Why poles are worth the fuss on steep ground

Trekking poles divide walkers. Some swear by them; others leave them in the boot and never look back. But on genuinely steep or broken ground — a Lakeland pass, a Cairngorm plateau edge, a boggy Pennine crossing — poles stop being a luxury and start earning their place. They give you two extra points of contact, take real load off your knees, and spread the effort of a long climb or descent across your upper body rather than just your legs.

The catch is that poles only help if you use them well. Set them up badly or plant them carelessly and you will waste energy, stress your shoulders, and find them more of a hindrance than a help.

Setting the length for the ground ahead

Start with a basic reference: standing on flat ground, the grip should sit at about hip height with your elbow bent to roughly 90 degrees. From that neutral setting, adjust as the terrain changes.

• Uphill: shorten both poles, typically by 5-10cm. A shorter pole lets you push down and back without lifting your shoulders or reaching forward.
• Downhill: lengthen both poles by a similar amount. This gives you a longer reach so the tip can find the ground below you before you commit your weight.
• Traversing or side-sloping: adjust each pole separately. A short pole on the uphill side and a longer one on the downhill side keeps your shoulders level.

Resist the temptation to fiddle endlessly. Many walkers settle on two preferred settings — one for climbing, one for descending — and mark them with a wrap of tape so they can find them quickly with cold hands. Check the locks are tight before you lean on them, and never adjust a pole while your full weight is on it.

Planting technique on uneven ground

Where the ground is rough, your poles stop being crutches and become part of a rhythm. Plant the tip beside or slightly behind your foot on the uphill push, and match the pole to the opposite leg so the movement feels natural: right pole with left foot, left pole with right foot.

Keep the tip close to your body rather than reaching ahead. An outstretched pole wastes energy, pulls your shoulder forward, and puts the shaft at its weakest angle. Push down and back through the grip and let your arm follow through. Use the wrist strap properly — hand up through the loop from below, so the strap takes the weight across the palm and saves your grip strength for the last hour of the day.

Sharp tips matter more than most people realise. A worn, rounded tip skitters off rock and wet grass; a good carbide tip bites. Rubber tips are for tarmac and lowland paths only. Fit baskets in peat, bog and snow, where a bare pole will sink to the handle.

Taking the strain off your knees on long descents

This is where poles pay for themselves. Descending steep ground is far harder on the body than climbing it, and the quads, knees and ankles take a hammering step after step. Using poles on a descent can reduce the load going through your knees by roughly a quarter, which over eight hours of rough ground is the difference between a good day out and a painful one.

The key habit is to plant before you step. Reach down with the pole, feel it bite, and only then lower your weight onto the step. On loose scree, wet grass or greasy rock, that planted pole acts as a brake and a balance point. Take shorter steps, keep your weight over your feet, and let the poles take some of the descent for you. On very steep ground, plant both poles below you and lower yourself down in a controlled, almost abseiling motion.

When the ground gets really awkward

• Scrambling: stow or fold your poles and put your hands on rock. Poles are a liability when you need three points of contact and a free hand.
• Boulder fields: shorter poles, slower pace, and place the tip deliberately on the top of rock rather than jamming it into gaps where it can stick and twist your wrist.
• Bogs and stream crossings: use a pole to probe ahead and test depth. It is a superb third point of contact on a slippery crossing.
• Winter ground: a pole with a snow basket is useful on gentle snow, but it is not an ice axe. On steep or hard snow you need the real thing.

Small habits that make a difference

Clean and dry your poles after a wet day, and don't overtighten the locks or they will jam. Replace worn tips when they lose their bite, and treat poles as balance aids rather than load-bearing levers — they will not survive being used to haul yourself up a step. Give yourself a few outings to find your rhythm; poles feel clumsy for the first hour and indispensable by the third. Once the technique clicks, steep ground becomes noticeably less punishing, and long descents stop being something you dread.