Best Telescopic Pole

As with all of Black Diamond’s Alpine series, the Alpine Carbon Cork trekking poles are built to withstand four-season alpine terrain with ease. As their name would suggest, these particular poles feature carbon fiber shafts and cork grips. Unlike the folding Alpine FLZs, these poles utilize a telescopic collapse system and adjust using Black Diamond’s newly redesigned FlickLock® Pro technology. In addition, they feature a soft-touch grip top and the new solution strap, ensuring a comfortable and secure grip. The Alpine Carbon Corks are undoubtedly the best telescopic poles on our list, boasting an excellent degree of comfort and durability without sacrificing versatility.

Although there’s a sizable price tag associated with the Alpine Carbon Corks, the added features do a great job of ensuring you get your money’s worth. These four-season trekking poles are exceedingly comfortable, one of the more durable carbon fiber poles on the market, they’re easy to adjust, and they’re incredibly versatile. These poles should be able to do it all for years and years.

There really only seem to be two main drawbacks to these poles: for one, their pack size is held back by a telescoping collapse system, and two, the weight is not significantly lower than the Alpine FLZs, but they’ll still cost you an extra 20 bucks. If you’re planning to engage in some technical climbing, you might want to opt for smaller and more packable poles, but for everything else the Alpine Carbon Corks should have you covered.

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See Our Best Trekking Pole Review 2021 HERE!

As with all of Black Diamond’s Alpine series, the Alpine Carbon Cork trekking poles are built to withstand four-season alpine terrain with ease. As their name would suggest, these particular poles feature carbon fiber shafts and cork grips. Unlike the folding Alpine FLZs, these poles utilize a telescopic collapse system and adjust using Black Diamond’s newly redesigned FlickLock® Pro technology. In addition, they feature a soft-touch grip top and the new solution strap, ensuring a comfortable and secure grip. The Alpine Carbon Corks are undoubtedly the best telescopic poles on our list, boasting an excellent degree of comfort and durability without sacrificing versatility.

Black Diamond has long been a well-known name in the hiking game, going back to the 1950s when Yvon Chouinard was selling his hand-forged pitons from the trunk of his car in Yosemite Valley. Since the company’s founding in 1989, they’ve established themselves in the climbing and skiing industries as well as many other outdoor pursuits. From helmets, crampons, and carabiners to backpacks, tents and (you guessed it) trekking poles, they can help you scale the world.

Comfort

Comfort is definitely one of the Alpine Carbon Cork’s strengths. The natural cork grip is quite comfortable, and like most cork grips, will mold to the user’s hand over time. Below this, you’ll find a nonslip EVA foam grip extension. Finally, the attached strap is both wide and cushioned, with left- and right-hand markings to ensure hikers are optimizing their comfort level.

Weight

Don’t expect to shed much weight with these poles. At just over a pound (486g), these are the heaviest carbon fiber poles on our list. They even weigh more than the aluminum Distance Zs! This is due to the telescopic collapse style, which requires the poles’ sections to be larger and thicker than what you’d find with folding-style poles. There are other heavier features as well, such as the cork grip and aluminum locking mechanisms. What you gain in ounces you also gain in comfort and durability, so it’s certainly a fair trade-off.

Packing

Using a telescopic collapse system does no favors to the Alpine Carbon Cork’s pack size; they’ll only collapse down to 61cm or 24in (just slightly smaller than the Trail Sport 3s and 1cm longer than the Gossamer Gear LT5s). If you’re strapping them to the outside of your bag, this likely won’t cause you any issues. That said, if you’re planning to pack them inside a day bag, you may need to look elsewhere.

Adjustability

As one of the only telescopic carbon fiber poles on our list (the other being Cascade Mountain Tech Carbon Fiber Quick Lock Corks), these are also one of the most adjustable carbon fiber poles. You can adjust the height from 100-130cm with ease using the durable FlickLock Pro system. Made of forged aluminum, the locks are quite robust and chunky, snapping into place. If you need to loosen or tighten these lever locks, you’ll need to utilize a very small Allen wrench, which might be an inconvenience should you need to make adjustments on the trail—many users complained about losing this wrench.

Durability

The Alpine Carbon Corks are especially durable for carbon fiber trekking poles for two main reasons. The first is their telescopic collapse style and thicker carbon; the larger, overlapping shaft pieces add to the pole’s overall strength, making them a more durable alternative to the typical carbon fiber Z-poles. In addition, the Alpine Carbon Cork’s dual FlickLock Pro adjustment and locking system, made of forged aluminum, is widely recognized for its durability.

Price

At nearly $180, these trekking poles are near the top of Black Diamond’s price range and are $20 more than the Alpine FLZ poles. I’d advise that potential customers consider how they plan to use these poles before making an investment. They’re not quite light enough to be ideal for scrambling, but with four-season support, they should be more than sufficient for everything else, from downhill skiing to heavy backpacking.

Other Features

One small but ultimately important feature on the Alpine Carbon Cork is its flex carbide tip. Unlike a typical carbide tip, the flex tip will (as the name suggests) bend and flex when it gets caught between rocks or stuck in other obstacles. This not only protects the rest of the pole from snapping, but it’s also replaceable—so any damage to the tip can be easily mended. For those looking to get several years out of their poles (and who isn’t), this is a lovely little perk.

The included trekking baskets can be unscrewed and switched out for snow baskets. Do note that some websites state that these are included with your purchase while others say they’re sold separately.

The Bottom Line

Although there’s a sizable price tag associated with the Alpine Carbon Corks, the added features do a great job of ensuring you get your money’s worth. These four-season trekking poles are exceedingly comfortable. They’re one of the more durable carbon fiber poles on the market, they’re easy to adjust, and they’re incredibly versatile. These poles should be able to do it all for years and years.

There really only seem to be two main drawbacks to these poles: for one, their pack size is held back by a telescoping collapse system, and two, the weight is not significantly lower than the Alpine FLZs but they’ll still cost you an extra 20 bucks. If you’re planning to engage in some technical climbing, you might want to opt for smaller and more packable poles, but for everything else, the Alpine Carbon Corks should have you covered.

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