Spoiled by my Trigger poles

[Serafina]

I've been skiing with a pair of Leki Trigger-S poles for a couple of years now, but this morning, I forgot them at home. Fortunately, Mr. S. skis with my crummy old cheap Swix poles, and he had another pair of cheap poles for snowshoeing, so I wasn't stuck skiing entirely without poles (the mountain we were at has a lot of hiking at the summit, which is really a ridge, and is a major hassle without poles to help propel). He doesn't make pole plants yet, so he doesn't care at all what poles he's got, as long as they move him along the flats.

OMG. Those old poles REALLY S*CK. The straps, the weight, ugh. All that fiddling with the strap getting off the lift, and getting into the lift line.

We got fresh snow overnight and this morning, so by 11am or so the runs were mostly skied up, piles of cushy stuff bumped and scattered over the base of hardpack and ice. I'm not used to having to actually hold my poles - the Trigger poles are just attached to my hands - and going down some steep run I landed an unexpectedly hard pole plant and it sent a shock wave up through my hands and arm (which is now sore, thanks).

YUK! Trigger poles RULE!!

 

[ski diva]

I agree. I have Leki Trigger poles, too, and absolutely love them. I've always hated pole straps; just a pain in the butt to get over your mittens when you get off the lift. The Trigger poles are soooooo easy -- just click and go. Easy, peasy.

 

[Serafina]

Every durned time I skied off the lift I automatically slid the pole handle up my palm to click in, and every single time I was baffled to find that the poles weren't attached to my hands...

 

[Little Lightning]

I love mine too.

At Copper yesterday I came out from lunch and 1 of my poles was gone! We always separate our skis and poles. We looked and looked but no 105cm Leki Trigger pole. There was one Leki 115 cm pole all by itself. My SO skied down to the Eagle lift to see if anyone showed up with it and I stayed by the ski rack hoping the person who mistakenly took my pole would come back to get their pole. I stood there for almost an hour watching everyone who skied by. I was giving up hope thinking I'd never see my pole again when this woman shows up with my pole. I was so happy to see it, I didn't realize how attached I am to my poles.

We talked for awhile and to make along story short she didn't realize that she had my pole until she tried to ski bumps and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then, she got lost trying to get back to the rack and ended up on the wrong chair. Fortunately, her poles were brand new so she wasn't going to go any where until she found it.

Anyway, we both had a good laugh and I'm thinking I don't want to ski on Fridays.

 

[Christy]

I left my pole glove strap thingy on my mittens, but I only brought my gloves to Sun Valley. Doh! Had to rent poles. Gotta remember those with the Leki...

 

[Albertan ski girl]

ok...im gonna be the total newb on the block...but what exactly are trigger poles? i kind of get the picture from above, but how do they work? are they expensive?

 

[Skisailor]

The thing I wonder about with the trigger poles is how they would work with the self arrest technique I know.

I use straps. Well. It's more accurate to say I mostly don't use pole straps so they never seem like a pain in the butt for me - since I'm not doing the on and off at the lift thing. But I do use my straps on very steep runs where self arrest could be an issue. And I think I really want straps - not triggers - in that situation.

 

[geargrrl]

https://www.leki.com/uk/innovations/trigger-s/

totally worth it.

 

[geargrrl]

https://www.theskidiva.com/forums/index.php?threads/leki-trigger-s-poles.16170/#post-255731

 

[Tvan]

https://www.leki.com/uk/innovations/trigger-s/

So, the pole attaches to the glove? For those of you who use these…are the gloves warm? The glove shown in the link above doesn't look like it has much insulation. What is your experience?

 

[Little Lightning]

So, the pole attaches to the glove? For those of you who use these…are the gloves warm? The glove shown in the link above doesn't look like it has much insulation. What is your experience?

The gloves are not necessary. I use my own mittens and leave the straps on my mittens. If I change mittens I have to remember to change the straps. That's why I couldn't believe the person who took my pole didn't notice right away that it was not hers, besides the difference in length and color of poles there was no strap on the pole. Her poles were a different color and were not trigger straps.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I used the Leki trigger poles for years and loved them. I didn't have special gloves or mittens; just a strap that I generally left on my mittens.

FWIW, though, I have switched to a pair of adjustable backcountry poles - they have huge strap loops, plenty big for my mittens, and after a few days of adjustment, I don't miss the Lekis at all. Biggest benefit: being able to hang my poles over my skis for lunch, rather than having them inevitably fall under the ski rack.

 

[geargrrl]

There are several versions; one that attaches to a specific glove, another that attaches to a strap.

 

[maggie198]

I love my Lekis! They're so light, have a wonderful balance to them, and easy-peasy to get on and off. The hand grip is really comfortable as well.

I did lose my straps last spring, when I left my gloves on the mountain's shuttle bus. The straps are $40 to replace. Luckily, I had won a pair of men's Leki poles in a raffle (still holding on to those puppies), so I'm using those straps. I bought a pair of Leki gloves, with the loop built in, but haven't used them yet.

 

[Serafina]

I have the kind with the strap harness that goes on over my gloves. The poles are designed to blow, kind of like your bindings, if you take a bad fall, so you don't wind up cartwheeling down the hill with a pair of 4 foot poles as part of the tumble. They are expensive, but worth every freaking penny. Yesterday's ski without them made me appreciate them 10x more today when I was reunited with them.

 

[Serafina]

The thing I wonder about with the trigger poles is how they would work with the self arrest technique I know.

I use straps. Well. It's more accurate to say I mostly don't use pole straps so they never seem like a pain in the butt for me - since I'm not doing the on and off at the lift thing. But I do use my straps on very steep runs where self arrest could be an issue. And I think I really want straps - not triggers - in that situation.

It depends. I'm not sure what your self-arrest technique is. I've used my poles to self-arrest and not had problems with them releasing. On the other hand, when I was ripping on hardpack and suddenly hit a hidden pile of super-soft sticky snow at the bottom of a drop, and went a$$ over teakettle, one of my pole triggers blew, as did one of my skis, and I was deeply grateful that the poles were not part of that fall.

 

[ski diva]

I have the straps, too. I like that setup because it gives you the freedom of using different gloves or mittens, instead of the same thing all the time.

 

[Skisailor]

It depends. I'm not sure what your self-arrest technique is. I've used my poles to self-arrest and not had problems with them releasing. On the other hand, when I was ripping on hardpack and suddenly hit a hidden pile of super-soft sticky snow at the bottom of a drop, and went a$$ over teakettle, one of my pole triggers blew, as did one of my skis, and I was deeply grateful that the poles were not part of that fall.

That's exactly what would worry me. In a fall requiring self arrest, being certain that you will have at least one pole with you is critical. I dont think I want the possibility of the triggers releasing so that I am then sliding without skis OR poles. I want to be as sure as it is possible to be that my poles are with me.

So the idea that they are designed to blow is precisely why I think they aren't for me. In non self arrest terrain I don't use straps so my poles are already not attached to me where they can do damage in the case of a nasty fall.

 

[Dtrick924]

I recently switched from saber style poles to ones with straps. I find the on and off for the lift annoying. I also managed to jam my thumb the last time I fell.

As I don't ski anything steep enough to worry about needing self arrest techniques I'm going to follow @Skisailor's example and ski without my pole straps. I did it yesterday and while the flopping pole straps were slightly annoying. I'd rather that than a thumb injury.

Komperdell carries a line of freeride saber style poles. https://www.komperdell.com/en/poles/freeride/freeride_index.php

 

[geargrrl]

Holding the pole sans straps makes for really stiff armed skiing.