I hate to bring up such a controversial subject but since I broached the fact on another post, that the poles do in fact violate the Leave No Trace (LNT)) ethic, should we continue to use them? "Leave nothing but footprints..." clearly doesn't mention those millions of tiny little holes alongside the path! Consider their effect on alpine tundra. The growing season there is so short that some of the mosses & lichens took more than 50 years to struggle up to the height of a few short inches, much older than the average hiker that comes along stabbing them out with hiking poles. Consider it!