avoid it
sometimes, for long climbs it seems more efficient to just use
your legs. Personally, using poles is a sign to either lower the
climbing angle or get fatter skins. There was an article about
this a few years ago in Backcountry or Couloir magazine. The
maxim

"Hands below heart"

seems to work well for me. It's probably very terrain dependent,
in the wide open west changing climbing angles is easy, not so
easy on the tight trails of NE. I think there is also an altitude
component to it, the higher you go the less oxygen to power all
those muscles.


If I'm doing long climbing traverses, I'll set one long and one short and
change hands at the turn arounds.

_ I find it easier to just create duck tape grips about 7-8
inches down from the handle. This is enough grip for balance,
but not enough for propulsion.

_ Booker C. Bense

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bbense+rec.skiing.backcountry.Apr.01.04@telemark. slac.stanford.edu wrote
in message .

While you can't avoid it
sometimes, for long climbs it seems more efficient to just use
your legs. Personally, using poles is a sign to either lower the
climbing angle or get fatter skins.

Agreed. I don't really push on the poles to add to the climbing force. I
push on them to hold my balance when kick turning or to prevent backsliding
when going over a short ice section. (You who never skin up a trail with
ice steeps now (1) are lucky to live in a place where you can easily do lots
of what we New Englanders work so hard for so little and (2) should come
skin the Sherburne Trail on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire sometime.)

Tommy T.

"Flip Buttling" wrote:

Okay- On to the pole. Which pole out there, in the humble opinion of this
BB, will lock with the most certainty, not slide/collapse under heavy
weight? Being that I'm in the east, The ability to combine into an
avalanche probe is good, but not essential, as I won't be going into those
conditions too often.

A non-adjustable pole. Seriously.

For yo-yoing in the east, a shorter pole length is best. Allows you
to climb with your hands down low by your hips, pushing on the tops of
the poles. For our kind of skinning, this is what you want.

If you want to make any changes to a normal alpine style pole, rip the
pole straps off (no need to wrench a shoulder in the woods) and add
super fat powder baskets.

IMO, the key for tele (or AT) oriented poles for the east is a decent
grip that works well with no straps and has a rounded enough top to be
comfortable when pressing down on it with my palm.

Note, I do use long adjustables for xc oriented tours where I may want
xc striding length for my poles and then shorter turning lengths
later. NE style yo-yoing generally doesn't require this sort of
striding efficiency though.



-- Dave
==============================================
"It is impossible, or not easy, to do noble acts
without the proper equipment."
Aristotle, Politics, 1323a-b, trans Jowett
==============================================

"Tommy T." wrote:
If I'm doing long climbing traverses, I'll set one long and one short and
change hands at the turn arounds.

Point taken. But this type of usage can vary dramatically from one
region to another. IMO for the east, adjustables aren't needed at
all.


-- Dave
==============================================
"It is impossible, or not easy, to do noble acts
without the proper equipment."
Aristotle, Politics, 1323a-b, trans Jowett
==============================================