Hauling Heavy Sleds

I've done some more modifying of our sled pulling system that we might use to climb Denali. It's still really simple, which I like: less parts to break, cheap, and easy to construct. It'll be easier if I just narrate through the pictures.

Showing the basic components of our sled pulling system. We are training with PVC pipe but will most likely use metal conduit on Denali for strength reasons. If you fall down the PVC will break but the conduit would only bend. Worst case scenario either way but still a concern. The pipe has an eye bolt through the end which is connected to the sled by running the "eye" through a U-bolt on the sides of the sled. This hopefully will provide a rigid connection transferring more of my precious energy into work done on the sled. It will also provide more control for the ski down. The knotted loop of rope acts as a break when sliding downhill with a load. I'm surprised how well it works: you almost have to pull the sled down the hill. This might be more work than just letting it slide but more than worth it to have more control. 

I tied a loop around the center of the poles to hold them in a crossed position. The cord is run through a hole in one pipe to hopefully secure it to the middle of the X. I've heard that this will help in steering, but we found that it helps get the sled onto your pack: it just holds the pipes together so your essentially messing with them as a unit, not individually.

I found a package of cheap bungees on sale at the hardware store, and used them as the connection via 'biners to our packs. The idea was to have some stretch so as to not feel a jolt from the weight of the sled every step, but these bungees are cheap and I didn't feel like it helped a whole lot. They also didn't provide very much support when skiing down. My next goal is to try and find a way to have a rigid connection to our packs. This would make skiing down a lot less hassle and hopefully even take away the jolting bounce of the load.

We went and did some "weight training" at Big Mountain last Friday, taking some mini-laps up a headwall on the lower mountain. The picture is looking behind me at Dad. We're carrying 30-40 lb packs and have 70 lb sand bags in our sleds to try and simulate loads on Denali. It was pretty tough.

PS. A big "shout out" to my mom who has been coming with Dad and I on Friday nights to practice skinning up the mountain. Mom got her first pair of backcountry skis, bindings, and boots for Christmas and is training hard for an upcoming trip to Canada at the end of March. I heard yesterday from a Canadian that the snow in BC is incredible. I can't wait!