Hiking Poles: boon or bust

By Bill Houghton, state CMC president

As a matter of necessity I was forced into using a walking stick in 1994 when my arthritic hip became too sore to walk on. I still wanted to participate in outdoor activities, and that seemed to be the best solution. I came to depend on it. After hip replacement, I thought about going without the stick, but I soon found I had become dependent on it for more than just the support. Soon thereafter, I picked up a set of poles, and I have used them ever since. Recently, several people who do not know my history have asked why I used hiking poles. My answer is that there are several very good reasons to use them, and you do not have to have arthritis to benefit from them.

The primary reasons I use hiking poles are balance and support. Having two more points of contact with the ground is almost like reverting to our four-legged ancestors. The idea of having another two feet is reassuring when it comes to tricky foot placements. It is almost like climbing on a top rope: the rope and the poles give you the confidence to try placements that might otherwise be too adventurous. Support from poles is valuable both during ascents and descents. Downhill, a hiking pole will reduce the impact on knees and hips, and it is rumored to save about five percent of the impact force on your body. A set of hiking poles is said to reduce the force of impact by twenty-five percent. Uphill, a set of hiking poles allows users to get their upper body into the activity. By strong placements and use of the strength of arms and chest, the users can pull themselves uphill while reducing the amount of strength required of the legs.

To maximize the effect of the poles, they must be fit properly. Many of the new poles are adjustable. This enables the user to customize the fit and adjust the length for ascents and descents as well as for contouring around a mountain or hill. If the pole is not adjustable, the purchaser should look for a pole that allows the forearm to be parallel with the ground while gripping the top of the pole. Many of the new poles have wrist straps. These are worn as one would in cross-country skiing: the hands should come up from the bottom of the pole and through the strap opening. When the hand grips the pole, the wrist strap should be between the pole and the hand. This allows the user to release the pole and swing it back into a grip without stopping.

With properly fitting poles, the user is ready to practice and develop skill with their new tools. As with other activities, using hiking poles requires practice to become proficient. It is absurd to carry the poles up a mountain with the intent of only using them during a steep descent to “save the knees.” Swinging the poles is like learning to use cross-country ski poles: the arm swings with the opposite leg. It turns out that if you want to support one leg (as I did with arthritis), the pole goes in the opposite hand. Learning a rhythmic swing and judging where to place the pole are not skills one learns in a few steps. In many cases the placement is a matter of peripheral vision. We do not consciously place each pole, but we use our vision of an entire area to choose where the pole will be most effective. To be effective, a new pole user must practice frequently.

A significant advantage to using adjustable poles is that they can be modified for ascents and descents. Going up hill, most of the placements will be well in front of the user. Because this reduces the distance to the ground, the pole should be shortened slightly. Most adjustments should not be more than five centimeters (many poles are marked in these increments). This will allow pole placements above the level of the feet and permit hikers to employ upper body muscles to pull themselves up the hill. Going down hill, the opposite is true: pole placement is again in front of the user, but the ground is below the feet, so poles should be lengthened about five centimeters beyond the “normal” length. This allows the poles to be placed ahead and absorb some of the impact of the descent. With a constant contour, one pole may be lengthened and the other shortened to allow normal hand heights while walking around a long hill. The key to adjusting poles is not to get carried away with it. Only adjust poles when the predominant terrain changes. If the trail is going up and down constantly, leave the poles at their “normal” length and put up with it.

A couple of safety tips on using poles: The tips of these tools are not sharp, but they can have significant impact when placed carelessly in the back of the leg or at the bottom of the Achilles tendon. When walking in a group in which some members are using hiking poles, a little extra distance between participants is a good idea. Practice with poles will avoid placing them in someone else’s leg, but two users in line can get their poles entangled. If one participant is aggressively pulling himself up a hill and manages to place a pole on a rock, there is a real possibility that the tool will skip off the durable surface and come flying back at the next person in line. Be aware of this and leave a little more room going up a hill.

It is also a good idea to stay balanced over your two primary supports and not depend too heavily on the poles. In a precarious position, if a pole supports too much weigh and it also skips off its surface, an overbalanced person can take a nasty tumble.