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Discovery

We are in the ski resort of La Cluzas for a press trip. On the morning of the first day, it's time for us to discover the slopes. Our host, Dimitri awaits us at the bottom of the slopes. I notice in his hands a pair of atypical ski poles. The grip is abnormally long and does not have a strap.

I've seen dozens of kinds of ski poles before, but never so.

I can’t help to ask him where those poles come from and here he is, telling me the great story of Alain’s ski poles.

Alain's ski poles were created by Alain Desez, mountain guide in Chamonix.

Alain was one of the first French people at the summit of Mount Everest. During this expedition, Alain refined his ski poles prototypes and then produced the current model.

He received a gold medal for it at the Lepine competition in 2011 which rewards the best inventions.

How it works

The principle of Alain's ski poles is to offer a long EVA grip with a length of 70 cm.

EVA is a thermoplastic polymer that offers exceptional abrasion resistance and grip comfort.

The sticks do not include wrist straps, because the principle of Alain's ski poles is to allow the hands to be placed freely on the poles and to keep an angle of 90 °.

The pole is an ultra light single strand. Single strand means maximum rigidity and resistance.

Disadvantage, you can't fold them to store them in your backpack.

But thanks to their long grip, they can easily be strapped on the outside of the bag or even below the straps for short passages where both hands are necessary.

Personally I was a big fan of telescopic poles until the day a pair let me down during a climb at the Mont Blanc du Tacul. The clamping system had not supported the gel. Nothing serious, but if it had broken in a ski couloir, I would have much

less appreciated ....

For what use ?

The first use where I wanted to try those poles was for ski touring.

It is in this area that the long grip works miracles !

You have already noticed that when ski touring your hands must constantly adapt to the slope of the terrain. Either you are on a banked slope and the grip of your upstream pole is too high, while the grip of your downstream pole is too low. Either you are on a steep slope and to keep your hands on the grips you must force like a donkey on your arms to be able to push.

With Alain's ski poles, no more inconvenience, the hands come naturally to position themselves on the grip to maintain optimal comfort. And with its 40 positions, you have plenty of ways to move your hands along the handle ...

Why no straps ?

First in ski touring, the wrist strap comes to limit your movements along the grip. To use the 70 cm of grip, you must continually put on and take off the strap, tedious and useless.

Then in freeride, the use of wrist straps is not recommended.

If you are caught in an avalanche the poles may reduce your ability to try to swim on the surface and may even drag you to the bottom.

In addition, if you have an airbag, the stick can come between your hand and the handle

if you have to trigger the airbag .....