My Latest Invention – Blocking Poles

I spend a lot of time tethering sit skiers, but also guiding visually impaired skiers. In both cases we like to have a “Blocker” with us.  The primary mission of the Blocker is to protect our skier from other hill users, by positioning themselves uphill and slightly ahead of our athlete. That way a random fast skier will have to ski through the blocker before they can crash into our athlete.

But it doesn’t always work. Fast skiers are often good skiers and see the slow moving blocker as a convenient slalom post. It works better if the fast skier recognizes what the blocker is doing, or at least that there is something unusual going on there.  When blocking for VI skiers we usually wear special high visibility vests, but less so for sit skiers.  Anyway, I thought I would try something else to make the blocker stand out more from other hill users.  Blockers often hold their ski poles out wide to create a larger protected area, so I wondered if I could make those poles more noticeable.

The result is these Blocker specific ski poles:

Blocking Poles

As a skier, would you notice these poles as unusual?

And at night they look like this:

Poles light up in the dark

There’s a remote control which can turn them on & off, and also select between flashing and constant on.

The main ingredient is pool noodles, plus some Christmas lights.  So I think they are probably safer in a crash than standard ski poles.  I’ve left the handles and the tip below the basket unadorned, so they will still work as ski poles, though I might not want to take them out on a day with deep powder.

It’s summer here now, so we have 5 or 6 months until I get to try them out, I can’t wait!

EDIT: Apparently the word Blocker is unpopular for this role in the USA. Not because it is inaccurate, but because naming the role after its purpose implies a liability issue. The logic is that if a Blocker fails to block all other skiers and there is an accident, then the Blocker must have been inadequately trained and their trainer could be sued. I’ve never seen that logic applied in the NFL but there you go. Apparently the preferred term is “Assistant Instructor” or “Uphill Assistant”. But that doesn’t change anything about their mission, or whether these pole might help.