Why the Mountain King SkyRunner EDGE Outperforms the Leki Ultra trail FX.One — and Why It Matters on Race Day
If you're researching trail running poles for your next ultra, you've almost certainly come across the Leki Ultratrail FX.One. It's well marketed, widely stocked, and has a loyal following. But loyalty and performance aren't always the same thing.
We built the Skyrunner Edge to be better — not just marginally, but meaningfully — in the areas that actually matter when you're 60 kilometres into a mountain race and your arms are doing as much work as your legs.
Here's why.
Mountain King SkyRunner Edge: .
Weight: 29 Grams Per Pole. Every Gram Counts.
The Leki Ultratrail FX.One comes in at 167g per pole at 120cm. The Mountain King Skyrunner Edge? 136g — at the same length, including the glove.
That's 29 grams lighter per pole, or roughly 59 grams saved across the pair. In isolation that sounds small. Over a 100-mile race, it's anything but. Arm swing is a near-constant motion in trail running. The cumulative fatigue of carrying unnecessary weight through tens of thousands of pole plants is real, and elite athletes know it.
What makes this more remarkable is what we didn't sacrifice to get there.
Strength: More Carbon, Not Less
Cutting weight by cutting corners is easy. Cutting weight while increasing structural integrity is engineering.
The Skyrunner Edge is constructed from Mountain King's proprietary RDC carbon fibre — a high-grade material developed and specified in-house at our UK facility. This isn't the same carbon across every section; it's engineered specifically to deliver a pole that is lighter and stiffer and more resistant to torsional flex under load.
The Leki FX.One uses their HRC carbon, which produces a capable pole — but one that is heavier and built to a more general specification. When you're driving a pole hard into technical descent or pushing out of a steep col, you feel the difference in rigidity and feedback.
Lighter. Stronger. Those two words don't usually go together. With RDC carbon and Mountain King's build process, they do.
The Clip System: Where the Skyrunner Edge Completely Changes the Game
This is where the gap between the two poles becomes a chasm.
The Leki FX.One uses the Trail Trigger Shark system — a hook-and-strap mechanism that Leki has refined over several generations. It's functional. But it was designed to be adapted for trail running, not born from it.
The Mountain King Edge Clip was designed from the ground up for one purpose: to work seamlessly in the most demanding conditions trail running throws at you.
What makes it different:
Integrated glove system. The Edge Clip doesn't just attach to your wrist — it integrates directly with a purpose-built glove. The pole becomes a true extension of your arm, not something clipped onto it. Power transfer is direct, and the connection feels locked-in rather than tethered.
Instant release and re-engagement on the move. On technical descents where you need your hands free — scrambling, grabbing for holds, pushing through tight vegetation — you can release the pole and re-engage it without breaking stride or looking down. The Leki's hook system requires a deliberate action and a moment of focus. The Edge Clip does not.
No fumbling, ever. The Leki Trigger Shark, while improved in recent generations, still requires correct orientation to click in. The Edge Clip is designed so that correct orientation is the only natural way to engage it. This sounds like a small thing. At 3am on a mountain descent, wearing gloves, hands cold and tired, it is not a small thing.
Power transfer through the centre. The Edge Clip geometry channels force through the pole's central axis — meaning every push is efficient, with minimal lateral energy loss. This translates directly to less fatigue on long climbs.
The Leki system is good. The Edge Clip system is purpose-built. There is a difference.
Made in the UK. Built by People Who Run.
Mountain King is the only UK manufacturer of trail running, hiking, and walking poles. The Skyrunner Edge is hand-built at our facility by a team that tests these poles on the same mountains you race on.
The Leki FX.One is a mass-produced product from a large European manufacturer with a broad product range, but fundamentally manufactured in China. There's nothing wrong with that — but there is something fundamentally different about a pole refined through motion analysis of actual Mountain King athletes, shaped by engineers who understand the biomechanics of running with poles rather than hiking with them.
When we say the Skyrunner Edge was designed for trail and ultra running specifically, we mean it was designed for nothing else.
The Numbers, Side by Side
Mountain King SkyRunner Edge Leki Ultratrail FX.One
Weight (120cm, per pole) 136g 167g Mountain King wins saving per pair−59g.
Carbon grade RDC (proprietary) HRC Max
Sections 3 /4 sectio 38cm 36cm Mountain King wins, making it easier to reach your poles
Clip/strap system Edge Clip (integrated glove) Trail Trigger Shark Mountain King wins, a quicker and more user friendly system
On-the-move release Yes — by design Yes — with practice
Manufactured UK China (mass production)
The Bottom Line.
The Leki Ultratrail FX.One is a good pole. If you want a good pole, it will serve you.
If you want the better pole — one that is lighter, built from stronger carbon, and equipped with a grip and clip system that was designed specifically for the most demanding days in the mountains — the Mountain King Skyrunner Edge is the answer.
It's not a compromise. It's an upgrade.
[Shop the Skyrunner Edge → HERE ]
[Book a demo at UTMB Chamonix, August 26 → ]