Ski Length CalculatorSki Pole Length Calculator
Poles look like the simple part of the kit — until you notice the downhill skier, the classic skier and the skater of identical height carry three different lengths. This calculator gives all three from your height, with the published formula behind each.
Ski Pole Length Calculator
Three disciplines, three different formulas — pick yours. Downhill poles come from the table every rental shop uses; cross-country poles are pure multipliers (classic 0.83 × your height, skate 0.89 ×). One height field serves all three; compare the answers and you'll see why swapping poles between classic and skate doesn't work.
How it's calculated
Downhill (alpine): the manufacturers' published tables (Atomic: pole length = 0.7 × height; Race Place's chart: 105 cm at 152 cm rising to 130 cm at 190 cm) sit a hair apart; this calculator uses 0.69 × height, which reproduces the published rental table at every listed height (152→105, 168→115, 175→120, 190→130), then rounds to the nearest 5 cm — poles are sold in 5 cm steps. The physical check agrees with the numbers: grip the pole upside-down under the basket and your forearm should sit parallel to the floor.
Classic cross-country: 0.83 × height, rounded to the nearest 5 cm (175 cm → 145). Skate: 0.89 × height (175 cm → 155). Both multipliers are the ones retailers publish (Coast Outdoors, Decathlon); individual printed tables occasionally sit one 5 cm step off the formula at a boundary height — the formula governs, and the note under the chart below says where.
The hand rule behind the numbers: classic poles top out between armpit and shoulder, skate poles between chin and nose, downhill poles put the forearm level. If your computed pole fails its body test, trust the body.
Three disciplines, three lengths
The pole's job differs by discipline, and length follows the job. A downhill pole is a timing tool: it plants beside the boot to trigger the turn, and anything longer than the forearm-level length lifts your hands and shoulders into the way. A classic pole is a propulsion tool, planted behind and pushed through, long enough to recruit the trunk — armpit to shoulder. A skate pole is propulsion at a higher gear: the double-pole and V2 strokes plant it far forward and drive a long arc, which is worth another 6% of your height over the classic formula.
That is why the answers spread so widely — 120, 145 and 155 cm for one 175 cm skier — and why 'ski pole size' without a discipline is a meaningless phrase. The pole you grab from the rental wall should come from the row of the chart that matches how you'll ski, not from the wall's average.
Worked example
One skier, 175 cm, three pole lengths. Downhill: 120 cm — grip an inverted pole under its basket and the forearm sits level. Classic: 145 cm (0.83 × 175 = 145.3), reaching the shoulder. Skate: 155 cm (0.89 × 175 = 155.8), up at chin-to-nose height, because the skating push is longer and starts higher. All three are the nearest 5 cm step, which is how poles are sold.
Pole length chart
All three disciplines, by height — the table behind the calculator. One note: printed retailer tables (Coast Outdoors') put a 183 cm skier's classic pole at 155 cm where the 0.83 formula gives 150 cm; both are sold sizes, and the formula's answer is the one the forearm test backs.
| Skier height | Downhill poles | XC classic poles | XC skate poles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) | 105 cm | 125 cm | 135 cm |
| 155 cm (5 ft 1 in) | 105 cm | 130 cm | 140 cm |
| 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) | 110 cm | 135 cm | 140 cm |
| 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) | 115 cm | 135 cm | 145 cm |
| 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | 115 cm | 140 cm | 150 cm |
| 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) | 120 cm | 145 cm | 155 cm |
| 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | 125 cm | 150 cm | 160 cm |
| 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | 130 cm | 155 cm | 165 cm |
| 190 cm (6 ft 3 in) | 130 cm | 160 cm | 170 cm |
| 195 cm (6 ft 5 in) | 135 cm | 160 cm | 175 cm |
Downhill from the inverted-grip forearm test (about 0.69 × height); classic at 0.83 × height (armpit to shoulder); skate at 0.89 × height (chin to nose). All rounded to the nearest 5 cm, the step poles are sold in. One retailer's printed table puts a 183 cm classic skier at 155 cm where the formula gives 150 — formulas govern here, and a single 5 cm step either way is a preference call, not an error.
Cutting and adjusting
Too-long poles can be cut (shops do it from the top, under the grip, in minutes); too-short poles are just too short. Buy long when between steps if the shop will trim — except for skate poles, which racers sometimes size deliberately to the formula's top. Length is also the cheap experiment: a borrowed pole one step either way, for one run, teaches more than any chart — then let the calculator's figure referee what your shoulders report.
Related calculators
- Cross Country Ski Length CalculatorCross country ski length calculator (classic): the right XC ski length by weight and ability from the published weight bands, with the height cross-check.
- Skate Ski Length CalculatorSkate ski length calculator: the right skate ski length by weight and ability from the published XC weight bands — about 10 cm shorter than classic.
- Ski Length ChartSki length chart by height and weight: adult, women, men, youth and beginner lengths, plus cross-country and pole sizing tables.
Skis first: the ski length calculator sizes the skis these poles will be planted next to.
Frequently asked questions
What length ski poles do I need?
At 175 cm: downhill 120 cm, classic 145 cm, skate 155 cm. The same body, three poles — because the disciplines plant them differently: downhill poles are short levers for timing turns, classic poles push from the shoulder down, and skate poles are the longest because the skating stroke plants high and drives through a long arc.
How does the inverted-grip test work?
Grip the pole upside down, hand under the basket (the little disc above the tip), pole vertical. If your forearm is parallel to the floor — elbow at 90 degrees — the pole is right for downhill. No tape measure needed, which is why the test has survived a century of rental shops; the calculator's 0.69 × height is calibrated to reproduce it.
How long should skate poles be?
Between chin and nose — the formula behind it is 0.89 × height, rounded to the nearest 5 cm. At 175 cm that is 155 cm, a full 10 cm longer than the same skier's classic poles (0.83 × height). Packages that bundle one pole length for both XC disciplines are wrong for one of them by design.
How is pole length measured?
The measured length of a pole is tip to top of grip. If you are measuring a loose pole to check its stamped size, run the tape from the carbide tip to the very top of the handle, not to the strap. And a pole's printed size is its length in cm — a '120' is 120 cm overall, about 47 inches.
Sources
- Race Place — ski pole sizing chart — the published downhill pole table the 0.69 factor reproduces
- Coast Outdoors — cross-country pole sizing — classic 0.83 and skate 0.89 multipliers with printed tables
- Decathlon advice — choosing cross-country ski poles — the same XC multipliers, independently published
Last verified: 27 October 2026
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