I had never used walking poles before this trip and the information I was told was they are essential for the O and advised for the W.

I asked around my hostel room, from the people who had just finished and there seemed to be mixed opinions. I was keen on the idea of having to rent them and my bag was heavy enough. While I was thinking about it, someone came along a gave me a set which had been given to him before he started. So I couldn’t say no to that!

I used them day 1 and then not again till day 6. I would put a lot of this down to not knowing the correct way of using them. But I didn’t find them useful and they just got in the way. They were good in exposed spots where the wind was high.

On day 6 I thought I’d give them another shot and found them quite good for scooting a lot the flat terrain.

Going over the pass day 8 I gave one of them to another walker as it was very snowy. It was nice to the added grip. But I found myself carrying it a lot still. Coming down from the pass it was very slippy. I being able to check the step below you was very useful.

Day 9 when I was travelling alone in the slippy conditions down from Camp Paso I was really pleased to have the sticks.

A lot of people on the trail didn’t have them and they survived, so you can to it without them. But if the weather turns bad then you’ll be pleased you’ve got them. I would probably rent them if I did it again or at least try to borrow/buy some before you arrive. The weight is annoying because I didn’t use them very much. I had very good weather for most of my trip and when it was bad I was pleased to have them.