skiing with or without poles?

Sports and Hobbies
21
I dream of being able to fire off witty repartees of that calibre. I doff my non-existant helmet to you!

22
When carving skis were first introduced there was a craze of skiing without poles, but this soon wore off. Also, as part of developing skiing skills, you will have lessons where the instructor gets you to ski some runs without poles. This can be quite a challenge on a steep mogul field.

However, I find it much more comfortable generally to ski with poles. They might not be used much on blue pistes, but there become more valuable on more challenging slopes - not to mention the queues for the ski lifts, where planting poles between the skis of others will prevent them pushing ahead...

23
Ah yes, this is an invaluable use of ski poles and something one learns very quickly.

24
Heh, yes, handy for that too. Though I also feel like lashing out with them every time some numpty can't manage to hit the brakes while joining the queue and ends up running over and scratching my skiis... grrr.

25
Poles are pretty bloody important if you ask me.

As stated earlier, not only are they useful for gaining momentum, especially on flat bits, but they are also an extremely important part of the turn.

If you are unaware of the importance of poles, I would perhaps advise a lesson, as they are not there to make your life difficult: on the contrary.

Oh, and Papa G, you will be happy to know that I have purchased a helmet .

26
When I learned to ski, I went through a phase of not using poles. I use them now when I'm on narrow pistes, as it helps the turning. It also gives an indication to other skiers which way you're about to go!

Also useful for stabbing anyone who comes too close...

27
I've been skiing with poles on quite a number of

occasions and found them to be good company.

.

28

i strongly recommend u to use your poles

29
That's my girl, is it Austrian ski team red .

On the subject of skiing with Poles, thanks to Schengen it should be no problem.

30
So you can conclude that skiing without poles is pretty bad idea. You can always get a beer or two in company of Poles

31
Ok, fine. But WHY do you recommend that you should use your poles?

32
How much and from where? I saw some in Athleticum but can't remember the prices.

33
I much prefer to ski and snowblade without poles.

Well, when I was taught skiing the first time, I was taught with no pole. 6 hours of private lessons total made me used to skiing without poles, I guess. Or, maybe it has something to do with being a former figure skater. I just feel much more balanced on the slopes with my hands free. I like to have my arms kind of out and not just hanging at the side. I think the "arms out and semi to the front" habit is definitely a leftover one from my figure skating days and if I have to hold the poles, I can't really do this anymore. Even at flat areas, I would skate and hence not much need for poles anyways. And when I fall, I get up without the help of the poles. If I fall while having poles, I don't really use them to help me anyways, caz it feels to me that I might break them if I use the poles to try to get up.

One interesting thing... I was taking a private lesson and skiing on some red slopes this season. I took my poles with me only because I was having a lesson and thought that the instructor might want to see me with poles. Gosh, I was wrong.. During the lesson, I made the comment that I usually prefer to ski without poles, so after a few runs with poles, the instructor asked me to ski with no poles. Then, I was told that I really don't need to bring poles to the ski resort anymore and I can carry one less stuff with me ..... He also made a comment that he has never seen someone who skis quite THIS DIFFERENT with and without poles. For some strange reasons, when I have poles, I am often too back weighted, but as soon as I ski without poles, that back weighted problem gets fixed automatically... I don't know why, maybe I am just weird ...

This was actually not the first time... I had a lesson learning proper pole planting back in the US, and was told by the instructor that maybe I should never ski with poles .... Now, I wonder... what should I do when I eventually progress to the more difficult slopes or off-piste? Wouldn't that make it very difficult b/c I am so not used to having poles?

34
Don't worry about it, snowboarders do all that stuff without poles! I had a skiing friend who used to hang out with 'boarders all the time and never used poles, they spent most of their time off piste, and he was an awesome skier. I never once saw him with poles, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even own any.

35
if one is a pole dancer, yes, strongly recommended, at least one pole. but otherwise? why do you insist like that eh?

36
Honestly, I find this whole thread is a bit amusing

Born and raised in Finland where all children learn to cross country ski as soon as we learn to walk, using poles to me is such a natural thing that I do not even need to question their importance. Yes, cross country skiing is quite different from alpine skiing but when you understand the idea and function of the poles, you know automatically why and what they are used for also in alpine skiing.

However, I have to say that I often omit my poles and just hold them under my arms when carving, as they are not really needed there. But in general, I sure do use my poles actively and find them very important in downhill skiing.