Why descents are the hard part

Most of us think of the climb as the effort and the descent as the reward. Your knees know better. Going uphill, the muscles around the knee work concentrically — shortening as they push — which is reasonably efficient and fairly kind to joints. Going downhill, they work eccentrically: lengthening under load, absorbing the impact of every step. That is why the long, loose descent from a big fell can leave you more battered than the climb ever did.

Anyone who has come down the endless stone steps of the Pyg Track, or dropped off the back of Great Gable towards Sty Head with tired legs, will recognise that dull ache above the kneecap by the time the car park appears. It is not weakness. It is simple physics, repeated a few thousand times.

Two poles give you two extra points of contact. Instead of your legs alone managing the drop, some of that braking force passes through your arms, shoulders and back — muscles that have been largely idle on the way up. You also gain a fourth and fifth contact point with the ground, which steadies you on wet grass, loose scree and the eroded, greasy paths that pass for rights of way in the Pennines. The benefits stack up quickly:

• Reduced knee load on descents, as your upper body shares the braking.
• Better balance on tussocky ground, bog and river crossings.
• More forward drive uphill, especially with a heavy pack.
• Less swelling and stiffness in the hands and arms from dangling them all day.
• Greater confidence late in the day, when tiredness makes you clumsy.

Setting the length correctly

Poorly adjusted poles are worse than none. Get the basics right before you walk anywhere.

• On the flat: stand upright with the tip on the ground beside your foot. With your hand on the grip, your elbow should sit at roughly a right angle.
• Uphill: shorten the pole by five to ten centimetres so you can plant it ahead without hunching your shoulder.
• Downhill: lengthen by five to ten centimetres so you can reach ahead without stooping or over-extending.

Adjust in small increments and do it as the ground changes, not once at the start. Two or three fine adjustments over a long descent makes a real difference to how your shoulders feel by the end.

Using the strap properly

This is the single most common error. Most walkers grip the handle like a walking stick, which tires the forearm and wastes the pole's potential.

Push your hand up through the loop from below, then bring the palm down over the top of the grip, so the strap runs across the back of your hand. Now the strap — not your fingers — carries the load. Your hand can stay relaxed and open, and the pole will still take weight on every plant. Practise this on a short section of tarmac or a grassy slope before you need it on a wet descent.

Technique that actually spares your knees

Plant, don't stab. A pole that jabs at the ground provides little support; a pole that lands firmly and stays put gives you something to push against or lower yourself on.

• On moderate descents: plant each pole slightly ahead of you as the opposite foot lands. This is close to a normal walking rhythm and feels natural within a few minutes.
• On steep descents: reach further ahead, plant both poles and lower yourself down, letting your arms take a share of the drop. Keep the poles more upright than you think.
• On steep climbs: shorten the poles and push down and back with each step, using your arms as extra pistons.
• On rough ground: use the poles as feelers before committing your weight, particularly in bogs and loose rock.

Mistakes that cancel out the gains

• Poles too long. You end up leaning back or walking with raised shoulders, which is exhausting.
• Gripping hard. If your forearms ache, you are using the handle instead of the strap.
• Leaning on them. Poles should assist your posture, not replace it. Keep your trunk upright and your steps deliberate.
• Dragging the tips. This wears them down quickly and tells you the pole is too long.
• Taking them onto hands-on ground. On a scramble, fold and stow them on your pack. Poles and rock require different hands.

When to carry them and when to leave them

Poles earn their weight on long days with big descents, when carrying a heavy pack, on tussocky or boggy ground, and on any walk where tiredness will arrive before the finish. They are genuinely useful in winter on hard, icy paths, and for anyone managing a knee injury or recovering from one.

Leave them behind, or stow them, for sustained scrambling, narrow exposed ridges where you want both hands free, and very short lowland walks where the fiddle is not worth it. Folding poles stow neatly on a pack for the mixed days — most British hill days are exactly that.

One last tip: practise on a familiar descent you know well. Take a local hill, adjust the poles as the gradient changes, and notice how your knees feel compared with the last time. That small experiment is usually enough to make poles a permanent part of your kit.