Swix

Sonic R1 Full Carbon Ski Poles

You wouldn't go kayaking with a canoe paddle or deep-sea fishing with a fly rod, so why do you keep touring with inferior poles? Ditch that zero and get with the Swix Sonic R1 Adjustable Carbon Ski Pole, your new backcountry-conquering hero. The Sonic is overflowing with thoughtful features, but none are more significant than the twist-lock mechanism, a new take on a classic design: simply spin the oversize nut to compress a sleeve around the lower shaft, locking the pole in place. Since the threads and locking mechanism are covered when the pole is locked, there isn't any icing up to worry about, and the nut is large enough that it functions as a mid-shaft grip on your uphill pole during steep switchbacks (let's be real, as nice as a simple adjustable pole is, you're probably not going to stop and readjust it every two minutes).

Thoughtful touches abound in the grip, too. It features a relatively rounded top to make palming easy, and a straight edge for scraping snow and ice off your skis to keep unnecessary weight at bay. There's also a front hook on the top of the grip that makes it easy to hook the front of tech bindings and unbuckle boots if you're spending a day riding lifts, and a one-pull wrist strap that makes it easy to accommodate light gloves on the uphill and heavier ones on the way down. Weighing in at under a pound per pair, the Sonic is a no-brainer if you spend most of your days getting up and down the mountain on you own two feet.