Night had fallen at the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) and the excitement of going through the phalanx of cheering fans in St. Gervais had faded. I was now slogging up the first of the three big passes in a conga line of 2,000 runners that stretched for miles, but I don’t speak French or Italian so there was no one to talk with. It was dark with 80 miles to go, and I was lonely.
Then I heard a “hello” from the runner next to me, and ended up having a nice chat with a British man. I asked him how he knew I spoke English.
“Because you don’t have trekking poles.”
That was the ultra world in 2007.
Hundreds of runners were blowing by me, using poles to power up the long climb, so I tested his theory and found it absurdly true: everyone was using poles except those that spoke English.
I dropped out that year at Champex with blown-out quads. Scott Jurek and Karl Meltzer DNF’d at Courmayeur for the same reason. It was another poor showing at UTMB for the American men. I pondered this at the finish while waiting for my friend Peter Bakwin, who was hours late. He finally came in, listing badly to one side, propped up by a lone trekking pole.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Some muscle just gave out—I could hardly stand up. I was about to drop out when a random bystander just gave me this pole. I never would have finished without it.”
The sport of ultrarunning transformed that day. The following July, I was hanging out at the Grouse Gulch aid station at the Hardrock 100. Karl Meltzer, the winningest 100-mile racer ever, came trotting down the Engineer Pass Road, into the aid station, and out he went with his new trekking poles for the climb up Mount Sherman.
Boom, done. Poles became part of the sport.
But how do we use them? Are we still lagging behind the Euros? They come from a mountain culture, ski in the winter and climb, while many of us come from road or track backgrounds and are learning how to run in the mountains—and how to use trekking poles.
WHAT TO BUY
You can start learning how to use poles by understanding which ones to purchase.
Length
Size your trekking poles the same as an alpine (downhill) ski pole, which is much shorter than a Nordic (XC) ski pole. Holding the grip with the tip on the ground, your forearm should be horizontal, your upper arm vertical, and your elbow bent 90 degrees. The result will be a shorter pole than people expect.
Weight
Swing weight is as important for poles as it is for running shoes, except shoes don’t break mid-race while an ultra-light pole might, so you just have to find a compromise of weight and strength.
Baskets
Surprisingly, the baskets accomplish little except adding weight. Some thru-hikers throw them away. The small basket that comes with most trekking poles is fine, providing good support on most surfaces, while nothing works in soft snow.
Adjustability
No skier uses adjustable-length poles, so it’s unclear why hikers or runners think they need this feature. Your arm does an excellent job of adjusting the length. Adjustment mechanisms add weight, cost and are a potential failure point.
Collapsibility
Most trekking/running poles fold into three sections. This technology came from tent poles and is lighter and more reliable than the sections sliding into each other which used to be common. Actually, the lightest and most reliable running poles have a simple shaft that does not fold up (all XC ski poles are fixed even though they are quite long). While running but not using your poles, it’s not hard to just carry them in your hand; they do not have to be folded and stowed in your running vest. The main drawback of a non-collapsible pole is they don’t fit into most duffel bags.
Stowing
Most vests and running packs have a method for carrying poles, which vary in ease of use. Make sure to practice stowing and deploying them in advance.
HOW TO USE THEM
Here are three main reasons why you should use poles, which inform how to best use them.
First: Power
Add the power of your arms to your forward motion for greater success. To do this:
- Use the straps correctly! Put your whole hand up through the strap, then come down with your thumb on one side of the strap and your fingers on the other side. This allows you to apply force while your hand stays relaxed because it’s not clenching the grip. All skiers do this, but many runners and hikers have not learned this concept.
- Swing your arms forward then back, while keeping them relatively close to your body. Sticking your arms out to the sides like a scarecrow is not a good look. If in doubt, just imitate any XC skier—remember, they’re trying to accomplish the same thing we are—because they’re experts with poles.
- For steep uphills, you may “choke up” on the grip, which essentially shortens the pole length so your arms don’t have to raise as high. Grab the grip lower by taking your thumb or fingers out of the strap.
Second: Balance
Using poles for stability can be very helpful, even though their best use is to increase forward motion.
- When the footing is loose, such as on snow or steep and loose gravel, poles add terrific stability. One can descend slippery slopes at speed using poles to stay upright. In this case, the pole plants may not be rhythmical, instead do quick stabs when and where you need it.
- Tricky stream crossings suddenly become safe and fun when poles provide a ‘tripod’ of stability.
- When carrying a pack, especially a heavy one, the usefulness of poles skyrockets; thru-hikers are never seen without them.
Third: Save your quads
Just as poles provide extra power on the uphill, they can off-load your quadriceps on a steep downhill, which every runner knows can be the difference between a finish and a DNF.
- Reach forward and down, making pole plants as needed to absorb some impact.
- If the terrain is ‘grabby,’ such as bushes or sticky mud, take your thumb out of the strap, otherwise, the pole may suddenly stick, which could wrench your hand.
- Some people will extend the pole length on a downhill by cusping the top of the grip in their palm.
Lastly: Be careful
The tips might not grip on pure rock, so if you commit your weight on a steep descent and it slips off, the unexpected loss of balance could bring you down hard.
- If you’re running in talus and the pole is planted between two immovable rocks while you continue forward, the leverage could break it.
- If someone is behind you, watch your tips—don’t flail—stabbing someone is bad.
- Trekking poles are not TSA-approved, so to avoid an expensive donation to the trash can, put them in your checked luggage, not your carry-on (same, unfortunately, with microspikes).
WHEN TO USE THEM
We know that poles can definitely help our running, are sometimes very necessary and sometimes not needed at all. Employing them is dependent on the topography; there’s a steepness, distance and looseness equation that sometimes adds up, and sometimes does not.
You have your own style, strengths and weaknesses, so you’ll do what’s best for you. Please take a cue from XC skiers, who have been effectively using poles for a few centuries: adding more forward power is a good thing.