Sneak peek at next year's gear: Black Diamond Poles – Video

Black Diamond has two innovative new ski pole designs available for the 2016/2017 ski season, the Black Diamond Traverse Pro Pole and the Black Diamond Helio Carbon Pole. We got a sneak peek of both these poles at the Winter Outdoor Retailer Show last month in Salk Lake City and here’s what we found out:

Black Diamond Traverse Pro Pole

This is a new ski touring pole from Black Diamond that incorporates everything you need for backcountry skiing plus the added safety of a releasable strap. The features include:

- Fully adjustable

- Comes in two sizes

- Metal flick lock

- Soft touch grip

- Safety release strap with a built in switch to full lock out the system so it’s no longer releasable

Black Diamond Helio Carbon Pole

This is the lightest pole on the market and 1/2 the weight of the lightest pole Black Diamond currently manufactures. You really can’t understand how light this pole is until you pick one up. The features include:

- Full carbon pole top to bottom

- Full bladder mould design