Description
A few years after we started developing the Hoks I tried a single pole like those still used in the Altai Mountains by the indigenous skiers there. It worked great! since then I have used the Tiak a lot and gotten many of my friends to try it as well. I find it’s the easiest way to really ski the Hoks, particularly for downhills. I have experimented with various woods around here and settled on Lodgepole Pine. There are places in the mountains were the trees grow in very poor conditions, rocky, dry, and too close together. Trees that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter can be 50 -60 years old!. The wood is very strong and supple, while being relatively light. We cut a number of poles in the summer and fall, and then season them under cover. They are then hand peeled, trimmed, sculpted, and branded (literally). We then finish them with a light linseed oil and a strap at the top. They are very strong and handy to have on any winter adventure in the woods or mountains. We offer a 1 year warrantee on them, and look forward to getting people to try this ancient but incredibly functional and intuitive style of skiing. We have two sizes of the Tiaks, Medium and Large . If you are under 5’10” order a medium , and over that, order a large. We have found length is not as critical as with normal ski poles and with a longer Tiak one can simply choke up a bit on the grip. This allows us to ship direct without having to get sizes from each customer before shipping. Shipping Tiaks: Tiak Boxes are oversized so we have had to add an oversized fee for shipping costs. Over sized fee is for a single pole and multiple poles has this fee discounted.
Because we do not kiln dry the tiaks some have checks in them from the drying process. These do not affect the strength of the pole.
For more information on the history of single poles there is a good write up on them here
Excellent Tiak technique in the Altai Mountains
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