{"id":888,"date":"2014-06-28T21:34:46","date_gmt":"2014-06-29T03:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/?p=888"},"modified":"2022-02-10T09:01:25","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T09:01:25","slug":"ski-pulk-sled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/ski-pulk-sled\/","title":{"rendered":"Ski Pulk sled"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ski<\/a>
Ski Pulk sled, heavily loaded<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’ve used sleds on occasion to carry large winter loads. \u00a0However, the sleds I’ve used have always been home made jobs. \u00a0I’ve bought kiddie sleds and modified them in various ways to make them serve as ski sleds. \u00a0My modifications began relatively simply, just drilling holes in the front of the sled and attaching cords to pull with. \u00a0These simple sleds performed poorly, being next to impossible to control on anything other than level terrain, so I tried more elaborate modifications, using ski pole sections to make solid poles to help control the sled and make it more easy to turn and stop. \u00a0However, in spite of my best efforts at do-it-yourself modifications, my sleds pretty much sucked.<\/p>\n

When I needed a sled for a yurt trip this past spring, I decided to buy a commercially built sled specifically designed for use by a skier.<\/p>\n

After doing a bit of internet research, I decided on a sled by the Ski Pulk company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sled I bought was the Paris Backcountry Sled with Split Poles.<\/a><\/p>\n

After dragging this sled uphill for miles, and skiing with it on downhill for more miles, I have to say that I’ve been very happy with it. \u00a0It’s worlds better than my home made jobs. \u00a0The first thing I noticed are the poles. \u00a0I bought poles that break down into two pieces, which makes the poles more compact when disassembled. \u00a0The poles screw together neatly and securely, and there is no slop in the threads. \u00a0The attachment points from the poles to the sled are also very secure. \u00a0The poles flex a bit, which adds to the comfort, but are rigid enough to provide for good steerability.<\/p>\n

The hip belt is much like a padded hipbelt for a back pack. \u00a0It’s comfortable, and allows for differing attachment points for the poles, allowing you to vary the level of control and response over the sled. \u00a0(Moving the attachment points outward tends to increase control, but also makes the sled react a bit more to the natural movement of your hips as you stride.)<\/p>\n

\"Pulling<\/a>
Pulling the pulk up a steep, narrow track<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sled also comes with a set of fins that provides better tracking on steep terrain. \u00a0They are easily removable, and can be screwed inverted in the bowl of the sled when not in use. \u00a0If you decide you need them, it takes less than 5 minutes to unfasten them, move them under the sled, and screw them in deployed mode.<\/p>\n

An optional duffel bag is available, but I just used one of my own. \u00a0The sled comes with straps and buckles so you can strap your stuff down securely in the sled.<\/p>\n

In use, the sled pulls well, with excellent control. \u00a0I used the Ski Pulk on an approach to a backcountry yurt followed a steep, narrow, winding path. \u00a0Going up in fresh snow was not a problem, even when loaded with 50-60 pounds. \u00a0Much more surprising and impressive was the sled’s downhill performance. \u00a0On hard snow, going down a path that resembled a bobsled run lined with trees was surprisingly easy. \u00a0The sled handles very well. \u00a0The slight flex in the poles helps to cushion dramatic turns, aiding balance, but the poles have enough stiffness to allow for radical changes of direction when needed. \u00a0 \u00a0On easy, open slopes, I could ski fun turns, and the sled just followed obediently behind me, hardly interfering at all.<\/p>\n

Overall, I’m very pleased with the Ski Pulk sled. \u00a0After using this thoughfully designed and well built sled, there’s no way I will ever consider using a home built sled again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  I’ve used sleds on occasion to carry large winter loads. \u00a0However, the sleds I’ve used have always been home made jobs. \u00a0I’ve bought kiddie sleds and modified them in various ways to make them serve as ski sleds. \u00a0My modifications began relatively simply, just drilling holes in the front of the sled and attaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,8],"tags":[24,207,268,270,269],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2031,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions\/2031"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/larsonweb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}