Sledges and Pulks
Pulling home made sledges on the north Patagonia ice-cap.
If you are carrying large loads (20kg or more) and are moving over reasonably flat terrain then towing a sledge of some sort is definitely preferable to skiing with a large rucksack on. This page details some of the advantages and limitations of towing your kit, plus some tips on how to do it, whether with a professional polar pulk or a home made plastic sledge. Finally we have some tips and tricks that we have learned over the years
Advantages and Limitations
The one big advantage of using a sledge is that it is significantly easier to move kit around this way versus backpacking. Even a 20kg load is easier to pull on a sledge than to carry on your back. If you get into doing anything serious up at the poles or in Greenland then you may well have over 100kg of food and equipment and you will have no choice but to use a professional pulk style sledge.
The disadvantages and limitations of sledges are however pretty numerous, so they are often not worth using if you are carrying less than 20kg for just a day or two.
The biggest single limitation is that all sledges require very flat ground. Although you can tow sledges up reasonably steep inclines (up to 20º) if you go straight up the fall-line, they are very difficult to use on a traverse across the fall line, even on low angle slopes like 5 or 10º, and they are not easy to use on downhill sections steeper than about 10º. To some extent a second skiier behind you with a rope to the rear of the sledge can help here, but it's still pretty limited. So the use of sledges is pretty much limited to ice-caps and going in and out of the mountains along valley floors.
Another place where sledges can be awkward is when crossing crevassed terrain. You need to give a lot of though to what will happen if you fall into a crevasse with a 40kg sledge attached to you - it's not going to be nice! The main thing to think about is that when you rope up you need some system to attach the back of the sledge with a prussik or similar on the rope going out to the person skiing behind you, so that they can control the sledge if you take the plunge. For this reason it is not recommended for the last person on a rope team to tow a sledge.
Proper manufactured pulks are very expensive, but home made adaptations of plastic sledges suitable for less severe use are very cheap.
Pulks
We'll get some more information about professionally made polar pulks posted here later. You can purchase some very professional looking models from www.sledges.co.uk
Home Made Sledges
Home made sledges are a very cheap and easy solution and are quite suitable for loads of up to about 30kg - i.e. about one weeks worth of supplies. You can make one easily in an hour or so by doing a bit of drilling and altering to a standard kiddies plastic sledge.
In brief you will need one plastic sledge (large and deep is best, and definitely with some kind of moulded runners rather than a completely flat base). A length of hollow plastic plumbing or electrical pipe or similar for making a towing frame, some old climbing rope for use within the towing frame, and finally some cord or elastics to attach your load securely to the sledge.
..........and if that all seems like too much work, then just go to Poland, find a really big sledge and a strong horse, then jump in the sledge yourself!
How to make a workable sledge.
I've always just used kiddies plastic sledges (but quite strong ones). You can purchase some nice ones like those pictured here from www.sledges.co.uk Buy some plastic plumbing pipe as well to make solid tow bars and use an old piece of climbing rope to pull the sledge.
I use one cross bar in the front of the sledge (pushed thru biggish holes drilled on either side) and two long tow bars, one either side between the sledge and me. These tow bars need to be long enough and stiff enough to prevent the sledge from catching up with you and running over the back of your skis, but are best no longer than necessary to achieve this. I use 1.5m bars, but this is dependent on your ski length and stride length.
Drill a series of small holes down the upper side of the sledge for attaching tethers of either cord or elastic to hold your rucksack or kit bag and any loose gear in place on your sledge. It's a good idea to work out some system that is not too fiddly to use in cold conditions, but that it flexible enough to take different sized bags and odds and ends like crampons and shovels.
Use the climbing rope threaded through the triangle formed by the tow bars to attach the sledge to your waist. Make sure the connections at your waist are really really tight or the sledge will oscillate back and forwards, making smooth skiing difficult, this is why an old piece of climbing rope is good...it can be stretched a little to tighten it.
1. Front of sledge showing cross bar in place and small side holes for tethers to retain equipment.
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2. Tow bars in place.
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3. Tethers to secure the load - climbers accessory cord has been used here, elastics can do a better job. It's very useful to be able to store shovels, axes, crampons etc on top of the load.
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4. If you keep the kit-bag or rucksack handles free the sledge can be quickly converted into a sledge-sack. This is great when you have lighter loads and you know there are going to be some occasional obstacles (e.g. a bridge with no snow, a fence or stile, a short steep bank). The slippers are not recommended for glacier travel.
Tips and Tricks
For towing the sledge I recommend a climbers sit harness - it may be that you need one anyway for the glaciers or other terrain you are going to be on. You can also tow directly from the waist belt of a small rucksack. This has the big advantage that when you take the rucksack off you have also gotten rid of your sledge quickly - great for going for a piss.
With relatively light loads (up to 25kg), one great tip is to use a big 70 litre rucksack as the main load, but drop it into the sledge with the shoulder straps upwards and loose. Then you can just pick up your sack and wear it normally. See pictures above and below.
Load your sledge low down. Put heavy things like tinned food and fuel in the bottom, lighter stuff at the top. Depending on the sledge design these home made sledges can be quite tippy. Practice before you go to Greenland or the Patagonian Ice-cap.!
