That said, I will now talk about the Kwik Strap.
Those of us who ski small hills have short ski times, even the slow runs on my home hill are over very quickly and then I’m repeating the process of unstrapping the poles from my hands, in the lift line, riding up, getting off the lift, and then restrapping my poles to my hands.
One of the things that used to cause frustration and chew up time on things other than skiing was getting strapped up. There have been alternative style ski-pole grips that have been made & marketed to avoid straps but they have not caught on or caught on and faded.
The reasons are multiple. The alternate ski pole grip style I am familiar with is a handle made of flexible plastic with tabs that come straight out from the pole and bend to run parallel to the pole and nearly form a closed loop. While I do not have research handy to support the following claim one of the reasons those handles went out of fashion is they led to a higher incidence of thumb injury among skiers. Another one would probably be in the event of crashes they would fall away from the skier and lead to a higher dispersal of gear. Remember, ski areas do not like your gear flying all over their runs.
I remember getting off of the lift and having to stop my progression to the run of my choice and sometimes I managed to strap up quickly and sometimes it would take me a long time to do so, fiddling with the straps with fat gloved fingers. The cold and the gloves do not increase my finger dexterity (or anyone elses).
My buddy JP Ingold had those same frustrations waiting for his son and he invented and patented The Kwik Strap a plastic attachment you attach to your ski-pole straps and they hold the straps open allowing you to easily get your hand in the straps. I can now strap up on the run. If the unload area is clear or relatively so, I can devote some attention to getting strapped up without having to stop. I can unload, strap up, and hit my run all in one motion now. If I have to wait it is because I am waiting for a ski buddy to unload which is a lot better than fumbling with equipment.
Less time fiddling with gear means more time skiing and that is a good thing. Where can you get the Kwik Strap? Good question, the ski shops local to the Green Bay and Appleton regions of Wisconsin may have them in stock so you can stop in and see if they have any. I am also studying setting up and E-commerce site to market them as well.
Also, one last note. In order to reduce pole induced hand & thumb injuries make sure you are properly strapping up. Snake your hand through the straps from below the strap and then grip the pole over the top of the strap. This way if you crash the pole will fall away from your hand and slide down. The Ski Injury website discusses ski & snowboard related thumb injuries and presents a video on proper strapping technique, check it out!
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