I had a chance to try it out climbing Mt. Ellinor with Mr.AMX on June 15th. We ran into a good section of snow and were able to test our snow spikes, ice axes (Mr.AMX has the Raven in 75cm), and our snow baskets on our trekking poles. I also did some impromptu glissade work, but that’s a story for another day.

The matte finish on the shaft and head is fantastic. If you are going to have extra gear like an ice ax it helps when it looks cool! All kidding aside it is a hardy finish and provide a nice grip. As with other equipment in my arsenal I am no expert with an ice ax but the concepts are fairly simple. If anyone is looking for a good entry level ax that will still be useful after you’ve gained some experience I would recon this is the one to get. I did get it after all.

The internet will tell you that the Black Diamond Apline Carbon Cork trekking poles are where it’s at. Why reinvent the wheel, right? Just do what the internet tells you and save up for the Black Diamond poles. At one half pound each and full carbon fiber shaft construction they don’t disappoint. 

The first thing I did when they arrived was to remove the wrist straps and mud baskets. Why you may ask? Because the internet told me to. And we’ve already established that we do what the internet tells us. I’ve had a chance to climb Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic National Park with these poles and they were fantastic! The carbide tip barely shows any of the use and the included snow baskets took the abuse from my snow spikes without skipping a beat.

These poles feature the Flicklock Pro steel clamps for a very positive lock. I use my gear hard and these poles are designed to stand up to the abuse. The handle is all cork, with a foam grip beneath if you need to quickly adjust where you are grabbing the pole. I’m all about cork, not so much about foam. If they made an all cork version I would have made that purchase. That being said the foam performs excellently and I was able to transition from the main grip and axillary grip seamlessly. 

I will be putting these poles through their paces with TMEJ and reporting back.

UPDATE 07/29/17: When you have fifty pounds on your back you better have some trekking poles. These poles held up great. After about forty miles of hard trail use the carbide tips still look almost new. The softer plastic housings for the tips are showing wear as would be expected from bashing around on rocks. The cork and foam grips worked flawlessly, as well as the Flicklock Pro adjusters. With miles of long steep descending trails I put full weight on these poles and didn’t experience any issues with locks slipping or poles deflecting. I have and will continue to recommend these to anyone who will listen.