Freeride or extended grips feature a rubberized sleeve that extends below the main grip, giving you extra real estate to hold onto. The big advantage is on steep sidehill traverses — instead of gripping your pole at full length and reaching awkwardly uphill, you can simply choke down on the extended section to keep your hands comfortable and your balance centered.
These grips shine if you regularly ski steep chutes, big mountain lines, or sidecountry where you're making lots of traverses across steep slopes. They let you make quick hand-position adjustments on the fly without needing adjustable-length poles. The tradeoff is a bit of extra weight and bulk compared to standard grips.
If you mostly stick to groomers, moguls, or typical in-bounds terrain, you probably don't need them. But for serious steep skiing, they're genuinely worth having — many freeride skiers consider them essential equipment.