Ski pole
A ski pole is a bar, which - today usually in pairs - with almost all types of skiing for supporting, for pushing, for erecting, to hold the balance and support of movement (see use of poles ) is used. Some types of skiing such as the fun-carving and ski jumping waive ski poles.
Historical
In the early days of alpine skiing, a single rod of wood was used with a length of up to 2.50 m. The athlete held the rod with both hands and put him while driving on the inside of the curve.
In Nordic skiing, where you often traveling at the ski in flat landscapes, there were from the beginning two sticks with plates according to the principle of the snowshoe. These sticks were also soon be equipped with straps of leather.
Design
Today poles are usually hollow bars made of light metal, fiber reinforced plastic, or combinations of these materials. The diameter of the rod is usually in a range of one to two centimeters, typical lengths are in the range of waist-high in alpine skiing to suck up during skating cross-country skiing. The poles are bent so that they can be kept on the body particularly aerodynamically in the downhill squat for downhill skiing. The shape of the Abfahrtsskistöcke was developed by Erwin Stricker.
At the upper end of the ski pole, a handle is attached. The handle is usually a wrist strap or similar device attached which ensures that the floor briefly loose or can be released without it being lost.
The lower end of the ski pole is usually conical in shape with a length of 5-10 cm and run in a hard tip. About a hand's breadth above the tip is a so-called plate prevents the floor from penetrating too deeply into the snow during use. The dish has - depending on the application - different shape and size. Plate for downhill skiing are usually round with a few centimeters in diameter. Plate for use in deep snow are often star-shaped with 10-15 cm diameter. Plate for cross-country skiing are asymmetrically shaped and usually have little surface seen in the direction in front of the bar.
A special form of the ski pole is the telescoping pole, which can be adjusted in length and push them together for ease of transport. Telescoping poles are mainly used by ski mountaineers and ( snowshoe ) immigrants.