Gear Hack - Powder Baskets
How I replace my stock ski pole on-piste basket with an off-piste, backcountry, or powder basket:
Ski poles with replaceable baskets often have a set of threads leading to a threadless space that allows the basket to spin freely without unwinding off the pole. I find stock baskets too small for 80% of my skiing, so I routinely pick up a pair of powder baskets with every pair of poles and swap them out.
DON’T try to stack your new powder basket on top of your stock basket. Although intuitively you’d think it works, and it often looks good, there isn’t enough room past the threads for two baskets. As long as the basket is still on the threads, no matter how much you tighten it down, it will loosen and back off. Fun fact: every spare basket in my repair kits I’ve found on an uptrack.
PULL & TWIST. Pull the stock basket off while spinning the ski pole until you feel it catch the threads - then you can stop pulling and just twist until it comes free.
PUSH & TWIST. Push the new basket in while spinning the ski pole until you feel it catch on the threads - then you can stop pushing and just keep twisting until it spins freely above the threads. Try backing it off to make sure it’s free of the threads.
Go skiing!
