First, let’s establish that the pole is a crucial part of your equipment. The pole will help you stabilize your position in situations where you lose your balance.

Quick & generic length that works for most skiers: 2/3 of your body length will be good for most skiers. In other words, let's say you are 190cm tall. Then do the following math: 0,66*190 = 125 cm pole. 

The traditional way of measuring how long your poles should be is to standing your shoes, hold the pole upside down and grab the shaft so that the top of your hand touches the basket and the top of the pole rest on the ground. 

Keep your upper arm along the side of your body so that the elbow is positioned by your hip and the lower arm pointing forward while you hold your pole. Your arm should now have a 90 degree angle. We took the opportunity to discuss this with our friends at Snowsport Sweden, the Swedish ski instructor national team, and they recommend having poles 2/3 of your body length. Sounds about right to us but depending on your technique the poles could also be shorter or longer. 

Ski pole size for piste skiing

Our belief is that the 90 degree angle described above was developed before carving skis when the pole plant was a crucial part of the technique. Although still useful, the pole plant technique is less used today as modern skis allow even moderate skiers to turn without the help of the poles. Even if you are not German, chances are that you use the carving technique, simply because your skis perform best when you do. We believe that the recommendation from Snowsport Sweden is spot on; 2/3 of your body length will be good for most skiers.

Ski pole size for freeride skiing

We have asked twenty professional freeskiers how long they are and how long poles they use, and on average the poles are 65% of their body length. Our guess is that if you are on the same level as the professionals, 65% is a good recommendation, otherwise 2/3 is likely better for you.

Ski pole size for all-mountain skiing

All-mountain skiing is really just a combination of piste and off-piste skiing, so the same goes here –shorter poles. 

Skipole size for park skiing

When skiing in the park you want really short poles. Short poles will prevent them from hitting your skis when rotating and decrease the speed (just like keeping your arms close to your body will increase the speed of the rotation). Also, when skiing switch (backwards) shorter poles means you don’t have to raise them as high in order not to hit the ground and stop you. 

Chances are that if you are a “park rat” you already know this as well as how long you want your poles to be.

Ski pole size for backcountry skiing

Well, depending on how adventurous you are, as a backcountry skier you might consider longer poles. Longer poles will help you when you are crossing flat terrain and when traversing. In general, when going up you want longer poles and going down shorter poles. 

A vast majority will choose a telescopic pole where you can adjust the length accordingly, but a fixed length pole is considered more reliable by some. In that case, you usually grip down on the shaft when skiing down (and on the upper side when traversing). For Kang poles, we recommend our flax poles for those skiers. 

Ski pole size for touring

For touring the same goes as for backcountry skiing (above)

Check out what our ambassador and legendary freeride profile Sverre Liliequist have to say about them: https://vimeo.com/449416995

1. Place the top of the pole on a soft surface such as a rug 

2. Take on a pair of gloves in order not to hurt your hands 

3. Place the basket with the bottom up and press it firmly towards the ground until the top of the basket is tight against the slot in the tip 

4. Turn the pole in the right direction and double check that there is not space between the basket and the slot in the tip 

A: In order to remove the old ones we advice the following: 

1. Take a soft cloth and cover the upside of the basket 

2. Place an open-end wrench (or similar tool that fits neatly around the shaft) on top of the cloth, with the shaft placed in the U-shape of the wrench 

3. Take a hammer and strike downwards on the wrench in order for the basket to come off. Try not to leave marks neither on the basket nor the shaft/tip