Poles, Not Just For The Skintrack

Splitboard Guides International Guide and Owner Eric Layton talks about his favorite piece of backcountry equipment:

Lately quite a few people have asked me what my favorite piece of backcountry equipment is or better yet, why do I ride with ski poles in my hands. The answer is simple they work! Not just for the obvious reasons, but yes they do help a tremendous amount with getting through the flats or undulating terrain and I wouldn’t be caught in the backcountry without them. As a snowboard guide working in the heli skiing industry, the ski pole is one of the most important tools in my backcountry kit and this is my reasoning for gripping the sticks!

Growing up with the mid 90’s snowboard scene embedded pretty deep inside, my impressions of poles mixed with snowboarding was, you’d have to be a kook to ride with ski poles in your hands.  Over the years and with more and more time in the backcountry, poles have slowly become a fixture in my hands. In the beginning, I’d ride as long as I could, then try and slide another few hundred meters more, before breaking the poles out. Thinking they just helped propel me forward, but now I know there’s so much more they do!

With poles in my hand I’m constantly feeling the snowpack, probing for density changes and weaknesses within the layers. This is valuable tool for understanding and locating where avalanches could be triggered. I turn the pole upside down, baskets up and probe around to find buried wind slab and resistances with in the top layers of snow. Hasty pits can easily be performed on the go, while on slope or while waiting at the bottom for my guest or friends to show up. A quick hasty can identify shear characteristics and be a great way to have a poke at the resistances in the top 50-70cm. With a single pole, isolate a 30cm column by the depth of the layer of your concern, place both hands behind the now isolated column and give a pull. When or if your block shears, it will tell you the depth, slab hardness along with layer character and whether it is resistant or sudden planar. Take into account these are informal tests, but they help put the pieces together. A couple of quick hasty pits can give you an incredible amount of snow information in a little amount of time that goes a long way if you have a good understanding of what is in the snowpack from daily test profiles and shared information within the industry.

As a snowboard guide there is no going down to my knees or sitting in the snow. This is and has always been a huge pep peeve of mine. In the backcountry or in any big mountain setting you have to be at your safe zone, but ready to move away if necessary. Poles allow me to easily balance with my board facing down the fall line set up for success to ride away, usually just to make more turns, but also for a quick getaway in an emergency situation.

Terrain is really going to dictate when and where you use poles. In Alaska or very steep to flat terrain, you can get away with not using poles for the downhill especially if you have a helicopter and can get picked up where you run out of speed, but in the mountains of British Columbia, no way! The mountainous regions of North America hold such big country; with massive trees and unforgiving terrain features that not having your poles in your hands on the downhill in specific areas is a disaster waiting to happen. The terrain can vary greatly and be quite unforgiving; if I didn’t have poles in my hands I couldn’t perform my job as fully or efficiently.

From the medical side of things, poles make great splints and I have on multiple occasions used them to splint a leg or knee in the field. A three-piece pole is ideal here!

Aaah but resting on them like skiers do, now there is a definite bonus!!! I now have 20% more energy throughout my day! So yeah they work and make you more efficient and they are more likely to help you find weaknesses in the snowpack. You will start to look at terrain a bit differently as to what line you can take as a snowboarder. If you do find yourself in a pinch or a bit too low, you have the poles to help you slip out or over something that otherwise would of meant hike or a commitment to something you didn’t really want to ride!

There are a variety of good poles out on the market today, from three-piece collapsible poles, to two-piece poles that don’t pack down as much, but do have fewer moving parts. I prefer the flick locks, to the traditional twist and turn. Both seem to ice a bit in very cold conditions, but the twist and turns often collapse and are a bit finicky. The snowboarder’s preference is a 3 piece ultra collapsible Z pole that stores inside the pack. Caution, lighter doesn’t always mean better. I’ve broken these types on numerous occasions, leaving me pole-less. On long expeditions, or extreme cold, I prefer regular single piece ski poles that are stronger and have no moving parts, which in return in could hinder your tour.

Poles are not for the every day snowboarder out there. They are reserved for those working in the downhill environment on a snowboard or splitboard and the terrain that they are encountering below. This of course changes run-to-run, drainage-to-drainage, but it’s worth taking them off the backpack from time to time even on the downhill especially when managing certain types of terrain or when safety is a concern.

Oh and they look sick in your hands while getting blower faceshots!!!

Dustin Lalik

Enjoy-
Eric Layton