Winter in Minnesota means one thing—SNOW. And if you are on outdoors person who loves winter sports, that also means having the proper gear. I enjoy hiking in the winter. I find the trails covered in snow to be peaceful and grounding. But they can be treacherous with ice. And this year, my second winter in Minnesota, I was in search of some beginner level trekking poles that would not break the bank. After looking at various brands and prices, I decided on the High Trek premium ultralight trekking poles.
Description: Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles with Sweat Absorbing EVA Grips. They come with Tungsten Tips and Flip Locks, removable rubber ferrules, and mud/snow baskets. Perfect for those who want to try poles without spending tons of money.
Accessory Kit: Includes Monster feet, snow baskets, and a convenient carrying bag. It also come with protective covers for the tungsten carbide tips. The accessory kit can be purchased with the poles or seperately.
Price: $$
PROS
Weight. As by their name description, these poles are made with ultralight aluminum and weighing only 8.7 ounces each—a welcomed featured for all hikers but especially those with joint problems as it creates softer impacts during hikes.
Adjustment. My favorite feature of these poles is the ‘flip locks’ for quick and easy adjustment. Why is it my favorite? Because the twist locks sometimes get loose as you are hiking. The flip locks keeps the poles in place at the adjusted height you desire. By the way, these poles are adjustable from 25” to 53” making them especially perfect for those of us who are tall. Note: The instructions say to check the screws on the locking clips. Please do so before use because if they are not tightened, they can come loose.
Grips: These poles have large, ergonomically designed EVA handles which is great if like me, you have large hands. I have long fingers (I am a 6’1” female) and these handles are very comfortable. In addition, they come with adjustable wrist-straps. Many underestimate the importance of the wrist straps to increase comfort and security of those poles, so this was a big pro for me.
Colors: I am a girl and color is important to me. The poles come in a variety of colors (the sky blue was my personal choice).
CONS
Fragility: as entry-level hiking poles, these are great, but I would not recommend them for super challenging terrain.
Locking mechanism. As mentioned above, the instructions say to check the screws on the locking clips. If they are not tightened, they can come loose. My problem with this is that not everybody reads instructions and if they do not, they may lose a clip screw.
Final thoughts: I have used these poles in uneven dirt trails and on snow covered ones, and while they do great on dirt, I feel they do much better on snow uneven trails. The tungsten tips look fragile but do not fear, they worked amazingly especially going over ice. I tend to hike on terrain with high elevation gains and steep inclines/declines, and the poles are sturdy and provided great stability. My knees thanked me for these. Will highly recommend for beginners.
*** equipment photo credit: Amazon (this is not an affiliate link)