Poles: Honestly Overrated for Beginners, But Here's When They Help
Okay, poles. Let's talk about them, because the rental counter is gonna push them on you and I want you to know what you're actually deciding.
Here's the thing. Every gear shop in the valley acts like poles are non-negotiable, like you can't call yourself a snowshoer without two sticks in your hands. Honestly, I think that's mostly gear marketing. I hike a lot of my foothill loops with nothing in my hands at all.
What poles actually do
Poles help with three specific things:
- Balance on uneven or sidehill terrain. If a trail tilts even a little, poles give you two extra points of contact so you're not relying on your ankles to save you.
- Downhill control. Going down, poles let you brake a bit and take some load off your knees.
- Getting up after a fall. This is the one nobody talks about. When you're on your back in snow with shoes strapped to your feet, a pole to push off of is genuinely useful. Try getting up without one sometime, it's a whole production.
That's it. That's the list. Notice "makes you go faster" and "makes you a real snowshoer" aren't on there.
What poles don't do
They don't replace paying attention to your footing. They don't fix bad boots or bad fit. And on a flat groomed loop, which is where this class lives, they mostly just give your hands something to hold while you walk.
I've watched beginners spend more mental energy managing their poles, planting them right, not tripping over them, than they spend looking at the trail. If you're brand new, that's backwards. Look at the snow. Poles are secondary.
My actual take
If you're doing our kind of trail, groomed, low-angle, out-and-back, I'd skip poles your first couple times out. Learn to trust your feet and the snowshoes first. Add poles later once you know what your body's doing without them. That's a preference, not gospel, but it's how I run my own trips and it's how I'd tell a friend to start.
When I'd actually grab them
I'm not anti-pole. I bring them when:
- There's real elevation change, meaning we're gaining or losing more than a couple hundred feet over the loop
- The trail has any sidehill tilt to it
- I know I'm tired going in, because tired legs plus uneven footing is where falls happen
- I'm bringing someone less steady, an older parent, a nervous first-timer, anyone who'd benefit from the extra stability
If any of that describes your trip, rent the poles. It's usually a couple bucks and worth it.
If you do use them, get this right
Basket size matters more than brand, and it's the one thing worth checking at the rental counter. You want the wider snow basket, not the little rubber tip made for pavement or dirt trails. A pole with a hiking basket just sinks straight into powder and does nothing for you.
Length-wise, a rough home test: hold the pole upside down, grip below the basket, and your elbow should be at roughly ninety degrees when the tip touches the ground. Most rental poles adjust, so you can dial this in right at the counter before you leave.
The Bryant test
I talked my brother Bryant into coming with me a while back. He complained through basically the whole first mile, poles included, said they felt clunky and he didn't get the point of them. By the last stretch he'd figured out the rhythm, planting them on the downhill bits, and he actually used them to lean on while we stood at the overlook eating gas-station donuts. He admitted the whole thing beat sitting inside, poles and all.
That's usually how it goes. Nobody loves poles in the parking lot. Some people come around to them by mile two, once there's actually a hill to go down. Some people, like me, mostly just don't bother. Both are fine. The trail doesn't care.
Before next time
If you've got trekking poles sitting in a closet from hiking season, dig them out and check the tips, you might need to swap in a snow basket at the rental counter or ask if they've got loaner baskets. If you don't own any, don't sweat it, we'll have rental poles available and I'll tell you on site whether that day's trail even calls for them.