Meet Mike from REI. I met him in Vegas a couple of weeks ago when he sold me my first pair of trekking poles.
I had no idea what trekking poles were until I saw a few YouTube videos and read a couple of websites that strongly suggested them. The concept is that these poles help take the stress off your knees, ankles and lower back when you are hiking uphill and downhill (or so the guys at REI Vegas told me).
Unbelievable to me is that there was an entire section of trekking poles to choose from. Since I know nothing about these poles, I asked for help to figure out which pair might be best for me. A woman who is an expert mountaineer was absolutely wonderful. She took the time to explain why poles are important and showed me all the various options available to me.
Once we decided on a pair that was the right price (on sale) and feature set, she took the time to show me how to adjust the length of them for uphill vs. downhill and we actually practiced with them. I’m not sure I remember everything, but thank goodness for the web! She also showed me how to “wear” the poles. I had that totally backwards.
The funniest part of the entire experience was trying to figure out how to pack the poles in my suitcase as I was pretty sure that trekking poles would not get through security. With a little finagling, the poles finally fit.
Now the question is, do I have the courage to practice using them while going for walks in my neighborhood!