Riders Don’t Use Poles, and Skiers Shouldn’t Either

Floyd Rogers

Spring 2001

 Over my 25 years of teaching I’ve taught many children. And, for the last two years I have taught a great many classes of beginning students at Crystal Mountain’s walk-in center. We have been using Rossignal’s “Learn to Ski” short skis in lengths 110cm to 130cm, with us instructors also on them. That’s another story – we believe so much in the use of these short, shaped skis that we make every effort to take away students’ skis and give them the shorties.

 But, this article is about an issue that is closely related to the issues of beginning skiers: poles. We don’t give beginning students, of any age, poles. Generally, we take them away if we can convince them (and we usually can) that they aren’t necessary, or desirable. I wanted to talk about the reasons I have heard articulated, or have discovered myself upon reflection. 

I believe that safety is a primary issue in restricting pole possession, especially for beginners. How often have you seen beginners, or even intermediates, swing their poles wildly around in an attempt (often foredoomed to failure) to regain their balance. Remember, balance is the 1^st thing we need to teach beginners. Do you imagine that poles are going to substantially improve a beginner’s balance? The only time they do that is when the student is standing still with one or both poles stuck in the snow – static balance is as natural as walking – it’s dynamic balance we need to teach at this point. We don’t need students whacking each other, and their teachers. 

Do you remember how lift operators hate getting poked by them: quick, imagine you’re a beginning skier loading onto a chair for one of the first times – which is the inside hand that’s supposed to be holding the poles? Have you seen beginners unload from a chair, and attempt to stop themselves by sticking their poles out in front of them? Do you really want your student to poke someone in front of them at the bottom of the ramp, or have the handgrip deliver a serious bruise or even organ-destroying injury, like a lacerated kidney, to the wielder? 

Actually, the most serious injury I have ever sustained skiing was due to a pole: granted, not by a beginner in a wild waving manner. I was skiing (too close) to a person just as he raised the pole to point out something with it. It impacted my glasses: fortunately I only sustained a cut at the corner of my eye. We don’t need to have students with such a dangerous item in their possession: they don’t know how and aren’t capable of handling them properly and safely.

 Interestingly, a second use commonly ascribed to poles, that of moving along a flat or nearly flat surface (catwalks, the bottom of beginner slopes, lift lines, etc.) has been overtaken by both technology and events. One of the first questions we ask beginning students is: “have you ever roller-bladed?” The answer is usually yes. Additionally, the short skis we use are very easy to maneuver in paddle-turns and other flat-land movements. They are exceptionally easy to skate on; virtually everyone is able to skate with only a little practice. If not, they are at least able to side-step or herringbone: duck walk for the younger students (although there is a small percentage of children that don’t like ducks; for them it’s a goose walk!) Skating is also an excellent drill to let the students gain balance on skis – it combines movement in all possible directions, gets them used to sliding on skis, and segues easily into a paddle turn out of straight running. Another common use of poles, getting up after having fallen, is also not really necessary. Short skis make it easier to use the stomach-prone method, and many beginners, especially young children and many of our heavy, out-of-shape adult clients, haven’t the necessary upper-body and arm strength to enable to use poles to get up.

 Have you had any students drop a pole from a chair, and then had to make an unplanned trip back down to pick it up (usually in the most awkward place!?) This happened to me just last Sunday. Have you seen people drop a pole or ski that slipped out of their arms while they’re walking to/from the lodge? Poles are just one more thing to worry about, for a student already stressed about something very unfamiliar to them (and they’re a hassle for the teacher, too.) And, the fewer the rental shop hands out, the fewer are stolen, left in the snow to get covered by the next snowfall, or forgotten somewhere that a groomer’s tiller is bound to find and demolish them. 

Too much trouble also describes what I believe to be the best reason not to use them. Now, I’m not an expert at kinesiology and the human nervous system, but it seems to me that the simpler we make things for beginners, the better. In addition to simple drills and exercises, and to draw comparisons between existing movement patterns and tasks, the fewer distractions to the learning process the better. The beginners already have on a boot that may be uncomfortable, they have long things attached to the boots, they have heavy clothing, etc. Putting something else into their hands is too distracting.

 From what I remember, a great deal of the brain’s processing power is given over to the hands, somewhat less to the feet. Now, if all the hands have to do is hang there at the ends of a beginner’s arms (that are waving about for balance), not much brain power is being expended. This allows the mind to focus on the task at hand (!!!): making the feet do what the teacher wants them to do. There is little tactile sensation from empty hands to distract the mind, which would not be the case if the hands were gripping something. Remember, physical feeling is very important: sensing the pressures on the foot and lower leg and ankle is important for all four skills. These sensory inputs are easier for the student to focus in on if there are no other bodily distractions. How many times have you asked a student: “feel the pressure on ‘xxxx’ body part”?

 Once a student has achieved some proficiency with the basic skills and is able to turn, stop, and move about, they can easily pick up poles and use them effectively with few, or even no, hints from an instructor. Poles have little or no use for beginners, and are, in fact, a detriment to their learning. Our brother/sister riders don’t need them; we skiers don’t either.