the more you grab with poles the more comfortable you get with it. it's really not that hard to get all 5 of your fingers around the ski when you grab with poles, you just gotta practice. skiing with or without poles is obviously a preference, but the ski industry as a whole shuns the idea. you need poles in all real competitions and you almost never see people in mags or vids without poles. there are people (like griffin cummings) who are fucking sick skiers that ride without poles, but in my opinion and many other people's opinions, skiing without poles just doesn't look right, it kinda ruins the 'skiing' style (snowboarders are the ones who are supposed to not have poles), and it is only justifiable in the park/pipe because you just cannot ski properly without them on regular runs and steeps/bumps/pow, etc