Grivel Gets Poles For 2009

Another hot snippet from the Kendal Outdoor Retail Show (KORS) is that snowsport specialist Grivel is about to get into poles in a big way.

Apparently the company recent bought a very large trekking pole factory and, as of next spring 2009, will be selling a range of characteristically yellow poles. What's really interesting about them though, is that they use a new closure system which should give Black Diamond and their established Flickloc mechanism pause for thought.

Standard internal pole mechanisms can go horribly wrong in extreme conditions, but the new Grivel clamp is completely external, very simple and should be easy to use with gloved hands.

The poles come in two and three-section versions and in lighter, thinner or thicker and heavier variants, depending on your priorities. There's also a very neat super-lightweight pole that uses short sections held together a bit like tent poles - see confusing pic above.

Interesting stuff and available from early next year. More at www.grivel.com