Nordic Walking vs Dolomites - photogallery

With this article I would like to refute the claim that Nordic Walking does not belong in the mountains.

Some people believe that you just can't do it on rocks. That one-piece poles will get in the way, that they will need shortening... in short, there are different opinions.

In mid-October 2024, my friend and I and our counterparts headed to the Italian Dolomites. As Kamil is a pro photographer, our goal was not to do ferratos, but to take pictures of the larch trees that were just falling.  And as you can see from the photos, it was worth it.

By the way, check out Kamil's website Magical Moments.

The day before our arrival, about 50 cm of snow fell at an altitude above 2000 m. above sea level. So I had a perfect opportunity to try how Nordic Walking works in these conditions. In some places we walked steep inclines and I can't imagine it without poles. And now I mean any poles, whether trekking poles or NW poles.

At first I thought I would clip the poles to my vest/backpack once we reached deeper snow, but it was just the opposite. Admittedly, I would call walking with poles in deeper snow more of a Nordic Boring, as I was up to my knees - there wasn't really any technique involved.  But I didn't take the poles out of my gloves the whole way up and down.

It was all about maintaining stability. I think trekking poles would have worked very well there, but as I wrote, I didn't take the poles out of my hand, so there was no need to shorten or hold the poles. I didn't have to manipulate them in any way, thus I dare say that one-piece Nordic Walking poles are better than telescopic trekking poles for these conditions. The question is how high you go, because in downright rubble, that may not be true anymore, but no poles will help there.

Anyway, when I stopped somewhere to take a banana out of my backpack, I just clicked the stick out of my glove, it stayed in the snow and then I clicked it again in a flash and continued riding. When I would have to take the trekking pole off the loop, then slip it back on, and I find that more tedious, especially when wearing gloves.

Nordic Walking certainly belongs on the mountains and rocky trails, which we enjoyed to the fullest. Of course, this all assumes that one already knows Nordic Walking, so if you're on the same wavelength, give it a try. Hopefully some of that snow will fall at our lower elevations this year.

Of course... 100 people = 100 tastes. Write what experiences you have...

Photography © Kamil Rakyta