Mountaineering Poles

Walking poles for mountaineering and mountaineers

Usually, mountaineering poles are made of carbon fibre or aluminium. Both materials are perfect for making mountaineering poles and particularly light and robust. Mountaineering poles made of carbon often are slightly lighter than the ones made of aluminium. On the other hand, many mountaineering poles made of aluminium are also slightly cheaper.

Regarding stability, high-end walking poles by brands such as Black Diamond, Komperdell or Leki are always robust picks when it comes to alpine tours and mountaineering. This is just as true for walking poles made of carbon and aluminium. Depending on which variant you're using there are walking poles with different handles made of cork, plastic and foam and a variety of loops for the handles.

Collapsible poles or folding poles for mountaineers

As opposed to ski poles, mountaineering poles, walking poles or ski touring poles do not consist of one single pole but several lobes. Most mountaineering poles consist of two or three telescopic lobes. This makes the walking poles height adjustable and they can be folded for transport and attached to the touring backpack. The individual pole lobes are attached safely by either twist lock or clip lock.

Folding poles do not have the usual locking systems that mountaineering poles have and consist of individual segments which can be stretched and secured via the rope inside the cork grip or plastic grip just like tent poles. Folding poles are usually very lightweight, compact and robust. These light mountaineering poles are easy to stow away due to the fact that they have three or even four individual segments. Not all folding poles are height adjustable; you will have to pick a length that suits you.