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Novice Don, you'll figure that out if you get off what sounds like flats and easy groomers. Poles give you a timing mechanism for better tighter turns. Poles give you leverage to initiate in deep, rough, variable, or steep conditions. Poles are very useful to probe deep snow, especially if you are hunting for a lost ski. Poles are useful to scratch the surface to give you feedback on icy or crusty conditions. Poles give you something to lean on when you're tired or taking a break. Poles can be very helpful if you've fallen and are too awkward to get up on your own power. Poles can help you retrieve stuff if it's sliding away from you after you fall. Poles can help you trace the sidewall on a cattrack if you're riding a gravity traverse in a whiteout. I could go on... But yes, poles do also actually help you to turn. Or even cause you to turn if you use them as a fulcrum in scary or sketchy conditions, or when you're learning how to get yourself through bumps with any kind of flow. Can you ski without them, sure. In fact most instructors will take your poles away at some point during lessons, especially if you're the type who is sure that poles are "mostly useless." Take it up a notch - poles are tools. Tools are good.