>>2751311>are these things needed for alpine hikingAbsolutely not. Short poles like that are only good for flat ground, and only useful on slippery, soft ground. In the mountains, you need a much longer, smooth pole (think quarterstaff with a point at the end) where you can vary your grip depending on whether you're ascending or descending. Though saying "you need" is a bit too much, as you only really "need" a pole when you're going off trail in rough terrain - and if you were doing that, you'd already know how often you end up slipping or stumbling when you don't have a third point of contact.
>inb4 muhjointsPoles don't protect your knees from impact. They physically can't, as they're at a 90° angle to your arms, which are also at ~90° to your body, and 90° angles cannot transfer force unless supported. In practice, that'd mean placing your pole first, then tensing your arms while you lower your feet. Try doing hat, and you'll quickly find that it feels completely unnatural, is unstable and makes you extremely slow.
