[at-l] Worth repeating - hiking poles

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

For Lilla - a change of subject (sorta) ------

There have been some words spoken about NOT taking hiking poles on the 
Trail.  Now it's none of my business whether anyone actually takes them or 
not - or what kind they take.  But before making any final decisions, y'all 
might want to consider the following article that appeared in the PCTA 
Communicator in April 2002.  Meant to do this a couple days ago but it took 
a while to find the thing again.

Walk softly,
Jim

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Michael Hodgson, a 1995 Eco-Challenger and publisher of SNEWS, an on-line 
newsletter for the outdoor industry,  was totally dubious about hiking 
poles, but agreed to try them on a four-day Colorado mountain trek.

“I realized I’d never had such a feeling of power and control while hiking.  
Not only that \, but at the endo of the day, my knees had never felt better 
or my legs less fatigued.  Never again wil I hike without poles” he 
reported.

Hodgson’s wife, Theresa Iknoian, co-publisher of SNEWS and an exercise 
physiologist, noted that pole users showed increased muscular use throughout 
the body, turning hiking into something a lot more like cross-country 
skiing.”

She added “This year we’ve seen two more in-depth studies, from 
Steadman-Hawkins Foundation in Vail and the University of Massachusetts.  
These show a general reduction of 4.4 percent in impacts to the body when a 
hikers foot hits the ground.  The conclusion was, if you use poles, you’ll 
reduce the possibility of tendonitis, and other painful injuries to hips, 
thighs, calves, knees and ankles.

You can use the same poles in winter for snowshoeing of Nordic skiing – just 
add the large snow-basket to the pole; for summer, snap on the smaller 
trekking basket, or no basket at all.  To make poles even more versatile, 
different tips can be added to provide balance for any kind of surface from 
snow or rubble to cement or even interior floors.  And one further point, 
poles provide upper body exercise which is lacking in simple trudging.

When I stared snowshoeing, nobody used poles.  About 15 years ago, some of 
us took up poles, and today, it is practically unthinkable to go without 
poles.  It will happen in hiking.

Bear Klaw
In the Pacific Crest Trail Communicator, April-May 2002

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