In trail or during technical sporting events on terrain with significant elevation changes, poles will help you stack the odds in your favour and considerably boost your performance. A closer look at a piece of kit that can be a real game-changer.
While poles are indispensable in Nordic walking and recommended most of the time in hiking, in trail, things are a little more complicated.
The usefulness of poles in trail depends entirely on the type of race you are about to tackle. In an Ultra-Trail® or on a technical course with significant elevation changes, your poles — provided you have trained sufficiently with them — will be a great asset and could even help you gain a few places at the finish. On a flat course with few technical sections, they will be useless or even a hindrance. They will add weight to your pack and prove more cumbersome than anything else. Use your own judgement. But one thing is certain: we strongly recommend training thoroughly with trail poles so you can beat your records when the time comes to take on a long-distance technical race on terrain with plenty of elevation and climbs.
The uses of trail poles
In ultra-trail, using poles represents a considerable energy saving. As in hiking, they allow for better load distribution and when the effort becomes hard, they facilitate propulsion. On steep or rugged terrain, in forests or in the mountains, they prove useful for clearing obstacles but also for gaining stability and balance.
Consequently, on ascents as well as on technical trails, trail poles allow runners to maintain a good pace, avoid having to slow down in front of an obstacle, and therefore gain speed and perform better.
When fatigue builds up, doubling your support points and sparing your lower muscles becomes necessary. That is why many runners press their hands on their thighs on climbs to relieve the weight of the upper body, boost propulsion and therefore gain more drive. Using poles is of course more effective — they allow you to distribute the load more widely on one hand, and to facilitate core engagement on the other. All the energy spent engaging the upper body muscles translates into energy saved in the lower body, significantly reducing the sensation of fatigue in the legs which, all too often over time, becomes the main limiting factor.
Since using trail poles is primarily a matter of energy conservation, they will be of little use on flat or gently sloping terrain. However, on steeper gradients, during descents with significant elevation loss or on off-camber ground, poles give you greater security and stability. They help you gain confidence, preventing you from losing your race rhythm out of fear of falling, for example. They can also help you clear obstacles by absorbing impacts and shocks, while at the same time protecting your joints and therefore reducing the risk of long-term injury.
How to adjust your trail poles?
A few years ago, when runners first started using poles in trail, single-section fixed-length poles were constantly recommended. Made from a single section, they are consequently ultra-lightweight, especially in carbon. They offer notably powerful and straight-line propulsion, and are also valued for their ability to significantly absorb vibrations and thus protect the joints.
However, for reasons of bulk and thanks to advances in modern technology, multi-section telescopic or folding poles quickly became the preferred choice. On flat sections or gentle descents, you simply stow them in your pack or clip them to your waist belt and forget about them. Lightweight and robust, retractable or folding poles offer numerous advantages.
What size trail poles?
As with walking or hiking poles, it is essential that the length of your trail poles is perfectly adjusted. The rule is more or less always the same. Standing upright, wearing your trail shoes, holding your pole with the tip perpendicular to the ground, your forearm and elbow should form a right angle of 90° (which in trail can be slightly more closed). To help you calculate the ideal height — for example if you are ordering your poles online — simply multiply your height in centimetres by 0.68.
Simple wrist straps or gauntlets?
In trail, the choice of wrist straps is particularly important. In Nordic walking they must always be of the gauntlet type, and in hiking they are almost always simple (or at most padded for extra comfort), but in trail, they can be either type.
- Simple wrist straps: you pass your hand through the strap from below — fingers pointing upward — and fold it back over the grip from above. This way, the pole stays between the thumb and index finger at the end of the push, with the hand open, delivering a powerful push while staying relaxed on the grip. Simple straps have the advantage of allowing you to vary your grip by shifting your hand to the pommel or the lower part of the grip, for example. However, they can cause irritation over time.
- Gauntlet-type wrist straps: they loop around the thumb and wrist and clip onto the poles. They have the advantage of being detachable thanks to an innovative system that allows an almost instant release and significant time savings at the highest level. They also allow for even greater relaxation of the grip. It is up to you to decide which type of strap best suits your needs, your level and simply your comfort.
When it comes to grips, the choice is between foam grips and cork grips. The former are ultra-lightweight, comfortable and absorb perspiration well, but they tend to degrade over time. The latter are far more durable, absorb vibrations better, are not significantly heavier and have the advantage of wicking perspiration efficiently — meaning they retain less moisture — but they are also more expensive.
Folding trail poles
Let's keep manoeuvrability, speed and lightness front of mind — three key priorities runners must consider when choosing their trail poles. If you have decided on multi-section poles and the time has come to choose between telescopic or folding, here is a little nudge to help you decide.
- Telescopic poles: the main advantage of telescopic poles is that their length is adjustable — you can set the height as you like and lend them to others. They are more robust than their folding counterparts (though less so than single-section poles), often more affordable but also slightly heavier.
- Folding poles: generally made up of three to five sections, they fold in a Z shape and are even more compact than telescopic poles. The more sections they have, the smaller and shorter they are when folded. They are also — and above all — lighter, and their folding and deployment system is even faster and more straightforward, which significantly speeds up the transition. However, they may be more fragile than telescopic poles.
Carbon trail poles
The weight of your poles is crucial in trail and depends largely on the composition of your tube. The choice is generally between aluminium and carbon. Where possible, go for carbon poles as carbon is lighter than any other material.
Aluminium poles are also an excellent alternative. Slightly heavier than carbon, aluminium is also more affordable and more resistant, which is by no means negligible. Indeed, an aluminium trail pole will withstand almost everything you put it through without issue: impacts as well as your full body weight and force when you lean on it to jump over an obstacle, for example, or on a steep slope. Furthermore, aluminium does not break — it may bend, but it almost never snaps.
In short, an aluminium tube will be more durable but heavier. If you want to prioritise lightness to go faster and farther, we recommend investing in a carbon trail pole. The choice is yours, based on how you plan to use your poles, your level and your budget.
Carbide tips
Last but not least, the tip is an extremely important part of your trail poles. Often sold in steel, tungsten carbide tips are far more resistant and therefore more durable, which is a genuine advantage if you run frequently with your poles. Some brands offer the option of replacing the tips, which can be a good alternative. Generally the tip is the part that wears out the fastest — this way you can simply replace the tip without having to buy a whole new pole.
