In 2024, BD athlete Hillary Gerardi competed in the Skyrunner World Series. In her final race of the season, the course distance and overall vertical gain were appealing, but also posed a strategic crux.

“Unlike much of the racing I have done in the past, none of the climbs were terribly long,” explains Hillary. “I kind of had a rule of thumb that I didn't pull out poles unless a climb was at least 500 meters long (1,600 ft of climbing), essentially because the energy of taking poles out, getting the straps on and putting them back away felt greater than the gain of using poles on the climb. But this race didn’t have any climbs over 1,600ft. I was a little at a loss of what to do.”

The transition from ascent to descent is challenging when running long distances. After climbing up the long hill, pole strike after pole strike, breathing and legs heavy, it’s time to stow the poles and start the descent. It can be a moment to catch your breath, but it’s brief, and fumbling with poles wastes precious time and energy. When running at an elite level, any time lost during this transition can make or break a race.

During the 2024 Skyrunning season, Hillary was testing a new prototype, the Distance FKT, a running pole focused on efficient, fast-paced, long-distance mountain running. For Hillary, it solved the issue during that last race.

“There were 10 climbs in the race, and I was able to use the poles for all of them without feeling the ‘burden’ of the transition,” says Hillary.

The new Distance FKT Poles are redefining endurance and efficiency in mountain running. To dive deeper into the design process, Mountain Business Unit Director, Paul Leonard, walked us through what it took to make the next evolution of our Distance series running poles.

DESIGN

“We have an amazing, incredible history working in the trail running and mountain running space,” explains Paul. “Everything really started with the Distance Carbon Z Pole, which fundamentally reshaped the history of trekking poles. Not to be over the top, but it was the first pole that didn’t collapse vertically into three sections. It was quick deploying, quick stowing, and super light. When we started the design process for the Distance FKT Poles, the goal was to stay true to those roots that revolutionized trail running: keep it simple, keep it lightweight.”

The first challenge the designers faced was how to make an already well-established, quick-deploying, and ultra-light pole better. If the goal is to be fast and light, haven’t we already succeeded?

A thread emerged when we asked athletes and runners where their experience could be improved: the transition from the up to the down during a race or long run. The designers started throwing out ideas.

Early prototypes were rudimentary but illuminating. One designer suggested an ultra-light strap attached to the pole that wraps around a runner’s wrist a few times like a rope, another suggested a stringy glove that only goes over your forefinger and thumb.

Eventually, the FKT system emerged: A magnetic mechanism for easy attachment and detachment of a lightweight, breathable glove. The designers were confident they had solved the burden runners felt during the transition; now it was time to put it to the test.

FIELD TESTING

Almost every Black Diamond product goes through field testing—it’s an integral part of how we make gear, and the Distance FKT Pole went through more than its fair share. Out of four prototypes, one had 384 hours and 1200 miles of field time from over a dozen testers.

The first iteration of the Distance FKT Pole was deep into its first year of field testing and close to production, but the mechanism for attaching the gloves to the pole-grip kept gunking up with dirt and debris too quickly. A pole supposed to be used for years in the mountains shouldn’t have issues so early in testing.

A complete redesign of the mechanism and grip was done. While it is still possible for dirt and debris to get into the final mechanism, it’s easy to clean by simply immersing the grip in water and engaging the mechanism a few times.

THE FKT SYSTEM

The mechanism for attaching the glove to the trekking poles, which eventually became the FKT system, was focused on ease of use and tactile feedback.

“The ultimate goal would be that you don’t have to look at what you’re doing. You can just do it,” says Paul.

To avoid unintuitive attachment methods where you aren’t 100% sure the pole is attached to the glove, the design team decided magnets would be the best solution.

A magnet sewn into the glove falls on a grooved landing zone on top of the pole-grip, and with a simple and satisfying click, the gloves attach to the pole. To detach the gloves, the pole-grip has a spring-loaded latch you pull down to disengage the magnet, and you can slide the glove out. Both motions can be performed while moving and without looking at the pole—there is audible and tactical feedback when engaging and disengaging the gloves from the pole.

THE FKT GLOVE STRAP

Field testing also allowed for glove refinement. The final glove is easy to use, even when exhausted after 50+ miles of running. The fabric construction keeps it lightweight and breathable, strengthened by a Dynex lining throughout, and meets the internal goal of a 300lb weight limit.

“We put this gray strap around the bottom to help orient you to which side is down and added a little tag that gives you left and right orientation,” explains Paul.

The tag threads easily when first putting on the gloves, but then bends back during use. This is by design, so if you undo the hook and loop closure, you don’t have to rethread the strap.

“Sometimes there are little easy things that make the user experience as seamless as possible,” adds Paul.

THE NEXT EVOLUTION FOR MOUNTAIN RUNNING

The Distance FKT Poles were a project that challenged the design team and there were plenty of failures before any success, but it’s projects like this—pushing the limits of equipment—that BD designers love.

“They say, ‘so you're telling us to make something that's lighter and faster, and radder than anything else that exists?” says Paul. “Yeah, we want to work on that.”

The work of the design team paid off. Remember that Skyrunner race with Hillary? She came in 4th, proving the theory that the Distance FKT poles improve efficiency in the mountains.
Molly climbs The Thumb on Lone Peak.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Molly Malone is Black Diamond Equipment’s copywriter. Her expertise in outdoor apparel and equipment comes from a decade-long love affair with backcountry splitboarding and climbing. She likes low-angle powder laps on high-avy days and sending long desert splitters.