We tested the Central Park Ski Club pole grips, and in choosing a pole to pair with the grips, had some deep thoughts on ski poles.
I will admit some level of absurdity here… I spent excessive time thinking about ski poles while waiting for the snow to fly this fall/early winter. I have gone through many iterations of ski poles over the years, from basic two-piece K2 Lockjaws to XC poles with webbing straps and bigger baskets, to XC poles with bike handlebar tape and powder baskets, then Grivel and Black Crows baton style poles (and occasionally back to the XC poles for specific outings). Over this time, I’ve wrestled with a few questions: to strap or not to strap? XC baskets, powder baskets, or ¾ baskets? Do batons look cool or silly? Does it make sense to have poles that are too long for skiing but too short for skating out at the end of the day?
Adam Fabrikant choked up on his fixed length poles in steep terrain.
Unfortunately, some of these questions are harder to answer than others (but yes, batons do look silly). I am not here to tell you I’ve found the one-size-fits-all solution to ski poles, aside from perhaps the best advice I could offer, which is that you shouldn’t think about ski poles as much as I have lately.
A quiver/progression of poles. Top to bottom: Grivel Trail 1 (featuring duct tape end caps and a nice GS bend), Black Crows Oxus, 4FRNT Adjustable w/ Central Park Grips, Madshus XC poles w/ touring baskets and Swix biathlon straps.
Aside from a “grass is greener” mindset, the impetus for these deep thoughts on poles was the intro to baton-style grip retrofit kits from Central Park Ski Club. Despite throwing some shade at Batons, I still believe in the utility of their low profile, grab-anywhere grip style. For whatever reason, though—I had been feeling limited by the options out there— namely, an aversion to the plastic press-fit caps that Batons D’ Alain and Grivel use (they fall out, then your poles fill with snow/ice, and get heavy). And the previously great Black Crows Oxus got updated with a shorter grip that doesn’t quite work for me on a fixed-length pole, but Crows has an excellent aluminum top cap that does well with my habit of shoving my pole grips into icy or rocky snow slopes. When you start to nitpick this much, I suppose the vast market of $100+ aluminum ski poles feels limited.
(Placeholder for photo of a plastic, pressfit end cap—I have no photos as mine are all lost!)
Central Park Ski Club adds another option to the market—extended foam grips that can be retrofitted to any 16-18mm pole. (16″ grips $45/pair and 24″ grips $55/pair.) Drawing some inspiration from the relatively common practice of re-gripping golf clubs and a desire to breathe new life into some tired old ski poles, the founder bought himself a lathe and started milling foam grips in his Brooklyn apartment. After what I can only imagine was an insane amount of foam dust, he found a manufacturing partner to take care of the production side. For a while, complete poles were also available, but it proved challenging to find a reliable source of high-quality aluminum poles; plus, many of us have a pile of old ski poles in a garage or shed anyway. About a year ago, they updated to an aluminum expansion plug end cap: icing on the cake. Aside from the end caps, you get a relatively simple ribbed foam grip that is firm, durable, and feels less porous than some other foam-gripped poles prone to absorbing moisture and getting icy/slick.
Central Park Ski Club grips retrofitted to 4FRNT’s adjustable poles.
An aluminum top cap with an expansion plug is a tidy, durable and stylish package.
We received two pairs of the CPSC grips for testing, and they sat on my desk for close to a month while I pontificated on what poles I wanted to retrofit. A superlight XC-style pole, my Black Crows Oxus, or an adjustable pole? Hard decisions needed to be made. Eventually, I settled on a pair of 4FRNT adjustable poles for one pair, and Slator Aplin snagged the other pair for some fixed-length carbon poles. Slator ended up with something nearly indistinguishable from a Baton, aside from shaving some grams and a top cap upgrade (have I made the point that a plastic press-fit cap is a terrible choice for a $130 ski pole?). I did a little more tinkering, and in addition to the adjustability factor, I added a 2mm Dyneema loop under each top cap for a super unobtrusive, decently functional wrist strap that I use for skating/double poling on our often flat, often long-ish Teton egresses.
A tidy spliced 2mm Amsteel loop provides a low profile but somewhat effective strap for skating and double poling.
I’m feeling a bit hypocritical, skiing around with my long-gripped, adjustable poles. I have often wondered what the point of such a pole is–with the idea that the long grip “replaces” the need for adjustability. I’m arriving at the idea that I ski better with shorter poles rather than varying degrees of choking up on a long pole. The thought here is that at the top of a run, I shorten my poles to ~120cm, then I don’t need to actively think/remember to choke down—or forget to choke down—and ski a 130 or 135 cm pole, which puts me in an upright or backseat stance. With the adjustable grip, I can start a run at 120cm, then choke down as needed for steep jump turns and the like, and retain the ability to stab the grips into the snow for a bit of added security through a tricky spot or transition.
Morgan McGlashon, skiing better than I can with her poles adjusted appropriately short.
Carbon uppers, aluminum lowers on the 4FRNT poles. Made in Austria makes me think these are coming out of the Komeperdell Factory.
On a long egress, I have loved the ability to lengthen my poles out to 140cm, don the skinny wrist straps that haven’t been in my way all day, and skate or double pole much more efficiently than before. I am still ever the optimizer, so I haven’t given up on my pole quiver. Still, the adjustable poles with CPSC grips and Dyneema straps have been my go-to for the past few months, while the fixed-length Black Crows and XC poles have been collecting dust in the shed, perhaps awaiting a new life with some flashy retrofitted grips.
I assumed that ski poles would be the one gear item that I would never need to update. I’ve been using BD Traverse Whippet Ready Ski Poles because every once in a while during high alpine ski objectives I find having a whippet ready can be useful. Not anymore. I swapped poles with a partner and tried his Les batons d’alain and I was sold after a day. The seamless shifting hand positions on uphill switchbacks or adjusting to a long length to skate out a long flat area increases just enough efficiency to keep pace with my strava bro friends. The lower swingweight is also a noticeable difference. Essentially, it’s one less thing I need to fiddle during a tour and they all but disappear from my conscience. Its worth considering what pole will work for you.
I’ve been using the CPSC grips on my retro-fitted Oxus poles for about a season and a half (I came to the same disappointed realization that Black Crows changed the grips). My two cents:
-long grips are nice for me. My hands are sensitive to cold (Reynauds Syndrome), and I enjoy being able to choke up on foam while skinning
-this might be obvious, but if I’m planning on bringing a whippet pole, I can’t pair that with my long grip. It feels asymmetrical, given that my gripped poles are longer, and I often choke down.
-the durability of the foam and the caps is pretty average. I think they’re moreso meant for resort skiers. The foam gets a chunk or two ripped out each month, and the caps have nicks and cracks on them. For the price, it’s fine. But I don’t expect these grips to endure year after year. Especially with how frequently I do the “upside down pole” technique in firm snow.
Hey Alex- We are so sorry to hear you’re having an issue with the grips. Sending you an email now
I stand corrected. My Oxus black crows poles broke before the CPSC grips I applied to my other poles. They’ve probably lasted 2 seasons now. Let their longevity be a testament to their quality, compared to the poles.
I can echo the sentiment of long poles with long grips. Skiing with 135cm poles is funky, but sure is nice on every other aspect of a ski tour. I have used the CPSC grips on a pair of goodwill poles for a hot minute now that are the exact length I like to ski with and do alright on the flat walk out. My reservation towards going back to adjustable poles is the fact that I’m pretty hard on stuff; either the adjustable clips stop working or I bend the lower. Gavin, have your adjustable poles been magically shortening at all? Or is that just a thing of the past?
Magic shortening, unfortunately, remains an issue. I continue to forget to tighten up the flicklock mechanism, as I reckon that would sole the issue. The adjustable poles certainly feel less robust than a fixed aluminum option, but I have been enjoying the adjustability enough to stick with it, for now.
I am planning the same set up. I got my youngest kid some cheap, light, carbon 3 piece poles from Amazon, 3 years ago, that have worked well for her, but the foam grip loosened and tore, so this was a great replacement option (although it cost the same as the entire poles, )
For myself, I have been very happy with my ~10 year old pair of 2 piece Komperdell Carbon poles. They have full carbon upper and lowers, but the bottom ~10” of the lower is covered in an aluminum sleeve. Does negate the swing wight advantage of carbon, but has also kept them in good shape, despite summer and winter use in rocky terrain.
I am tall, and an XC skier, so I can not bear to use short poles on flat skins. For me, that ,eans the 145cm is the absolute minimum length.
But, for steep descending, I ski at ~132cm.
I have considered finding a rare 145cm baton, but between price, plastic caps, and a good experience with my 2 piece poles so far, it seemed that I’d be better served with the Central Park grips on my current pole, because they address the one thing I don’t like about them: fat grip means hard to plunge into snow.
I am still debating between the fixed wrist loops like Gavin, or a slider loop.
Last March I skied spring snow in Italy, and our guide suggested using wrist straps, reasoning that the risk of loosing a pole was (much) bigger in the firm spring snow, than that of avalanches. Makes sense to me.