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The No Poles Thread to End All No Poles Threads: An Essay by Mr. WiRipper2

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ThaLetterM.
Posts: 8609 - Karma: 1,613
Ladies and gentlemen, I am a believer.

Yesterday, I was at my local gnar shredding organization Alpine Valley, in Kewaskum Wisconsin. I have having what i could only describe as a shitty ass day. Every 270 i did i landed on my ass, my jumps were not dialed, and i was jusy generally not confident at all.

It was at this exact time, as i was crusing down the park, that i remembered the video on Film the Idea website of andy and pep at park city. it was the most stylish video i had seen in a while. then i realized that the thing that made it stylish and sick and original was the fact that these two world class freeskiers werent using poles.

with visions of pep fuja's hands-in-his-pockets-no-poles-nosepress dancing in my head, i dropped my poles in the left line and skated up to the loading zone. i got on the lift, feeling naked without my once necessary poles.

what a surprise that day was. skiing without poles was the most fun i have had skiing in my entire life. i just felt so, free, uninhibited, and, though you may think the opposite, i felt as steezy as samuel l jackson nigga. immediatley after dropping me poles, all my tricks were automatically dialed, as if by magic. spinning on and off of rails felt so natural and easy without 3 foot pieces of aluminum on my hands, aand i was able to hold my grabs for what seemed like hours on my spins.

kids, all of you that respond to a no poles thread with a resounding "no poles? gay faggot homo shit fucker penis licker" are about to have your lives changed. dont worry, i was one of you. i always thought that without poles, I would feel awkward and un stylie. in fact, i felt the exact opposite. so next time youre out on the hill and youre not feeling it so much, drop those useless sticks in the lift line. youll be glad you did.
Feb 5 2007 12:03PM
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ax_murderer
Posts: 3322 - Karma: 30
no poles is gay
Feb 8 2007 8:38AM
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salamander
Posts: 815 - Karma: 16
ok, when you leave the park you look like a fucking idiot and cant ski for shit.
Feb 8 2007 12:16PM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
This site is incredible.

6 monthes ago you were all bashing no poles soooooo redic hard. No one could even joke about no using poles.

A few pros pick it up and a few good people talk it up here saying it’s fun.

Next thing you know all you people who bashed it sooooo hard and said you would never do it are givener no poles. Unbelievable.

Grow up and get a mind for yourselves.
Feb 8 2007 1:12PM
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shawnm1260
Posts: 3219 - Karma: 66
soooo well said ^
Feb 8 2007 2:57PM
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theconcept1212
Posts: 963 - Karma: 50
i just started crossing my skis in my jump tricks, its real fun,
i just started skiing without poles, its real fun
Feb 8 2007 4:30PM
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Ar5king
Posts: 413 - Karma: 14
either way why the hell does it matter???
Feb 8 2007 5:57PM
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Schoening
Posts: 14332 - Karma: 1,268
.
Feb 8 2007 6:28PM
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CZA
Posts: 1715 - Karma: 202
no your poles arent 2 feet long
Feb 8 2007 6:36PM
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Canuker
Posts: 4730 - Karma: 165
never again, i tried it and i felt naked i hated it i had nothing to plant with, and i hate skating with skis. Never again!
Feb 11 2007 9:19PM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
yeah its fun with no poles for sure, the only reason i like poles is cause when your really off balance on a rail you can use the weight to keep you on, and it helps for spins off too.

but without poles you feel soooo free and everything feels floaty, i think i do better on jumps without poles, ive always felt akward and unnatural spinning off jumps with poles, then the first jump i did without them i felt sooooo much better and more comfortable.
plus i think no poles looks more steezy, it just looks funny with poles flying everywhere, kinda out of place.
Feb 11 2007 9:51PM
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dubage
Posts: 1127 - Karma: 688
no poles is the progression of skiing
Feb 11 2007 9:54PM
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steezeninja
Posts: 1271 - Karma: 731
No its not the progression of skiing. Skiing without poles is just taking another step closer to looking like rollerblading on skis. Its just not cool. I have not tried skiing without poles, but I will try it next weekend. But I do not want the sport moving in the no pole direction. Its just down right wrong. But I think no poles are good for practice.
Feb 11 2007 10:06PM
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steezeninja
Posts: 1271 - Karma: 731
No its not the progression of skiing. Skiing without poles is just taking another step closer to looking like rollerblading on snow. Its just not cool. I have not tried skiing without poles, but I will try it next weekend. But I do not want the sport moving in the no pole direction. Its just down right wrong. But I think no poles are good for practice.
Feb 11 2007 10:06PM
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Schoening
Posts: 14332 - Karma: 1,268
i wouldn't say its progression. whats there to progress by dropping poles?

i'de say no poles is more of a Fad or style i dunno
Feb 11 2007 10:10PM
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dubage
Posts: 1127 - Karma: 688
let me rephrase that, no poles is the progression of park skiing
Feb 11 2007 10:11PM
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Schoening
Posts: 14332 - Karma: 1,268
how is it progressing anything?

(im not hating on nopoles, because i love it and rock it sometimes but just trying to prove you wrong)
Feb 11 2007 10:13PM
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dubage
Posts: 1127 - Karma: 688

tricks are harder switch, so switch skiing was the progression, tricks are harder (or atleast different, and harder to make look really good) without poles, so nopoles is progression

Feb 11 2007 10:13PM
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steezeninja
Posts: 1271 - Karma: 731
No its not! Its not the progression of the sport.
Feb 11 2007 10:21PM
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holyDINOSAURS
Posts: 7038 - Karma: 639
im probably one of the biggest no poles advocates. but i had my Scott Punishers stolen today off of whistler. and so i skied park all day with no poles. and it was very interesting. some things came very easyt like grabbing. and shifty spins felt awesome. and all the racer kids in the park made fun of me. ill never make fun of a no pole kid again.
Feb 11 2007 10:51PM
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bailer
Posts: 2178 - Karma: 14
so.. skiing with your hand up your ass is the next logical step?
Feb 11 2007 10:53PM
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bp.lando
Posts: 9297 - Karma: 1,495
ALPINE VALLEY IS IN EAST TROY WISCONSIN

SUNBURST IS IN KEWASKUM

NOOOB
Feb 11 2007 11:01PM
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Mahre
Posts: 2507 - Karma: 490
i speak at frequencies dogs would have trouble hearin
Feb 12 2007 12:17AM
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Love_Wins.
Posts: 5536 - Karma: -1
This is one argument I don't know that I agree with, the whole point of poles is to keep your hands up and driving forward, essentially to help keep you from riding in the backseat, and if you can do that without the poles and have a solid stance, I don't think you'd need them anywhere.
Feb 12 2007 5:33AM
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Silence
Posts: 16030 - Karma: 150
funny that coz pep + andy did it in an edit, its automatically good
Feb 12 2007 5:50AM
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bpalmer
Posts: 2408 - Karma: 93
so many little NS kids are going to spend half of their lives trying to figure out what the Mayor is saying here.
Feb 14 2007 5:59PM
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RockandRollTroll
Posts: 1155 - Karma: 7
alpine valley aint in kewaskum Brah, your thinking of sunburst
Feb 14 2007 6:31PM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
No poles is not progression. It's actually regression. No poles and big jumps have been done since the 70's. It's called arials, and last I checked it's still gay. Technical and hard, but gay. you may as well call it gymnastics on snow that you are driving towards. You're taking the skiing out of the sport. Here's a piece of advice for you kids; get your ass out of the backseat, learn how to make a turn, stop holding your hands by your crotch thinking you've got "steeze", grab your poles, SACK UP and take your park progression to the entire mountain. At least that way you can still call it skiing.
Feb 14 2007 6:37PM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
arials is like a totally different sport, newschool skiing is not from the 70's or the olympics. and no poles in this new sport of newschool skiing is a new thing so pretty much its progression.
and who cares if it takes the skiing out of the sport. 95% of peoples definition of skiing is people in tight clothes going 5mph down a groomer, if thats skiing then i dont want to be a skier.
if people dont want to ski the whole mountain and have good form and all that shit then dont make them, skiing and newschool skiing are pretty much different sports.

im guessing you dont bitch about skateboarders not being able to do slalom turns good on a longboard, just like it would be gay to bitch about park skiers not being able to do good slalom turns.
Feb 14 2007 11:38PM
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nonexistant
Posts: 428 - Karma: 27
depends on who you are an on your style...if you shit anyway, you still shit, but it helps you improve..with your balance an awareness an stuff.easier to learn grabs an all.kids in ski lessons, they learn to ski without poles.
personal opinion, no way to end the argument
Feb 14 2007 11:46PM
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thetruth.
Posts: 13 - Karma: 10
all you fuckin dickriders who started ridin no poles cause you saw other kids doin it need to step the fuck off, its annoying as hell to see kids who can barely ski with poles ridin no poles and makin complete fools of themselves just cause they saw someone good doin it.
Feb 14 2007 11:53PM
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KillerMonkey
Posts: 6436 - Karma: 109
sure, maybe carving down a groomer is easy without poles but diving into the technical stuff like the steeps and glades you will feel quite naked without ur poles. Sure you can do it but poles are here for a reason. Its not like people just decided lets add 2ft attachments to our arms for no reason. The main reasons poles came around were for timing ur turns and balancing ur turns. It does help a lot if you know how to actually use ur poles and arent just tucking them under ur arms down the whole mountain.
Feb 15 2007 12:27AM
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Love_Wins.
Posts: 5536 - Karma: -1
Oh I know, they do provide alot of balance and stability when skiing technical lines and such, but has anyone tried to actually ski the whole mountain without poles? I haven't but I'm thinking I might try now, just to see how much of a difference I notice.
Feb 15 2007 12:36AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
Arials is like a totally differnt sport? What, are you like totally a different skier? Or are you like totally a friggin' moron and spew the words 'like' and 'totally' as if you have some horrible kind of stutter? Get real, big air, tech maneuvers no poles. It's called arials. So no, no poles is not progression. You kids are so shortsighted that you cant see past the end of your dick. You think because you decide to do something that you are some kind of pioneer. Get real, where do you think the arialists first started their 'progression'? They learned in the bump fields getting air off kickers, that was their terrain park, then dropped their poles and created specific jumps much like our terrain parks. Oh, and by the way where do you get your stat that 95% of people think that skiers are groomed gapers? Last time I checked, in an actual survey of the public done before the Torino Olympics most of the public associated skiing with Warren Miller and the images they've seen in his movies. Last time I checked he wasn't filling his movies with tight pants groomer footage. And by the way, I'm no slalom skier so no I dont bitch about skiers not being able to run gates. I do bitch because park rats like yourself dont just stay in the park, you come out onto the mountain and cant make a turn to save your lives, much less avoid the poor bastard you crash into because you can't stop quickly enough from being in the back seat. The park is great, just learn how to ski first.
Feb 15 2007 12:42AM
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timoski
Posts: 3036 - Karma: 45
yea and buttering is just ballet skiing coming back.  go race some gates chump.
Feb 15 2007 12:45AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
did you forget your ritallin junior? Read my post, I'm no racer. good for you if you like to butter rails, how does that pertain to the no poles, poles argument?

Feb 15 2007 12:50AM
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Mahre
Posts: 2507 - Karma: 490
No offense man, but it's good to know you support the U.S. gay(SKI) Team.
Since when did poles make you a "skier"? Last I knew it was the skis on your feet that made the sport called "skiing".
and
Now I tell you what I think is "gay". Stereotypical closed minded fucks. Can you really tell me I don't "ski"? Today, I had a ski on each foot, and a mitten on each hand. I didn't get to hit the park though, for Baldface Lodge doesn't have one. Hell, they don't even have chairlifts.

Come on. Let kids be kids, grow up and be an adult.

Oh, and big ups to the U.S. Ski Team.
Feb 15 2007 1:07AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
ok yeah your right park and arials are like the same thing, i see skiers doing quad backflip 1080's all the time in the park, and how those arialists do rails and shit all the time, and all that awesome style they have. oh wait..... no no park skier would ever be gay enough to do some pencil triple back 1080, it wouldnt even be possible on most park jumps, arialists dont ever do rails, style means nothing to them they look like big flying penis's, they would never grab, and its been around for what 30 years? mabye more? how long have terrain parks been around? 15? and skiers have used them for what like 8? i guess im crazy for not seeing the similarity huh?

and oh wow warren miller, im sorry but that has sooooo little to do with park skiing, they have like 10 minuites of it in their 2 hour movies, and its so fucking slow mo, it takes 10 minuites to do one rail. the rest is people making the same awesome turns the rest of the movie with swooshing noises in the background. so that was kinda my point, most people think of skiing as that same old gay skiing.

and shut the fuck up about park skiers using your thousands of acres on the rest of the mountain and getting in the way.
why dont you and your spandex buddies quit having butt sex on our jumps? save your jizz for the gates.
Feb 15 2007 1:08AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
and by gay warren miller skiing i dont mean the big mountain stuff, thats cool, i mean like the whole movie is slow mo shots of people making simple little turns and spraying snow.
i dont see whats so bad about having no poles, if you can ski without them why use them? its just a floppy thing to get in the way, and some people can ski fine with them in the bc, look at mahre, and tell me he does bad without them.
you complain about park skiers skiing badly out of the park, so what difference does poles make? they are still gonna ski shitty, why does it matter to you. and seriously park skiers are pretty damn good out of the park, they are better than 90% of the other skiers/texans on the hill so why not bitch about them?
Feb 15 2007 1:20AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
as informed and well written as your response was, i think you may have misunderstood my point. I wasn't saying that poles made the skier. if you went and ripped it today without poles and never set foot in the park, great. You are out skiing, and I know you can make a turn. My analogy was to those who never leave the park, cant ski and have dropped the poles in just another step towards making it rollerblading on snow. Much like arialists who used to be bump skiers, loved the air and modified their style of skiing to fit their discipline, too many of the kids here drop the poles to further just one very small portion of the skiing world which at the end of it all, makes it very dissimilar to skiing at all.

I agree with you as well, big props to the ski team.
Feb 15 2007 1:21AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
and that is what park skiers are doing, taking it to the rest of the mountain, look at all the movies like level 1 and pbp, half of it is in the backcountry.
Feb 15 2007 1:22AM
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*DrewT*
Posts: 7768 - Karma: 481
alright I still use poles when I'm acctually skiing around in pow and stuff and I still use them quite often in the park but I'm starting to use them less and less in the park.

But I will also say this in no poles defence, this goes for outside the park too, poles only serve their purpose with rythym and timing as well as helping you keep a good forward stance. They really aren't important even while acctually skiing around, that is if you already know how to ski well. You don't need to have you hands out in front to keep a shin pressure on your boots and have a good stance, you don't need to pole plant to initiate your turn, it's just something we're used to and it's something that helps a bit.

But in truth I wouldn't be surprised to see people dropping their poles in and out of the park in the next few years because they don't serve an important purpose anywhere.
Feb 15 2007 1:30AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
you're really not that good at analogies and parallel statements are you? I made the comparison to arials skiing because those guys used to ski the whole mountain, liked one part and modified their approach to the sport to fit one very narrow aspect of it. Stay with me here: park only rats like one small part of skiing as a whole, they modify it (ie: ditch the poles) and let the rest of the sport go to crap. You see, although the two types of skiers are not exactly the same, they exhibit the same type of behavior. Most arialists will tell you that they are not good skiers, mainly becuase they didn't come from skiing. Here's another parallel, pay attention: the new schooler that has come into skiing just to be in the park is no different from a rollerblader.

I know people like Andy Mahre can rip and sometimes choose to rip sans poles out of the park. Thats great, you know why? He can actually ski. The fact remains though that all but a few, and by few I mean less than 20 pro's or so worldwide, actually ski the mountain without their poles. Why is that?

I'm not even going to get into your railing against Warren Miller, that makes no sense, if you had anything past a 6th grade education you'd know that I mentioned WM as support for my statement that his movies are what the general public thinks of when skiing comes up.

Spandex and butt sex? How old are you, ten? Seriously, read the whole post junior. I'm not a racer. I ski park and the whole mountain. with poles.
Feb 15 2007 1:35AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
my point exactly. and all but 2 use poles. ski, dont just jump.
Feb 15 2007 1:37AM
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*DrewT*
Posts: 7768 - Karma: 481
and to go along with the whole ariels argument I"ll just throw in my opinion on that.

Our type of skiing, and ariels are not the same, they're not even close, they have similarities but you could find bigger simmilarities between soccer and hockey. Ariels you go and do one jump, there is only one perfect for that ever single person is trying to obtain and that is it. Don't get me wrong I have the utmost respect for arielists, they're absolutly crazy and I know just how much time and effort they put into their training, but it's not what we do. What we do has individuality, it has variety, it has more that one jump in a row. You know what I mean. No Poles is progression, it's here to stay, accept it
Feb 15 2007 1:38AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
yeah and i am a pretty good skier outside the park already, i used to use poles for pole plants and shit but lately i found myself never using them, then one day i tried it without them in the park and it felt the same but more free, then i tried actual runs and i didnt see any change in my performance, i havent tried it on steeps and stuff, i plan to, but even if i dont do well in that stuff, there are really good people that could do fine without them in really steep hard terrain
Feb 15 2007 1:38AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
i really dont know what kind of point you are trying to make with this park vs. arials thing, it can be used for any part of skiing, racing, big mountain. racers took the turning part of skiing and added gates to be better for them, skateboarders ditched longboards so they could do tricks easier, bikers made bmx bikes to be better for tricks.
who gives a shit? is it supposed to be a bad thing?

Feb 15 2007 1:48AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
whatever though, you should really stop crying about people skiing without poles, if you dont like it thats fine, you can use poles. while me aswell as tons of other skiers have an awesome fun time without them.
they may serve a purpose but having a big ballence stick would help in alot of other sports too, but they dont do it, so why do skiers have to? because thats how most skiers do it? thats a shitty reason if you ask me.
i think your scared of progression, it takes different people and changes for a sport to progress, thats what no poles is doing, it changes the sport.
Feb 15 2007 1:53AM
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BmillsSkier
Posts: 210 - Karma: 13
last chance here junior then I'm done. The point of the analogy is by ditching poles park skiers get overly focused on one aspect of the sport and forget the "skiing" part all together, just like arialists. Anyone here except for 2 people dropping poles is doing it just for park skiing, not the rest of the mountain. If no poles is really progression and they are not necessary, then why do such innovative skiers such as McConkey, Nobis, Cattabrigia-Alosa, etc still keep their poles? Because they serve a purpose, they provide 2 extra "axises" or poins of contact that help with balance, techinique, turns, control, propulsion, and safety everywhere else on the mountain.
Feb 15 2007 1:58AM
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1-pippin
Posts: 1741 - Karma: -2
ok whats wrong with being focused on one part of it? you may think its bad but thats not everyone elses opinion, mabye some think its good?
and like i said above, im starting to ski alot without poles all over the mountain too, and im doing really good, i see alot of other skiers starting to do it too.

why do skiers like mcconkey use them? because it is easier, and they can ski better with them than without, but whats wrong with an extra challenge, i like using no poles in the backcountry mostly because it feels awesome and its alot more fun imo, but also because it adds more to it, there is nothing wrong with having to work harder when you get something out of it?
Feb 15 2007 2:06AM
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timoski
Posts: 3036 - Karma: 45
the thing is....skiing wihtout poles makes you a BETTER skier.  poles are basically crutches that make you have better form.  you don't really need them, you just get used to them and need them after a while (except on gnar).  you learn to edge different and put your body in different more efficient positions without poles.  think about not starting a turn by punching your left arm out, but rather by shifting your upper body weight, you have better balance and youre just more solid.
Feb 15 2007 2:07AM
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