The first time I used walking sticks, they felt heavy, awkward and sometimes really annoying.
It was February 2017 and my then-boyfriend (now husband) had convinced me to switch a day of skiing in Telluride for a snowshoeing adventure. I had never snowshoed before and remember feeling unsteady, trying to figure out how to use my big snowshoes and poles.
“Right foot, left hand. Left foot, right hand,” I said quietly as I tried to avoid stepping on my equipment and keep my balance while climbing several hundred feet up the Jud Wiebe Trail.
I was definitely inexperienced – there are pictures to show I wore jeans during the trip – but also frustrated. Why would anyone use these seemingly impractical poles that only added chaos when hiking?
It turns out there are many reasons, from improving stability to reducing pressure on knees and joints and getting a full-body workout. The use of walking sticks raises hikers’ heart rates, several studies have discovered, and some experts suggest that it also boosts blood flow to the upper extremities.
This discovery has recently turned me into a walking stick enthusiast. When I hike without them, my fingers swell – and painfully so – as if they’re latex gloves blown up like balloon animals. With walking poles, my hands feel great. It's that simple.
My realization of the benefits of walking sticks is, of course, nothing new. Walking sticks and staffs “have been around in many forms for as long as people have been walking,” said Rachel Gross, an assistant professor of history at the University of Colorado Denver and co-director of the school’s Public History Program. Throughout history, walking sticks, staffs, and canes were also used as tools for self-defense, storytelling and as status symbols.
“In that sense, this is an old technology with new materials, and it looks different but serves the same function as it did before, which is extra support and easing the weight on joints,” she said.
For her new book, “Shopping All the Way to the Woods: How the Outdoor Industry Sold Nature to America,” Gross researched the history of recreational gear and its cultural significance. She said guidebooks from the 1950s through the 1980s suggest poles were historically seen as luxuries – not necessities. Most referred to using a single walking stick and often suggested picking up a piece of bamboo or wood at the trailhead to suffice.
“The terminology is pretty new because ‘walking sticks’ doesn’t exist in any of those materials. Usually, ‘walking staff’ is the preferred terminology from the 1950s to ‘80s. That indicates something important, which is walking sticks are used in pairs and staffs are used singularly,” Gross said.
That’s why Gross also credits cross-country skiing, in particular, with helping evolve the accessory from an optional tool to a sought-after commercial product in the late-20th century.
Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, ski poles were also made of bamboo in the mid-1900s, and mountaineers, especially in Europe, sometimes used them to hike alpine terrain. According to Sven Brunso, spokesperson for pole manufacturer LEKI, it wasn’t until 1978 that people began taking their utility seriously.
That year, mountaineers Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climbed Mount Everest using a pair of LEKI poles, engineered in 1974 from aluminum. (The company still produces that model, the Makalu, to this day.) Their expedition was significant not just for that, but also because they were the first adventurers to climb Everest without using contained oxygen.
“Many people thought using poles was somewhat of a crutch. That (expedition) launched the platform for us,” Brunso said.
Using poles for everyday hiking and mountaineering gained popularity in the Alps in the 1970s and ’80s, Brunso said, and that might also be where the modern vernacular originated.
“It started in mountaineering and trickled down into ‘trekking,’ which is the European term for what we call hiking,” he said.
Since its creation in 1948, LEKI has produced numerous poles as technology and materials have evolved. Brunso argues that the fundamentals of hiking poles have not changed much in the past 50 years, but the company has innovated to make the equipment more comfortable and practical.
One of its proudest innovations was the integration of the speed lock, which enabled poles to be adjusted on the fly. That way hikers can shorten their poles when climbing uphill and lengthen them going downhill to maintain the ergonomic benefits.
Over the years, the company also tried different kinds of handles to ease hand cramping, prevent blisters and remove moisture, and created numerous tips to make poles appropriate in more settings, even indoors. Brunso said LEKI sells more than 50 pole models designed for trekking, trail running and Nordic walking.
“It’s all about giving you the feeling you’re comfortable and supported,” he said.
I don’t have a specific brand that I prefer. There are countless styles and weights; some fold down to fit in backpacks and others remain a static height. It’s really up to your personal preference and budget, as well as the outdoor activities you plan to use them for.
Brunso, however, said that you get what you pay for in this space. Depending on what the poles are made of, they could be at risk of bending under stress, he said. And if you’re traveling by airplane to a recreation destination, the poles need to fold down to fit in your checked luggage.
He suggested testing or renting a pair at your local outdoor outfitter and ensuring they are the right size before buying.
Or, as Gross notes, there’s always the option to pick up a stick at the trailhead.
