Trekking poles suffer from an undeserved reputation as a superfluous accessory reserved for less experienced hikers. Biomechanical reality says the opposite: studies have shown they reduce impact on the knees by up to 25% on descents, and significantly improve balance on unstable terrain or when crossing streams.
Proper Technique Before Proper Gear
A poorly used pole brings almost no benefit. The basic rule: on flat terrain, the handle should sit at elbow height, with the arm bent at 90 degrees. Going uphill, shorten each pole by 5 to 10cm to optimise propulsive push. Going downhill, lengthen them by the same amount to anticipate support and relieve the leading knee.
Syncing poles with your stride takes a bit of practice: the left pole advances with the right leg, and vice versa, mirroring the arms' natural pendulum motion. This cross alternation engages the upper body's muscles and spreads effort across the whole muscular chain, not just the legs.
"A hiker with poles doesn't walk faster. They walk farther, with less wear on the joints."
Practical Applications on the Trail
On steep slopes, the "double plant" technique — planting both poles simultaneously ahead of you before propelling the body — secures every step on slippery or unstable ground. When fording a stream, poles offer a precious third and fourth point of contact against the current, turning a risky crossing into a controlled movement.
Material choice directly affects comfort: aluminium withstands impacts better and costs less, while carbon fibre, lighter, absorbs more vibration over several hours of walking — a trade-off worth weighing against the length and intensity of your usual outings.
Maintenance: The Key to Durability
Steel tips wear down over the kilometres and lose their grip on wet rock or thin ice — regular, inexpensive replacement prevents plenty of avoidable slips. Baskets, meanwhile, stop the pole from sinking into soft ground or snow: check they're properly fitted before every winter outing, since a lost basket turns a pole from a help into a hindrance.
The locking system — lever or twist-lock — deserves an occasional rinse with clean water to clear out the sand and dust that work their way into the telescopic mechanism. A pole that slips under load partway through a descent isn't just ineffective, it becomes a fall risk.
Folding or Telescopic: Which to Choose?
Telescopic poles, adjustable across a wide range of lengths, suit most hikers and can easily be shared between users of different heights. Folding models, collapsed into short sections held by an internal cable, pack away more easily on or inside a bag when not in use — a real advantage on via ferratas or sections requiring free hands.
In exchange, folding poles often offer less precise length adjustment and a sometimes less robust locking system under heavy load. The choice mostly comes down to use: long-distance trips with occasional stowing for folding poles, daily use and frequent adjustments for telescopic ones.
Using Poles on Technical Terrain
On rocky sections or boulders to scramble over, temporarily stowing your poles under the pack's side straps frees your hands to use the terrain's natural holds — insisting on walking with unusable poles across an easy scrambling section increases the risk of a fall rather than reducing it. Stow them too before tackling an unstable scree slope, where balance depends more on free hands than on an extra point of contact.
On winter hikes, the standard steel tip loses all effectiveness on bare ice: a dedicated crampon-style tip, often sold as an add-on, works far better than a standard point that slides without ever biting into the hardened surface.
"A good hiker also knows when to stow their poles, not just when to bring them out."