Using trekking poles on steep descents

Why poles earn their keep on a long descent

Ask any walker what hurts after a big day in the hills and you'll get the same answer: the front of the knees, and the quads above them. On a descent, every step is a braking movement. Your thigh muscles lengthen under load, absorbing several times your body weight with each footfall. Do that for 600 metres of descent off a Lakeland fell, or the long drop into a Cornish cove, and the wear adds up quickly.

Trekking poles share that load. Used well, they give you two extra points of contact, taking some of the braking force through your arms and shoulders instead of your legs. Research on walking poles suggests they can reduce the load through the knees by roughly a fifth to a quarter on descents. Just as importantly, they improve your balance on wet rock and loose gravel — exactly the ground where descents turn unpleasant. The benefit isn't magic, though. It comes from how you set them up and how you plant them.

Setting the length: uphill, downhill and in between

Start with the standard check on flat ground. Stand upright, hold the grip with the tip resting on the ground, and your elbow should sit at roughly 90 degrees. From there, adjust to the terrain in front of you.

• Uphill: shorten by 5–10 cm so you can push down and drive yourself up without hunching or reaching above your head.
• Downhill: lengthen by 5–10 cm so you can reach ahead and lower yourself into each step rather than waving the poles about beside you.
• Traversing a slope: make the downhill-side pole a couple of centimetres longer, so both tips meet the ground at the same time.

Most walkers never touch the length after the car park. On a route that climbs and drops all day, that means the poles are set wrongly half the time. Stop at the top of a big descent and lengthen them. It takes fifteen seconds and it changes everything. Do check the markings on your poles — most have a maximum extension mark that mustn't be exceeded — and keep the locking clamps snug rather than forced.

Planting firmly on loose or wet ground

On scree, gravel, mud, wet grass and greasy rock, placement matters far more than it does on a well-made path. Aim the tip to land slightly ahead of where your foot is going, and plant it before you commit your weight. Then step. A hesitant pole that skitters about finds nothing; a firm, deliberate one holds.

• Keep the pole as close to vertical as you can while it's under load. An angled pole slides.
• On wet grass and mud, angle the tip slightly into the slope so it digs in rather than skating downhill.
• On rock slabs, a carbide tip can skate alarmingly. Look for a crack, a pebble or the edge of a step, or swap to rubber paws for the day.
• Fit your baskets on soft ground. They stop the pole sinking past the tip and give you something solid to push against.

Coastal paths, steps and steep ground

Coastal paths are often crueller than mountain tracks. The South West Coast Path, Pembrokeshire and the Cleveland Way all serve up endless flights of stone and timber steps, and that's where poles need a slightly different touch. Plant each tip on the tread of a step rather than the stone lip, and lift it clear before it catches on the next edge. A pole hooked behind a step edge is a fall waiting to happen. Keep them closer in, and shorter, than you would on open hillside.

On genuinely steep ground, try lowering both poles first, taking your weight through them, and then stepping down. It turns a slither into something almost controlled. On hands-on-rock territory — a scramble, a rocky step, anywhere you need your fingers — collapse the poles and strap them to your pack. They're no help to you there.

Straps, hands and a few small habits

Use the wrist straps properly. Push your hand up through the loop from underneath, so the strap crosses the base of your palm, then hold the grip lightly. The strap carries the load; your hand just steers. Grip hard all day and your forearms will ache long before your legs do.

Two habits worth building. First, lean slightly forward from the hips on descents — leaning back to feel safe actually loads the knees more and makes you brake harder with every step. Second, shorten your stride and keep a light, quick rhythm. Poles work with a rhythm; they fight against a hesitant, stamping pace.

Looking after them, and knowing when to put them away

Poles live a hard life. Wipe the joints, clean grit out of the locking mechanism and dry them out properly at home, especially after a salt-laden day on the coast. A twist-lock that slips mid-descent is worth sorting before it becomes interesting. Check the tips as well — once the carbide has worn flat, replace them. A blunt tip and a worn basket is a pole half asleep.

Finally, be honest about when you don't need them. Carried in a hand on a flat, easy stretch, they're just weight. Collapse them, stow them on the pack, and get them out again when the ground tilts. That way, when a long descent does arrive, your poles are set right, planted well, and doing the job you bought them for.