This year was my first using poles, I went with black diamond ellepticals with the shocks. Not sure the shocks do a lot, but I'm very happy with them. Really saw the benefit when I was coming out of some canyons this spring while bear hunting with all my camping gear, when you're tired and in the steep they really helped. Just picked up a set of powder baskets for them to get a little better use out of them while snow shoeing.
