UKC

i'm in the market for a pair of poles that I want to use for trekking, skiing and winter climbing - that is, i want poles that are lightweight, telescopic and have removable baskets. is that utopian, or do the usual suspects (leki etc.) make sth that will serve me for all these uses?

In reply to nb290:

i bought a pair of Gipron Sherpa's in Chamonix which the guy in the shop said are the only ones which can also be used for skiing etc unlike the Leki ones

you can see them at www.cham3s.com under the trekking poles section.

i have used them only for trekking and although maybe a little heavier than the Leki's they were fine.

In reply to Morgan Woods: I have a pair of Lekis that I use for skiing. Leki extremes are designed for all purpose, as well as making a (basic) avalanche probe. Baskets are a bit tricky to remove though. Use mine for winter climbing and skiing all the time. Never been trekking, but they should be fine for it.

In reply to Chris Fryer:

I'd also look at the expedition pole by Black diamond. I have had leki's and BD. IMHO BD expedition win by a small bit because they are shorter, have flick locks that dont freeze.

Cheers IIM

In reply to industrialiceman:

i asked the guy in the shop what he thought of BD and he said they are not going to stock them again because of the high level of returns due to the flick locks breaking.

Exped 4 piece poles. Pack smaller than anything else i've seen and easily fit INSIDE your pack when climbing.

In reply to nb290:

just hit upon the alpkit carbonlites. 384 grams for the pair (!), no antishock (which is good), and they cost just 35 quid. apparently they break rather than bend, but you can get replacement sections from them. dunno yet if the baskets are interchangeable. does anyone have an opinion on these?

In reply to nb290:

I've had BD flicklock poles for years and had no problem with them. I've watched plenty of folk struggling with their twisty Leki poles though. If I was to buy new ones I'd go with Alpkit ones. I've got a Phud pad and it's well made and cheap as chips compared to the others on t'market.

In reply to Morgan Woods: BD poles are made by Gipron

As far as I know almost any of the adjustable poles would do the job but although all of them have removeable baskets none of them are that easy to get off (but why do you want to remove them, other than to replace them when worn ?).

The carbonfibre poles are lighter & nicer to ski with but don't telescope down to the same extent which may or may not be a consideration.

I have both BD flicklocks (3 part) & an older pair of Leki 2 part poles and both are excellent

In reply to nb290:

Doug: removable baskets are crucial if you want to plunge the poles for safety when snow climbing or when you want to probe for avalanches (Ok, poor substitute for an avalanche probe, but better than nothing).

In reply to nb290: as you say, a poor substitute for the real thing. And the few poles I've seen where the baskets were easy to remove (a friend had some Salewa poles with easy remove baskets) tended to loose the baskets when skiing in heavier soft snows