Asnes Spitsbergen Expedition ski pole (pros and cons).
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2019 6:11 am
Hi,
I have used Asnes Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles since Feb 2017.
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/spidsb ... xpedition/
I have used them rather much.
My poles are 160 cm long.
I write these lines because of two things: to give a mini-review with pro and cons but also to warn what can happen with this ski pole.
First the good news:
- They are feather light, so You will not get tired in the arms because of the weight of these ski poles.
They are made of carbon, reinforced with strips of kevlar, and that make them so light.
- Comfortable and nice rubber grips for the hands.
- Comfortable long straps.
- Almost never had any ice in the basket, I use the red basket
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/reservetrinse/
The bad news based on my own experience:
- The really bad thing with my Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles is that both has got very severe craks in the carbon fiber, on both poles, about 40-50 cm above the basket.
Both poles has cracked when puting full force on them with my body weight in uphill going over a crest.
First pole cracked in 2018 season, the second pole cracked yesterday when skiing a 20 km tour. The crack yesterday was very severe, so it was just holding together, and I had to stop and think how to hold the carbon shell together so I could limp home. I had a waterproof mobile phone bag with me with about 1 meter nylon lace on and I unmounted that and wind it around the crack so it would not spilt more and then used some snow in my hand and held it around the winding to get a "glue" so the lace would not twist and get loose. It actually worked so I got home safe. It was rather cold out, between minus 15-20 deg Celsius. Both poles are taped where the cracks are, the pole that cracked first previous season was not cracked as severe as yesterdays crack and the tape has worked fine on that first ski pole last season and so far this season. The second pole that cracked yesterday I have now taped with stronger tesa "extra Power Perfect" weave tape, that I think will work if I'm careful with the load on that pole.
- The red rubber grips leave red color on white ski gloves. The rubber is very worn after 2.5 seasons and on both poles the black plastic material under the rubber is shown (too much wear on the rubber).
Considering these ski poles are very expensive and Asnes advertise them for use as "long-distance expeditions and high-mountain trekking" one could think that they should be rather durable and high quality.
I can not know if it is just my individual ski poles that has some defect that cased above problems.
Maybe Asnes have enhanced these Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles, I do not know, mine was bought early Feb 2017.
I have e-mailed Asnes, we will see what they have to say.
/Bo
The temporary fix with black nylon lace on one pole I made yesterday out in the terrain (photo taken when came home), the other pole cracked 2018 season and has red tape on it:
The rather severe crack yesterday on the ski pole:
I have now taped the pole that cracked yesterday with black tesa "extra Power Perfect" weave tape:
The worn rubber grips after 2.5 seasons use:
I have used Asnes Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles since Feb 2017.
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/spidsb ... xpedition/
I have used them rather much.
My poles are 160 cm long.
I write these lines because of two things: to give a mini-review with pro and cons but also to warn what can happen with this ski pole.
First the good news:
- They are feather light, so You will not get tired in the arms because of the weight of these ski poles.
They are made of carbon, reinforced with strips of kevlar, and that make them so light.
- Comfortable and nice rubber grips for the hands.
- Comfortable long straps.
- Almost never had any ice in the basket, I use the red basket
https://www.en.asnes.com/produkt/reservetrinse/
The bad news based on my own experience:
- The really bad thing with my Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles is that both has got very severe craks in the carbon fiber, on both poles, about 40-50 cm above the basket.
Both poles has cracked when puting full force on them with my body weight in uphill going over a crest.
First pole cracked in 2018 season, the second pole cracked yesterday when skiing a 20 km tour. The crack yesterday was very severe, so it was just holding together, and I had to stop and think how to hold the carbon shell together so I could limp home. I had a waterproof mobile phone bag with me with about 1 meter nylon lace on and I unmounted that and wind it around the crack so it would not spilt more and then used some snow in my hand and held it around the winding to get a "glue" so the lace would not twist and get loose. It actually worked so I got home safe. It was rather cold out, between minus 15-20 deg Celsius. Both poles are taped where the cracks are, the pole that cracked first previous season was not cracked as severe as yesterdays crack and the tape has worked fine on that first ski pole last season and so far this season. The second pole that cracked yesterday I have now taped with stronger tesa "extra Power Perfect" weave tape, that I think will work if I'm careful with the load on that pole.
- The red rubber grips leave red color on white ski gloves. The rubber is very worn after 2.5 seasons and on both poles the black plastic material under the rubber is shown (too much wear on the rubber).
Considering these ski poles are very expensive and Asnes advertise them for use as "long-distance expeditions and high-mountain trekking" one could think that they should be rather durable and high quality.
I can not know if it is just my individual ski poles that has some defect that cased above problems.
Maybe Asnes have enhanced these Spitsbergen Expedition ski poles, I do not know, mine was bought early Feb 2017.
I have e-mailed Asnes, we will see what they have to say.
/Bo
The temporary fix with black nylon lace on one pole I made yesterday out in the terrain (photo taken when came home), the other pole cracked 2018 season and has red tape on it: