On climbs steep enough that you end up hiking, poles become an extra pair of legs, and using them well comes down to a handful of moves worth learning before you head out.
- Which routes poles help on, and which ones they just add weight to
- Pushing uphill, double poling and alternating, with the tips in the right place
- How to set the length, including on fixed-length folding models
- Using them downhill as a brake and a point of support
- Where to carry them in your vest and how to open them on the move
Out on mountain trails in late September, the soundtrack has shifted. Under the rustle of leaves and the short, hard breathing on the steep pitches, you hear more and more often a sharp tapping on rock, two strikes every couple of steps. Those are poles, and anyone planning a weekend outing sooner or later wonders whether they’d help.
They do, though not always and not everywhere. The most useful way to think of them is as an extra pair of legs that only comes into play when the trail tilts up: on steep climbs where you’re hiking, they do a lot of work; on the runnable stretches they stay folded in your vest, weighing what little they weigh. The rest is technique, and a couple of outings are enough to pick it up.
When to Bring Them and When to Leave Them Home
The most reliable test is the route profile, even before the distance. If the course has long, steep climbs, the kind where even fast runners stop running, poles shift part of the work from your legs to your shoulders, arms, and back. On steep grades power hiking often pays off more than slow running, and poles put your upper body to work behind that hike as well. The same goes for long technical descents and for outings past the three-hour mark, when your legs reach the last climb already tired and every bit of help counts.
The math flips when the route is almost entirely runnable. On a rolling loop through the hills, with short climbs you clear in a minute or two without changing pace, poles spend the day folded on your back or in your hand, breaking up your arm swing. On narrow or crowded trails the problem becomes everyone’s: the tip of a badly held pole ends up at shin height for whoever is behind you. For runs like that, I’d leave them at home without a second thought.
If it’s a race, read the rules before you sign up: pole policies change from one event to the next.
The Uphill Push
A pole does its job when it drives your body forward and up, and to drive, it has to stay behind you. That’s why the tip lands next to your lead foot or slightly behind it: from there, as your arm straightens, it lifts you. Planted farther ahead, it would force you to haul yourself up with your arms, and after half an hour you’d feel every bit of that effort in your forearms.
On the steep grades, the ones where you’re hiking, both poles work together. Plant them at the same time, level with your feet, torso tipped slightly forward, and over the next two steps straighten your arms, pushing down and back, the way you’d push yourself up out of an armchair using the armrests. Then bring them forward together and start again. The rhythm settles in within a few minutes, and with it a distinct sensation: your thighs hand some of the work over to your shoulders.
When the grade eases and your stride opens up, go back to the natural motion of walking: opposite arm to opposite leg, one plant per step, alternating. This is the push for moderate climbs and for false flats you hike briskly. The tips stay behind your foot here too, the arm swings from the shoulder, and the hand closes around the grip without squeezing, because a loose fist tires the forearm less over long hours.
Of the two, double poling is the one that changes your day: it’s on the pitches where every step feels heavy that poles earn their spot in your vest.
Setting the Length
Take your baseline on flat ground: grip in hand, tip on the ground next to your foot, and your elbow should bend to about 90 degrees. Uphill, the ground rises to meet the tip, so shorten the pole an inch or two to keep your hands from ending up at shoulder height. Many trail poles fold to a fixed length, and there’s nothing to adjust: on the steep pitches, choke down onto the grip extension below the handle, if your model has one. Downhill it’s the opposite, and a slightly longer pole reaches the next step down sooner.
Downhill: Support and Brake
When the trail drops, the poles move out front. The tip lands ahead, where your foot is about to arrive or just beyond, and does two things at once: it slows your body as gravity pulls it down, and it gives you a point of balance when the ground shifts under your shoe. It’s the same hand that, going down a staircase in the dark, reaches for the railing before your foot finds the step.
On rock ledges the pole goes down first: plant it on the lower step, load part of your weight onto it, and only then set your foot down. Knees stay soft and your weight stays mostly on your legs, with the pole guiding and correcting. When the descent turns smooth and runnable again, keep them off the ground or folded in your hand, because at that speed a tip wedged between two rocks means a bent pole, if you’re lucky.
Stowing and Deploying Without Stopping
Whenever you don’t need them, the poles ride folded on your vest: in the bungee loops on the shoulder straps or in a quiver across your back, depending on the model. In the fall, space is tight, because your shell and insulating layer are already riding in there, so decide at home where the poles go and make sure you can reach them with one hand.
You open them on the move, at the foot of the climb: slide the folded pole out of its holder, hold it by the grip, let the lower sections drop so they line up, and pull the grip upward until the lock clicks. Your legs keep climbing the whole time. To put them away, reverse it: release the lock, fold the sections against each other, and secure them with the elastic.
Practice the move at home, in the hallway, more than once: the first steep pitch, breathing hard, is the wrong place to find out which way the elastic opens. On the short stretches between climbs, when stowing them isn’t worth it, carry them folded in one hand, vertical with the tips pointing down: you won’t catch anyone, and they’re ready for the next pitch.