Gear Review – Leki Spitfire Vario 3D Ski Poles
Updated: Dec 6, 2024
There comes a point in every skier’s life where they have to ask “why the hell are you reviewing ski poles?!” Often the most mundane aspect to add to your ski gear, most skiers don’t think twice before grabbing a pair of sticks on their way out of the shop.
But, like all bits of skier gear, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And for some of us, dropping £100 on ski poles seems less mad than it might be to begin with – especially if you are looking for the “right” ski poles. Here is Skiing Unlocked's review of Leki's Spitfire Vario 3D ski poles.
Leki are a German brand founded in Dettingen in the immediate post-WWII period. Like most ski brands, they initially focused elsewhere, before personal dissatisfaction with the current state of ski gear forced innovator Karl Lenhart to begin manufacturing his own components. Then, by the 1970s, they brought their expertise as aircraft component manufacturers to bear on ski poles. The Leki name is an amalgamation of Lenhart in Kirchheim, the town in which Leki is based. It remains family owned by the third generation of Lenharts.
The Spitfire Vario 3Ds are designed for a skier who either knows exactly what kind of skiing they are doing, or can’t quite decide what they want to do to; to this end, they are designed to go all over the mountain – on piste, off piste and on the touring track. Unlike other bits of kit that try to be the jack-of-all-trades as an all-round piece, the Vario 3Ds instead do pretty well at all bits. Manufactured from aluminium, they feature Leki trigger release system and are adjustable via a quick release mechanism.
Plenty of the features here are Leki standards – the interchangeable baskets and trigger system are both features that have always stood Leki out against their competitors. I’ve loved the trigger system ever since I was first introduced to it nearly a decade ago. Instead of a normal wrist strap, a semi-permanent strap sits on top of your glove, with a loop in the webbing between thumb and forefinger – this clips into a mechanism on top of the handle, and is unclipped by pressing a release button on top of the pole. It is also is designed to pop off in case of an emergency, much like the DIN release mechanism on your ski bindings.
The trigger system is infinitely easier to use than a strap, especially if you have big hands like me. The simplicity of clicking in and out of your poles without having to fight with wrist straps, and the slightly different angle and therefore more comfortable position the pole sits in when not carried are small but vital changes to your skiing that have to be seen to be believed.
Leki Spitfire Vario 3D poles in action across the whole mountain
What about the rest of the design? Well, it features an ergonomically designed grip with divots for your fingers when clasping it, something comfortable and useful but not necessarily unique. The poles are adjustable, which is probably the most useful thing when changing up your skiing. On piste, I need a good pole plant to keep my body forward and downhill; off piste, I need the same, but as I’m sitting deeper in the snow, being able to shave 5-10cm off the length of my poles makes pole planting easier and means I can stay on top of my technique the whole way down.
Finally, on the tour track, when traversing across a slope, I can set them to differing lengths, a shorter one for uphill and a longer one downhill, to help stay stable and efficient on the skin track. It’s really easy to switch the length of the poles, just a switch of a quick release mechanism and you’re there, making this a really useful feature to have.
That all being said, these are not necessarily features that are unique to the Spitfire Vario 3D. On the flip side, the unique bits seem to let them down slightly. The poles seem clunky, even though they are almost identical in weight to other poles I’ve used before, and the grip handle seems unwieldy when touring or freeriding – there simply isn’t enough of it to grab on to when you need it, something that seriously lets it down versus other freeride and touring gear.
All in all, would I recommend the Spitfire Vario 3Ds? This is a tricky one. On the surface, spending £100 for these poles seems a bit … underwhelming. However, there is very little out there that would better match what I want or need from poles. Therefore, these are probably the best fit out there for folks who want an all-round ski pole set up, including Leki’s magnificent trigger system.
Final Thoughts
The Leki Spitfire Vario 3D ski poles are an excellent compromise for the all-round skier, featuring plenty of Leki features that are a must-have including the trigger quick release system. And, whilst it can seem clunky and unwieldy, there is very little out there to compete. Worth the spend? Probably.
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