Re: Sledge, Pulk?
BGhouse
> On Jan 20, 9:15 pm, BGhouse <wjgho...@nospam.yahoo.com> wrote:
>> mccannam <mark.mcca...@gmail.com> sed:
>>
>> > Has anyone built a sledge or pulk for towing your gear while xc
>> > skiing?
>>
>> Just putting the fitting touches on a pulk I'll be using during a Ski
>> Patrol Mountain Travel and Rescue course. Here's my write-up on it:
>>
>> http://webpages.charter.net/bghouse/SkiPulk/
>>
>> Doesn't address your tracked trail requirement.
>
> Thanks BG, that's useful site for building a pulk, I wish I would have
> seen it sooner. I'm using the 7' pvc pipes for my person to sled
> connection. I figure if it gets too cold I'm not going, but if I'm out
> there and then it gets cold....
It seems a whole lot of folk use PVC without a problem ... Maybe carry
a simple repair kit with some kind of sleeve that could be
glued/taped/clamped over a break. OTOH, I plan to use a tow line as a
back-up to the tracers.
> Funny thing, the Erapro sled is made about 20 minutes from my house
> yet I only found out about from you.
Ain't that the way it is. I spent considerable time looking for a local
source, then ended up ordering it from REI.
> I'm going to add some suspenders to my waist belt as I discovered that
> there is a significant downward pull on the belt that had me hiking it
> up every once in a while.
I've heard of that. One solution I heard was to attach it to a day
pack. I'll keep that in mind during sea-trails!
Good luck.
--
BG - W Michigan
telemark vinny
If you are jerry rigging a pulk set up- check out the Chariot ski set
up and how the telescopic poles attach (at an angle to the pulk), as
well as the beefiness of the hip belt (any large pack belt would
work)- I find it works very nicely and it is not cheating to look at
some proven designs : )
sounds like fun!
cheers,
K
Puppet_Sock
Has anybody a similar report for pulk behind snowshoes? I don't
have any kind of sense of balance, so skis are not on. Travelling
on snowshoes is a lot faster than falling down every 20 seconds.
Socks
mccannam
> Re: apulkbehind skis.
>
> Has anybody a similar report forpulkbehind snowshoes? I don't
> have any kind of sense of balance, so skis are not on. Travelling
> on snowshoes is a lot faster than falling down every 20 seconds.
> Socks
Hi, I finished my pulk, I walked around with it just to see what it
would be like and it pulled fine. You might want to shorten the poles
a bit as it seems like the snowshoe tracks have tighter corners. mm
chrism
lot wider than normal tracks so it doesn't sit in the tracks (but
doesn't sit on them and damage them). Not sure of the exact
dimensions, but not convinced that's terribly important either.
Ed Huesers
> Hi, I finished my pulk, I walked around with it just to see what it
> would be like and it pulled fine. You might want to shorten the poles
> a bit as it seems like the snowshoe tracks have tighter corners. mm
>
> http://mark.mccanna.googlepages.com/pulk
Sorry to be so late finding this thread.
Here is a manual that tells how to build a pulk:
http://www.skipulk.com/images/pulkbook.pdf
The poles work real sweet, I use them when I winter camp.
Ed Huesers
http://www.grandshelters.com
jeff potter
sled with wood-slat back-up so bolts wouldn't pull thru the plastic. I
didn't try to keep the camber in the ski as is pictured at the one
link---it seems like the load will eventually bend over the bolts.
Well, we use our ski-sleds for ADULT sledding as well as for pulling
stuff around! We find that the plastic sled bends with the camber of
the ski anyway.
I vaguely recall 9.5" being a good comfy ski track width (when I built
a track-setter). There was a thread here years ago on the variations---
I don't recall the standard. If you're off by an inch it feels
awkward!
We connected our poles just with simple rope loops---never had
failure.
I always GREATLY prefer shock-absorbing poles. And the poles are
always CROSSED for good turning.
I made my poles with a dowel, eye-hook, hollow alum conduit that the
dowel could slide inside of, bungee cord. It worked great for classic
striding, for skating, for shoeing. (I agree that shoeing could use
shorter poles for tight terrain.) I remember doing some fun adjusting
of pole-length and bungee length to keep skis from hitting the sled
and to absorb my entire ski-lunges.
With any kind of heavy load a suspended pole is needed otherwise you
have a wretched sense of starting/stopping all that momentum no matter
what your mode of travel. Maybe there's a place for a rigid pole,
though.
Have fun!
I'll do a photo write-up on this at my OYB site sometime. My pulk is
presently disassembled so I can't provide pics right now.
Ed Huesers
> With any kind of heavy load a suspended pole is needed otherwise you
> have a wretched sense of starting/stopping all that momentum no matter
> what your mode of travel. Maybe there's a place for a rigid pole,
> though.
The poles I use are 1/2" diameter solid fiberglass and can be
obtained in any farm supply store. They are sold for putting up electric
fences.
I too experienced the hercky jercky motion until I got the entire
linkage so it had no slop in it. Now the pulk and I travel as one.
I've skied full speed down through the trees with the pulk in tow
and had no problems.
I've also had the sled roll over when the weight was loaded to high
and I was traversing a side hill. The poles twisted up like pretzels but
were fine once I took off the waist belt and untwisted them. I can't
imagine this with metal poles.
> Have fun!
Yes, always.
Ed Huesers
Http://www.grandshelters.com
Martin Thornquist
> With any kind of heavy load a suspended pole is needed otherwise you
> have a wretched sense of starting/stopping all that momentum no matter
> what your mode of travel. Maybe there's a place for a rigid pole,
> though.
I've heard that people travelling over glaciers with a really heavy
pulk (think skiing to the South Pole) sometimes use really long, rigid
poles. The theory being that if you fall through a snow bridge the
pulk stays on top and the poles hold you up. I'm a bit skeptical, as
you usually make a big hole if you fall through with skis on, but it
might be better than nothing.
Around here (Norway) many people ski with their small kids in pulks. I
think the poles currently are aluminum mostly, and they're hinged in
the middle for easier transportation. This is the most popular one:
Martin
--
"An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader."
-Paul Graham, On Lisp
Eugene Miya
Martin Thornquist <marti...@ifi.uio.no> wrote:
>I've heard that people travelling over glaciers with a really heavy
>pulk (think skiing to the South Pole) sometimes use really long, rigid
>poles. The theory being that if you fall through a snow bridge the
>pulk stays on top and the poles hold you up.
The problem is that this presumes your sled's travel is perpendicular to
the line of the crevasse and not colinear to the snow bridge. Most of
the time: it won't be. Skis are very good distributing weight compared
to unshod walking boots except for very wide crevasses as in large enough to
swallow a sno-cat (think Mawson's Will and his ponies breaking
through snow bridges). Then the ski gives you a false sense of security
until you get to the thinnest part of the bridge.
You can get over thin Antarctic snow bridges with skis
which you can't do with a sledge.
>I'm a bit skeptical, as
>you usually make a big hole if you fall through with skis on, but it
>might be better than nothing.
People trying solo traversals and winter ascents of Denali have tried
horizontally carrying ladders or long strong poles (and back packs). The
advantage on temperate/continental glaciers unlike ice sheets is that
you have an idea of flow direction and some sense (but not always) how
crevasses run (rememeber: not always like bends/turns).
N. Uemura's body has never been found on Denali, and he used this solo glacier
travel system.
--
Bernd Nebendahl
> horizontally carrying ladders or long strong poles (and back packs). The
> advantage on temperate/continental glaciers unlike ice sheets is that
> you have an idea of flow direction and some sense (but not always) how
> crevasses run (rememeber: not always like bends/turns).
I have also read (source?) that some people use two long poles that are put
together to form a cross and attach this to their hips, so you don't have to
worry about the directions of the crevasses (as long as the crevasses are
not bigger than the cross). However I have a hard time imaging how help
yourself once such a cross has stopped you from falling (remember you are
still soloing).
Bernd
Eugene Miya
>> advantage on temperate/continental glaciers unlike ice sheets is that
>> you have an idea of flow direction and some sense (but not always) how
>> crevasses run (rememeber: not always like bends/turns).
In article <47f48719$0$4848$9b4e...@newsspool4.arcor-online.net>,
Bernd Nebendahl <Bernd_NOSPA...@gmx.de> wrote:
>I have also read (source?) that some people use two long poles that are put
Likely Tejas and others.
>together to form a cross and attach this to their hips, so you don't have to
>worry about the directions of the crevasses (as long as the crevasses are
>not bigger than the cross). However I have a hard time imaging how help
>yourself once such a cross has stopped you from falling (remember you are
>still soloing).
One presumes one doesn't always punch all the way through
(figure that most of the time you are toast [Simpson being a rare exception]).
You'd have many of the same problems breaking thru lakes except
snow bridges are weaker than lake ice, and you don't get any buoyant
advantages with air below your feet.
The problem is figuring out how long to make the poles. Longer -> heavier,
so it's just another part of the knapsack problem.
This is why Messner doesn't like soloing across crevasse fields. But he
does it (w/o any of this).
--
Hal Murray
>to unshod walking boots except for very wide crevasses as in large enough to
>swallow a sno-cat (think Mawson's Will and his ponies breaking
>through snow bridges). Then the ski gives you a false sense of security
I thought Mawson used dogs and got vitamin-A poisioning from their
livers.
Wasn't it Scott who tried ponies?
--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
Eugene Miya
>>swallow a sno-cat (think Mawson's Will and his ponies breaking
>>through snow bridges). Then the ski gives you a false sense of security
In article <UJSdnR7j86RpPWja...@megapath.net>,
Hal Murray <hal-u...@ip-64-139-1-69.sjc.megapath.net> wrote:
>I thought Mawson used dogs and got vitamin-A poisioning from their
>livers.
>
>Wasn't it Scott who tried ponies?
Scott used Siberian Ponies, Shackleton also used ponies. Every one used
dogs. Scott tried tractors. I can't remember all the details of Mawson
w/o going back to Will (those polar books blend together) but I recall one
of the accounts watching some disappear into the abyss.
Scott's ponies had snow shoes, those are still at Cape Evans, and I
remember seeing horse feed at Cape Royds outside Shackleton's hut.
All the English had problems with dogs and skiing. Scott only had 4
pairs of skis for the five of them on his ill fated push. This little
fact tends to get overlooked by armchair explorers.
--