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In my experience with standard fiberglass Altius poles in the 180-190 range, they are about 5-10 lbs softer than Spirit or Pacer of comparable ratings. Does this hold true for the smaller weights as well? I am specifically interested in getting a pole that falls between a Spirit 12' 130 and a Spirit 13' 125...and Spirit doesn't make poles in the 12'6 range.

I am thinking about an Altius 12'4 135 and/or a 12'9 135. Anyone have experience with these particular poles, compared to the spirits?

Thanks,
Tom

Man, I feel your pain with UCS not making 12' 6" poles anymore. Ridiculous from a young girl's point of view. I have a very talented HS girl who is 5' 1" and weighs 100lbs. I had to get her jumping on a 12' 120lbs pole before I could move her grip up on a UCS since I had to go to a 13' 100lbs pole instead of being able to use a 12' 6" pole first. Awesome she can jump on a pole 20lbs over her weight, but not worth the detailed training at that young of an age to make that happen compared to being able to progress her grip height in small increments, while I was working the technique, if I had a 12' 6" pole.

I tried a 12' 6" 110lbs Pacer FX (gripping 11' 9") for her and the "softness" compared to a UCS pole killed her. Because of the weight band being only 2" from the top on the Pacer, that pole should have felt like a stiff 120lbs for her. It jumped more like the UCS 12' 110lbs pole she has, though the UCS still seemed to roll up and in better. Anyway, just my experience.

Just got the UCS 13' 100lbs pole. Excited to finally get her on a 13' pole so we can start inching up the grip. I really have no idea why UCS wouldn't make a 12' 6" (12' 7" in there case) pole. I'm confused on how that could be a financial issue especially with girl vaulters. UCS never gave me a reason when I asked, just a vague answer along the lines of "Our experience has shown that moving from 12' to 13' poles has been very acceptable for vaulters".

There's my rant. Ha. I do love UCS stuff regardless. Nothing against GILL because their products are great, but I do prefer UCS.

12-4 140 or 12-9 135 would be the answer to your question.
http://www.justvault.org

I do not have any personal experience with Altius poles made in the past 10 years, but 12' Spirits run a good 10 pounds stiffer on average than modern Gill poles, while their 13' poles are pretty consistent with other brands. So I would agree with gtc that a 12'4 140 would probably be a better next pole than a 12'4 135.

It's really hard to get it perfect when switching brands. Since UCS only does 10 pound increments on the 12' poles, there's a pretty big range of stiffness in there. They make awesome poles, but I find the 12' and shorter poles to be difficult for average HS girls to meet the weight rating rules on and to make that transition from 12' to 13' poles. The other companies all offer great selection in those sizes.

superpipe wrote:Man, I feel your pain with UCS not making 12' 6" poles anymore.

They've never stocked 12'7 poles.

I swore Lane told me they used to sell them in the past and stopped after they decided they didn't need them for the vague reason I stated above. I had the conversation with him a year or so ago. I could be mistaken as I don't remember 100%.

Thanks for the input. We ordered her both the 12'4 135 and the 12'9 135. It was a tough call between Altius and Gill poles; they are both great poles and allow the athlete to grip near the top of the pole, which I really prefer when buying poles for HS kids.

I'll let everyone know how the relative stiffness works out when they arrive. I imagine GTC has a pretty good idea with all his experience regarding altius poles.