How to use your trekking poles in the snow

Just as in hiking, poles offer many advantages in alpine skiing or snowshoeing. But before embarking on an outing in the snow, it is important to prepare your poles correctly and to know how to use them in the snow. Discover all our advice.

As with summer hiking, using poles for ski touring allows you to double your support and therefore benefit from a better distribution of loads, to gain balance and to use almost all the muscles of the body, thus sparing the leg and thigh muscles. When practising on a thick layer of powder snow, even with snowshoes, you may tend to sink a little, in which case poles will help you stay upright. If you practice in hilly terrain, they also help you to better manage descents, climbs and obstacle crossings. On the slopes, they really help to improve balance and make you feel safer and more secure. 

If you are already a summer hiker and want to walk in the snow, you don't have to change poles. It is perfectly possible to use your usual hiking poles for a trip in the snow, provided of course that you make a few modifications. Find out all our tips on how to properly prepare your poles before embarking on a ski or snowshoe tour.

Equip your poles with winter washers: If you are using your usual hiking poles, it is essential to replace the summer washers with winter washers first. The larger diameter of the winter washers will prevent the poles from sinking too deep into the snow. 

Adjusting the straps: If you already use your poles for hiking, your straps are probably simple and not of the gauntlet type. This is a good point! Because in the snow you will be wearing mittens or gloves that you don't normally wear and that are quite thick. You will have to adjust the straps by loosening the strap. 

Check the size of your poles: the height of your ski boots may be different from that of your hiking boots. Make sure your poles are set to the right height. That is, your arm is at a right angle to your elbow, or if you wish, set your poles slightly taller if you want to increase your range of motion for more athletic walking on flat ground.

Use a clip system: If you choose adjustable multi-strand poles, use a clip system and not a screw system. A latch will be much easier to use in the weather conditions found in the high mountains. Also, tightening and loosening a screw can be tricky when wearing thick gloves or mittens.