Late last winter I built a sled system for hauling gear on backcountry trips. It was a simple design made from about $25 worth of stuff; some purchased from the hardware store down the street, and the rest scrounged from my gear closet. The season got away from me, though, and beyond a short test in the woods behind my house, my new sled rig never got a real wilderness workout.

That all changed a week ago, when my friend Dick and I decided to head into his cabin on a remote lake in northern Maine for a four day retreat (I can't say just where under threat of serious injury!).

I packed a pretty healthy load of gear together, loaded it all onto the sled and bungied it down, and skied off into the wilderness. It was a four-mile trek across the lake to the cabin, and despite the heavy load (which included beer, wine, munchies and a frozen pizza!), the sled performed wonderfully.

Skiing into the wilderness last weekend with my sled in tow.

Sleds are ideal for hauling critical gear along on your winter adventures!

Other than having to take a small amount of slack out of the connecting ropes, I had no problems whatsoever. Since the sled is constructed of inexpensive materials, I'll no doubt have to pay attention to wear and tear (e.g. frayed ropes, cracks in the PVC pipe or the plastic sled) prior to setting out on big trips. But it should provide miles of good service for not a lot of money. And it sure beats carrying all your gear on your back!

Special thanks to reader Ed, from St. Cloud, Minnesota, for sending along information on his winter sled design called a "ski pulk". Ed has even written a book on ski pulks that you can download from his site. Check it out. You'll no doubt want to build a sled of your own!