Rafting on the river Vyhandu on SAPs accompanied by guides.

If you want to feel like real travelers, pioneers in the spirit of Jack London, or dream of running the Vyhandu marathon, but don’t know how to start, or just want to join water tourism, we invite you on April 19-20-21 to pass the most interesting section of the Võhandu River, accompanied by guides with 2 overnight stays in an organized camp.

We will provide you necessary equipment- SUPs (rafting boards), neoprene suits / boots / gloves (they allow you to feel comfortable even in cold water), life jackets, helmets.
We will spend the night in a large tent - tipi (like real Indians))) with a stove, which will provide warmth and dryness.
We will eat food cooked on a fire and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature.

The hike begins and ends at the Leevi forest site in the middle reaches of the Võhandu River, i.e. we will spend 2 nights in a tipi / chum with a stove, i.e. comfortable conditions: warm and dry.

Event plan:

19.04 Friday

with20.00 - the ManitoQ - Surf and Snow team will be waiting for you at the camp site: Leevi lõkkekoht

description and coordinates of the camp site:
https://loodusegakoos.ee/kuhuminna/puhkealad/rapina-varska-puhkeala/1394
The place can be reached by car. Travel time from Tallinn is about 3 hours. Parking for cars directly next to the camp.
There is a warm meeting of like-minded people

21.00 - preparation of SAPs and other equipment, introductory route and order

+ dinner

20.04 Saturday: 1 day of rafting - calm river

5.30 - wake up, breakfast.

6.00 - transfer by car to the beginning of the route - Võru - Lake Tamula (15 minutes drive from the camp)
7.00 - good time to start the water part

N.B.! On the same day the Võhandu Marathon (www.vohandumaraton.ee) takes place, we will be able to indirectly participate in the event and start our adventure together with more than 1200 kayaks! The main thing is not to succumb to excitement and not to rush to the finish line together with the participants (about 100 km to it!).

From the pros: moving along with the participants of the marathon will make our day fun and varied

Movement order:
on the water SUP team + guide. In parallel, there will be an escort car, where you can leave spare things, snacks / tea.

We will make stops along the way to rest and eat.

You have to cover a distance of about 35 km per day

The river in this part is calm with a slow current. This will allow you to get comfortable with the equipment: learn how to control the board

16.00 - Optimally finish the water part. Approximately by this time we will approach our camp on the shore.

21.04 Sunday: 2nd day of rafting - rapids

9.00 - We wake up, have breakfast and get ready for the continuation of the adventure: this day we have to walk about 15 km along the wild canyon, overcoming several rapids!

10.00 - we go out to the fast section of the river - we run in the rapids, i.e. we pass consciously, several times, placing insurance on difficult sections. If one of the participants rolls over, then the team helps him get out of the water, catches the board.

Do not worry - with the correct organization of classes on fast water, a rather fun event:

15.00 - we get to the Reo bridge, put the equipment in our bus, return to the camp and have lunch

18.00 - with a pure heart and a sense of accomplishment, we go home ... prepare for the next trips!

Participation fee: 150 euros
to reserve a place, you need to make an advance payment of 50 euros by 1.04
pay the rest of the amount by 15.04
if you cancel participation later than a week before the start of the trip, then we, unfortunately, will not be able to return the prepayment.
For registration write by mail: [email protected] or call 55505959 Evgeny Dernovoy - we will send you payment details.

price includes
1. Work of guides
2. Equipment for rafting: SUPs, neoprene suits, boots, gloves, oars, life jackets, helmets
3. Group equipment for the camp: tipi tent, stove
4. Nutrition

List of personal equipment:
1. clothing according to the weather
2. swimming trunks/swimsuit/towel
3. sleeping bag+mat
4. mug+spoon+bowl
5. hygiene items
6. flashlight
7. mobile phone + waterproof case

to ManitoQ Team - Surf and Snow

What are bays? How are Norwegian skates different from figure skates? What specific equipment is needed for a multi-day trip on the ice of Lake Baikal? Telling from our own experience winter hikes ice skating on Baikal.

In 2018, a team of AlpIndustria employees will go skating around Lake Baikal for the third time. This journey is unlike anything, and the enthusiasm of those who once visited the ice of this lake in winter quickly switches to others, covering more and more people.

Video from the AlpIndustria team’s ice skating tour of Lake Baikal in 2016. Filming and editing by our friend Viktor Dubitsky.

Travel long skates

What are bays

And if everything is more or less clear with clothing and bivouac equipment for a winter hike, the key question remains what it is possible to overcome on frozen ice 20-50+ kilometers a day. The answer is on long skates, which are also called Norwegian skates, nordic skate and bais (a specific name common in Siberia).

Long, odd-looking skates designed specifically for skating on lakes, rivers, canals and bays - in general, wherever you can find ice and long distances - have nothing in common, neither in plan appearance and dimensions, nor in terms of purpose and style of movement, with figure or hockey skates.

Last year we had long skates with the simplest configuration: blades with plastic straps that wrap around a regular trekking boot.

On nordic sckate are installed ski bindings type SNS, and high ski boot for skating(with plastic ankle support). Bindings are not included with long skates: you can use bindings from your stock, if available, or purchase crepes separately, suitable ones can be found in AlpIndustria:

• Salomon SNS Pilot Sport Classic Cross Country Bindings
• Cross Country Ski Bindings Salomon SNS Pilot Equipe Skate

Long skates in AlpIndustry

This season, inspired by my own experience ice travel, we ordered a nordic skate for the AlpIndustria for the first time - now you don’t have to wonder about finding “normal” Norwegian skates or building analogues from improvised means.

For sale in AlpIndustry and for our own trips, considering previous experience, we have chosen Nordic skates "Husky" long skates from Russian manufacturer Baikal Ice. And this is a big plus. The Irkutsk company has been producing baise since 2014 and creates equipment specifically for Baikal ice.

Tests Nordic skates "Husky" in the suburbs

As testers:

• Vitya Saveliev— organizer of five skating trips around Lake Baikal and many skating trips through the frozen reservoirs of Moscow and the Moscow region, director of the Petzl Trade Department.
• Alexey Sashov— an experienced hiker, head of complex mountain and ski trips, head of the commercial department.
• Peter Bezruchko— participant of skating trips around Lake Baikal, marketing manager.

By the way, in order to just ride or go on a full-fledged trip on long skates, it is not necessary to immediately go to Lake Baikal. Even in the Moscow region in winter there are enough places for such sorties, for example, the Ozerninskoye reservoir.

You just need to remember about safety, relying on your own common sense, weather forecasts from various sources and reliable communications.

If you want to test yourself and get an incomparable impression of a trip to Lake Baikal on skates, but are not ready to organize it yourself or doubt your experience, join the trips of our AlpIndustriya Tour team and entrust organizational issues and the route to a manager and an experienced guide. We don't go for one season.

Special equipment for hiking on long skates

Sticks

Rollerski poles are ideal for multi-day nordic skate trips. You can also install tips from roller ski poles on cross-country ski poles. Compared to conventional rollerski carbide tips have a sharper sharpening angle, which allows them to confidently rest even on the hardest ice. From experience, with ordinary cross-country skiing poles, there were no problems. Whatever you decide on, it is desirable that the sticks are made of aluminum.

But trekking poles - folding or telescopic - are not suitable for Nordic Skate. Their flat tip is guaranteed to slip when moving.

sled sled

How to carry equipment during a multi-day, multi-kilometer journey across the ice? And this is not only spare clothes, shoes for the camp and a thermos with hot tea, but also tents, sleeping mats, sleeping bags, food and everything you need to cook it in field conditions. A backpack in such a situation kills the very idea of ​​​​fast movement on skates in the bud - with such a burden on your shoulders, you won’t accelerate, and you’ll get tired quickly.

An ideal option for an ice trip is a drag sled, i.e. those in which you put a large hiking backpack, and which stretch, “drag” behind you on the ice, attached to you with the help of a cord, which, if desired, can be supplemented with a shock-absorbing rubber band.

The drags are made of durable plastic, which retains its elasticity at temperatures down to -50°C. This design is not afraid of hitting trees, stones and hummocks. The cargo in the sled, if you are moving on wet ice, remains dry.

On the bottom of such plastic sleds there are pronounced runners in the amount of two pieces, allowing them to glide over snow or crust with minimal friction. You can load up to about 35 kilograms of equipment into the drags. If necessary, the sled can be easily attached to a backpack for transportation.

Rescue shlitsa ("Self-rescuers")

This is such a plastic device, similar to a skipping rope, in the handles of which metal pins are hidden. The “self-rescuer” is worn around the neck, and when falling into a crack, in most cases you will have time to grab its handles and plunge the metal pins into the ice, hook on it and get out, moving on the ice (even thin) on your stomach. You can choose on the Internet any, the most simple, without bothering.

For clarity, Vitya Savelyev himself demonstrated the fall into the hole and the rescue, and Viktor Dubitsky filmed the process on video.

Protection

Mandatory (!!!) equipment for travel on ice and even "just rides" for a few hours. The first thing that will suffer if you fall on hard ice - and even the most experienced participants are not immune from falling - is knees, buttocks and hips (we advise you not to neglect protective shorts - a thing!), Wrists and elbows, head.

Any will do ski protection or protection designed for roller skating. For example, Dainese (Italy). To protect your head, a climbing helmet or ski helmet is suitable. Somehow we collectively ended up on Baikal wearing Petzl Meteor helmets - hope.

If you're feeling too confident on the ice to condescend to full head to toe gear, or don't want to wear a full body kit for any other reason, we strongly urge you to get at least knee pads. Checked, knees get the most, and it hurts.

PS

As for clothes and bivouac equipment for skating, their choice depends on the specific conditions. For example, for Baikal in February-March, when the night temperature drops to -20C°, pay special attention to a suitable sleeping bag, an impressive puff and warm shoes for dinner and evening gatherings. For daytime hikes when temperatures are rising and you're constantly on the move, you need a quality membrane jacket (or at least a windproof jacket with underarm ventilation) to keep you warm along the way, and Sunglasses or a mask that will protect your eyes from the bright sun, wind and possible snow.

And one more piece of advice. Whether it will be a multi-day hike around Olkhon or a trip to the nearest reservoir, take a thermos with hot tea and a couple of chocolates to the exits - these simple things, after a couple of hours of active kicking off with your feet and waving sticks, seem to be something unearthly and in a couple of minutes of respite they charge you with strength for a new one. part of the road :)

Lecture by Viktor Savelyev about organizing trips on the ice of Lake Baikal

Photos by Rinat Bikbulatov and Natalia Ovchar from Baikal trips in 2016 and 2017 a team of AlpIndustria employees.

An experienced angler understands that sledding in winter is not only entertainment, but also an indispensable tool for running fishing. When you have to swing more than one kilometer on the ice of a reservoir in a day, you understand this especially well. If at the same time you are lucky, and the catch will be very rich, it is quite difficult to drag it in a backpack behind your back. And at the same time, you need to drag both the box and the ice screw, without which you can’t do without it. In such a situation, I want to give up forever on winter fishing, which suddenly turned from a favorite form of recreation into a severe punishment.

Yes, and during ordinary fishing, if there is a decent piece of the way to the place of fishing from the parking lot, sleds can also come in handy. It's not very pleasant to sweat in the cold, carrying all the belongings that you might need on a distant hole, from which you don't really run to the car and back. And when you sweat, you can easily catch a cold, which is another argument in favor of purchasing a fishing drag sled.

Based on all of the above, the sled can be put on a par with the fishing box in importance. True, the boxes are also equipped with skids, but their capacity cannot be compared with ordinary drags. Even an insulated jacket will not fit in a drawer. And if you have to go fishing with an overnight stay on the ice? Then without winter tent not enough. And besides it, an inflatable mattress for relaxation, a supply of food, warm clothes such as a blanket, sweaters and the like, in a word, everything that can help cope with the cold on a winter night, will not be superfluous. It's not bad, by the way, to have a compact heater for the tent in this case. And if you are also a happy owner of an echo sounder, which also requires space, then the issue of transportation comes to the fore.

To deliver all this considerable cargo to the place of fishing, you simply cannot do without a sled. And best suited for the conditions winter fishing sled drags. In these ordinary sleds with medium-height sides, all fishing belongings are placed quite easily. They also contain the entire catch. Such sleds weigh a little, take up little space in the car, and are themselves quite durable. By the way, drag sleds are also good for ordinary ski trip, as an alternative to a backpack, which is a pleasure to carry all day behind your back, for example, along a forest path!

The material from which the shovel is made is called "profiled polyethylene". As the name implies (polyethylene), this material does not crack on impact during severe frost, which allows the sled to be used even in the most severe conditions. extreme conditions north. By itself, it is very light, which is an additional plus providing structures with minimum weight. And, of course, it has excellent gliding on ice. Such properties allow you to move the "polyethylene" sled with little effort, which is very important if you need long-distance transportation of cargo, when you need to save energy for the fishing process itself.

Seemingly fragile at first glance, the drag sled, due to their manufacture from the frost-resistant material described above, will serve you for several winter seasons. However, their cost is low. And the convenience of using them cannot be overestimated. After all, when the sled is not used for fishing, it is quite possible to ride a child on the snow, to engage in active winter recreation. So you get much more when you buy them than you spend. They take up little space in the apartment, as they are an ordinary “trough”, moreover, a rather flat shape.

By the way, it is precisely because of its shape that these sleds are so indispensable on the ice of the reservoir. They have excellent stability due to the low center of gravity. If the fisherman's winter box on skids can only be dragged along smooth ice, otherwise it will roll over, then the sled will pass without problems through the most difficult hummocks, which are usually enough in our weather conditions.

As a rule, winter fishing alone rarely goes. And for a friendly company of ice fishing enthusiasts, we can advise you to purchase several sleds of the same size, which will easily fold into one another, and thanks to this feature, take up little space in your car. Or, as an option, you can buy one large common sled, if all the anglers on the fishing are compact - in the neighborhood, and there is not much point in a large number of sleds.

Sometimes sleds are so big that they have to be towed by special equipment. Then the draft force of a person is replaced by horsepower snowmobile. This is perfect option for collective night fishing on the ice of a reservoir, when the fishing place is far away, and you need to collect a lot of things.

But in this situation, take care of reliable fasteners for your cargo. The path along the pond is rarely smooth, the sleigh can often tilt and bounce on high speeds. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to secure the luggage with cords for the shoulder expander. Then you will not have to regret on arrival at the place of things lost on the road.

We hope that the information presented has convinced you of the indispensability of such an important attribute of winter fishing as a sled. And the choice of sleds in the trade is quite large and will satisfy every taste.

Sled for winter fishing in the store Route

1. We work with the most reliable suppliers of quality Russian and foreign brands.

2. We work without intermediaries, which allows us to keep affordable prices and apply a flexible system of discounts for goods.

3. In our store, you can pay for purchases in any way convenient for you: cash to the courier, online payment, bank transfer.

4. Delivery of fishing sleds is carried out throughout Russia with the involvement of the most reliable transport companies.

5. We comply with the Law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Consumer Rights", we guarantee the return of your money or the exchange of goods in cases stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Articles about ski equipment for tourism (tag) are in constant reader demand. There are few intelligible articles on this topic, even fewer pictures. And it is very tight with the transfer of experience between the close, but rare ranks of ski tourism fans.
From this point of view, our trip to the Subpolar Urals in March 12 was very productive in terms of impressions. See the crazy video "". We were satisfied with the equipment (skis, boots, bindings), which is rare. But first things first.

ski tourist from Belarus in full gear, including firewood for the stove)

For starters, my short article about ski tourism in Yugra. This is for those who do not know anything about ski tourism, but would like to know. Not about the one in the Alps with mulled wine, but about the one with a backpack in the Subpolar Urals. The article is decorated with magnificent photographs by Sergei Chelyshev.
Further, everything is more detailed and more serious: read only to those who are in the subject.

On the spread you can see a Belarusian in the valley of the Balban Yu River against the backdrop of Mount Starik-Iz. Him skiing type "ski-tour" and ski-touring bindings Silvretta 400 with a heel fastened if necessary. These mounts allow the use of climbing plastic boots (popularly "layers"). Ski touring sets are functionally designed primarily for descents, and a little for walking, because the foot does not work the most in them. naturally. The scope of such a kit is steep mountains of the Alpine type; short walks in areas without ski lifts. For multi-day autonomous travel, they are not well suited.

Joint start of the trip

The entire Belarusian group was equipped according to the ski-touring style. We discovered this on the Moscow-Vorkuta train, which carried us to the North. I tensed - maybe we missed something in preparation!

Based on the results of the campaign, I can boldly say that their equipment is too much for the Urals. There are not so many slopes for hard ski-touring crepes, especially if the goal is not skiing from the mountains, but the passage of a linear route. While on the train, the Belarusians attached skins to their skis so that they would never (!) be taken off. That is, the skiing function of skis was excluded in advance! Left walking. Who walked on skins on a flat surface, not a kilometer, not two, but tens, he will say that this is a mockery. Yes, even in the ski tour - crepes. In general, I did not understand the Belarusians in terms of the movement strategy. But in terms of bivouac, they were the best.

We climbed Mount Narodnaya (the highest point of the Urals) in "parallel" courses from Lake Krugloye (Bublik) - a classic climbing path. "Parallel", because they went on foot from the very bottom along the spur, and we skied along the couloir (even snowmobiles climb it). We met on the summit plateau. But it's not even about the ascent - skiing here gives an indisputable gain in time, but in the descent! - In that crazy pleasure, adrenaline rush - a reward for climbing. In general, we are on a hellish heavenly positive annealed down the path of ascent. The couloir is good!

We didn't even wear skins that day. There were enough notches on our backcountry skis. Notches are not made on ski touring skis, because they are not needed in big mountains.
And further! Important figures: the weight of the Silvretta 400 bindings is about 2.1 kg. This is not counting the weight of ski touring skis (2.5-3.5 kg), layers (2.5-3 kg) - it turns out that there is a fucking weight on the legs, 3.5 kg per leg! But still a backpack and a sled.

For comparison, my set:
- Madshus Eon skis ( 83-62-70 mm - the narrowest of the three-species line "cross-country-downhill" of this manufacturer) is 2 kg pair at 185 cm length (close-up);
- Voile 3-pin crepes about 0.4 kg;
- leather boots Crispi Antartic 0.9 kg.
Total 1.7 kg per leg.

Seryozha tells how to adapt mountain boots to "fighting" bindings. And about many other things: about skis, bindings in detail. I also talk about mine.

Ski boots Crispy Antarctic and and Fisher. Functionally very good. Perfectly fits the mentioned 3-pin mounts. Vibram outsole. The first ones are easier to dress, but the material is prone to fading: the skin beats against stones and is scratched by cats, is saturated with moisture along the way, and fades.

Fisher's are more wear-resistant, with laces, zippers and clip-on earrings, but they breathe worse and dry poorly. When they are cold, they dress worse.

Both those and others used without shoe covers. The whole hike in the morning was very cold -25-27, and in the afternoon it got warm in the sun - the snow turned sour. The first 20-30 minutes in the morning my feet get cold. Perhaps this has more to do with physiology than with the presence / absence of thinsulate or any membranes. It is necessary to warm up the legs and boots as much as possible before going out.

We used gasoline catalytic heaters for night drying in a tent. With varied success. Shoes dry out, but sometimes the heating pads suffocate - you need an influx of air, which is not enough in the boot. The Kovea VKH-PW05M heating pad gives a more uniform and long burning, our army GK-1 heats up more and is consumed faster. Used refined gasoline for lighters. It smelled...

We met the Poles - they were happy for our skis. They themselves were almost walking. Offtrack-cruising racing gauge skis with a flaccid notch. I must say, they (and all of us) were lucky with the snow - it was not enough. If there were a lot of them, everyone would have flattened themselves, and the Poles more than anyone else.

About sled drags! We had one sled for three with a common fund. About 10-12 kg in weight. Load no more! They took turns taking turns. The material is awesome - teza, slipperiness is excellent, good dimensions for tracking - it fits into the ski track. But everyone always wanted to get rid of this tail as soon as possible. And it doesn’t matter what it is: a bag-teza like ours, or a plastic sleigh like Belarusians have.

The general negative points are the same:
1) The lower back begins to get tired faster and stronger. When walking, the drag moves in jerks, whatever you think of it. An unpleasant load cannot be avoided. Pulls the lower back! So if you are going to take a trailer on a ski trip, I advise you to run it in! And not on the city ski track, but on mountain track, yes with a 25 kg backpack... - you will look like a complete idiot, but you will get a pretty accurate riding impression;
2) A special tin starts on the slopes, when you have to go in a zigzag, and the damn bag rolls along the line of maximum fall. Jerks lead out of mental and physical balance! Traverses are also taken out.

Good luck and health on the ski track!

A winter hike increases both the number of things for a comfortable trip, as well as their volume and weight, cap. If a summer downy sleeping bag takes about a liter, then all 6 are needed for a winter one. If in the summer a collet gas cylinder provides three people with boiling water for 3 days, then in winter, when snow and ice are melted, such a cylinder flies away in a day. Spare warm gloves, socks, bivouac clothes and shoes are placed in the backpack. The thickness of the rug in winter increases by two or three. All equipment for a long winter hike, of course, will fit in a backpack under 100 liters. But you can share some of the things between a backpack and a drag, or even fit all the things in an expedition sleigh, as was the case on our ski trip to Chukotka.

The drag has enough advantages to start using them. Firstly: the sled will allow you to take away much more cargo than you can carry on yourself (this also applies to volume). If you are also the lucky owner marching dog, then you can also teach him to help pull the strap. Our sleds weighed about 40 kilograms for a trip lasting 2 weeks. We did not experience any difficulties with their transportation, it was felt that it would be possible to pull the sled and much heavier in weight. During the day, we managed to walk at least 25 kilometers, while we had a 2-hour lunch, and in the evening we did not feel completely exhausted.

Secondly: when moving with drags, if you use a special harness, the back does not sweat under the backpack, and this is not only comfortable from a hygienic point of view. Wet clothes suck the warmth out of you, which is already lacking in winter.

Thirdly: the sled can be used at the bivouac for transporting goods: firewood, ice for water, snow blocks for the wall. And also for the evacuation of the victim.

Fourthly: it is convenient to sit on the drag, and lie down on the long one during the rest. Looking at foreign expedition sledges, you come to the conclusion that they can also be used for spending the night in a critical situation, they are so roomy.

Well, in general, the word volokusha brings a smile.

But before you go hiking with drags, you need to understand the nature of the terrain. Volokushi are ideal for winter travel in the open tundra, along frozen water spaces - the sea or a lake. That is, when driving on crust, dense snow, or even on ice.
If there is not a lot of loose snow, on our journey it happened that the leg with the ski went into the snow by about 30 cm, the drag also rode well and did not burrow. The last traveler on a rut rolled in soft snow was as comfortable as on a dense crust.

I foresee that in very loose snow knee-deep, where a footpath is needed, a heavy drag will burrow into the snow and interfere with progress. When hiking in such conditions, it will be necessary to distribute some of the things between the backpack and the drags in order to facilitate the latter, or to abandon the drags altogether.

When we crossed the river floodplains, it became more difficult to move with the drag: it began to cling to the trees that grow in such places. I had to maneuver between the bushes or wade through them, breaking thin branches and impressions of tourists as well-mannered people. I don’t know if skiers go through the forests with windbreaks, but when planning a route with drags through the forest, you need to take into account that drags can hinder progress.

It will be inconvenient with drags if there are long traverses of mountains on the route, moving along rivers with steep banks, in general, wherever you have to walk along the slope.

An important point to mention is that skis should be notched, or skins, because now you have to not only slide forward, but also pull the load from behind. If you go with a backpack, the inconvenience on skis without a notch will arise only when moving up a steep hill, otherwise you just have to rearrange your legs.

Moving with a sled looks a little different: the drag holds, so to move forward, the ski should not slip back. In other words, it is necessary to rest the ski on the snow in order to push off and pull the drag. I experienced the effect of this factor on the first day of the campaign. I had to unload the drag: give some of the equipment to friends, and put a backpack on my back. In order not to be in my situation, you need to choose the right ski size.

When moving with drags, you need to have the center of gravity of your load as low as possible. The higher your load is, the more likely it is that the drag on sastrugi, deep snow, crooked track, will roll over. Ideally, if the height of the load is no more than the width of the drag.

From this rule, one of the main rules, by the way, the following follows: the more cargo you have, the longer the drag should be in order to reduce the height of the luggage. Here, in my opinion, lies an obvious sign of why in our country there are few people walking with drags, and more and more with backpacks. And they don’t produce normal expeditionary sleds in Russia, as it turned out! There are a huge number of modifications of short, so-called fishing drags, up to a meter long, I can’t even imagine for what purpose the engineers gave birth to a dozen of their varieties. For 1-3 days, your hiking things will fit there, and I have such a short drag.

More or less close to the sleigh expeditions on Russian market there are only two items: Arktika shovel, by Chris Group, 120x40x20 cm in size (on the left in the photo), and SO-5 shovel, Nor-Plast company, 157x55x14 cm in size (in the center). And if the first ones are narrow and still short, then the second ones are, damn it, low!!!

Well, what is it? In a country that is famous for its frosts, the non-European part of which the whole world calls nothing more than Siberia, where multi-week ski tourism is developed, there are no normal expedition sleighs! Type in Google: expedition snow pulk, and you will see all the variety of drags that foreigners offer for, unfortunately, just an unrealistic price tag.

Volokusha Arctic


Volokusha SO-5

There is another option for tourism drags: drags made of tesa, but I don’t consider them at all. I read that the production quality of the batches is completely different, the points of attachment of the traction belt cause complaints, their volume is not at all large, and most of all I don’t like the process of stuffing such drags with equipment. I see the only option for using such sleds for transporting soft bivouac equipment: a sleeping bag, tent or rugs and, thus, reducing the volume of a backpack on the back. But for this I have a short plastic drag, which, moreover, will last much longer.

Volokushu Arktika can be used for winter hikes lasting about a week if you go without a backpack. This sled, based on its usable dimensions, will replace an approximately 100-liter backpack. Let me remind you that in winter, not only weight is added, but also volume due to warmer equipment. If the dragger were 10-15 centimeters wider, it would hold much more things.

Your dog can help in the campaign with drags!

For my trek, I chose the CO-5 drag because our trek consisted of 2 parts of 2 weeks each, and I needed to fit equipment for about 14 days. The only disadvantage of this drag is the low nose (well, the sides, respectively), however, this feature interfered with me only in a few cases.

The first of them: terrain with strong sastrugi. The low nose did not run into particularly large sastrugi, or any other obstacle: the drag just poked into it. In the best case, I had to go back and lift the nose of the dragger to the zastrug by the traces. In the worst case, the drag went under the zastrug, they often looked like frozen waves, and one had to either try to push the drag back so that the nose would move out from under the snow slab, or remove the slab, freeing the nose. It was very uncomfortable to do this on skis, and from time to time I started to get furious.

But, for 4 weeks of the campaign, we got into the valley with such large sastrugi only once and were transported in it for about 3 hours. The rest of the time, the sled drove into the sastrugi like a pretty little one, or it was simply possible to correct the movement slightly deviating from a straight line.

In an even worse case, if I was overcoming an obstacle and was already moving off it, and the drag suddenly stuck, I fell due to a jerk of the traction belts. This, though quite infrequent, but it happened, so I think it is important to tell.

Due to the low nose, which, in addition, the SO-5 has the shape of a rounded ax, the drag sometimes rested with its nose when leaving an obstacle. To prevent this from happening, it was enough to pull the traces and give the drag to acceleration before it freezes helplessly, buried in the snow. Such places were rare, and during the journey I learned to determine when I would need to speed up my sled, as well as those moments when I would need to help them drive over an obstacle.

To my joy, and not without sympathy, I note that partners with short fishing drags, loaded high, suffered much more with their overturning than I did with problems associated with a low nose.