Ski Pole
Ski poles are used by skiers to improve balance and timing as well as for propulsion. Early ski poles were simply sticks, then bamboo (1930s), then steel (1940s and early 1950s). In 1958, Ed Scott invented the aluminium ski pole. Now, composite ski poles are much lighter and stronger than aluminium poles, though aluminium poles are still one of the main types of ski pole on the market.
In the days before turning techniques had been properly developed, skiers would use poles for hunting: one pole would be for balance/braking and the other pole would have a sharpened tip or a spear head to be used as a spear.
In modern skiing one pole is held in each hand. Near the end of the shaft, there is a circular "basket" attached to stop the pole from sinking significantly into deep snow. These can range from being small, aerodynamic cones used in racing, to large snowflake shaped baskets which are used in powder skiing. Attached to the upper part of the pole is a grip with a strap, either fastened to the pole or detachable. These are usually slipped over the wrist to improve the skiers hold on the grip and to prevent the loss of the pole in the event of a fall. On most poles, the straps, grips, baskets and ferrules (metal tips) are replaceable. When skiing backcountry (off piste), the wrist strap is not normally used, because there is a risk of wrist injury if the pole should catch on an unseen branch or root. Ski jumping, ski carving, aerials and skiboarding are the only types of skiing in which no poles are used.
Read more about Ski Pole: Cross-country and Alpine Ski Poles, Pole Sizing, Pole Selection, Pole Baskets, Unipole
Famous quotes containing the words ski and/or pole:
“The goal for all blind skiers is more freedom. You don’t have to see where you’re going, as long as you go. In skiing, you ski with your legs and not with your eyes. In life, you experience things with your mind and your body. And if you’re lacking one of the five senses, you adapt.”
—Lorita Bertraun, Blind American skier. As quoted in WomenSports magazine, p. 29 (January 1976)
“Not because Socrates has said it, but because it is really in my nature, and perhaps a little more than it should be, I look upon all humans as my fellow-citizens, and would embrace a Pole as I would a Frenchman, subordinating this national tie to the common and universal one.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)