The Importance of the Pole Plant

The pole plant is one of the most overlooked parts of skiing. For those not yet skiing parallel, poles are great for propelling across flats, getting up after falls, and keeping balance on magic carpets. For parallel skiers a pole plant can be an integral tool to help them ski better.

When in the turn should you pole plant? If you answered "at the beginning of the turn", while technically correct, you are probably pole planting too late. Skiers who think of the pole plant as the beginning of the turn generally start to extend and turn their skis into the new turn before they pole plant. The pole plant is the link between two turns. Because one turn begins when the last ends, thinking of the pole plant at the end of the turn puts it in the right spot.

When skiing medium to larger turns, the pole plant is more of a pole "touch" and is used primarily as a timing device. For these types of turns the pole touch is forward towards the tips of your skis. This changes in short radius turns and moguls where the pole plant becomes a strong plant and is further from your body and not as far forward. By reaching your pole down the hill in line with your boots in short radius and moguls, the pole plant does more than control rhythm and symmetry. It has the folowing additional benefits:

1. It gets the pole out of the way as your skis slide into the next turn. I have seen many people trip over their poles in steep terrain when the skis must slide to begin a turn.
2. You can do a shorter radius turn because you don't have to ski out and around a pole that is planted forward towards your tip
3. It forces your downhill shoulder down the hill so that it is parallel with the slope, thus allowing you to angulate properly over your outside ski.
4. It stabilizes the upper body so that you are steering with your legs, not your upper body
5. It allows you to recenter your body over your skis and down the hill between turns

So the next time you are out skiing, think about where and when you are planting your pole. For short radius turns and moguls reach down the hill in line with your boots and plant that pole firmly. You will be amazed at the results.