Requiem For a Job

Skirafting is still underdeveloped in comparison to Bikerafting, but it is legal in wilderness areas (US) and sports the additional advantage of not completely ruining both constituent sports.

Mike Coyle on the Talkeetna River

The 3 main issues I've consistently dealt with across a dozen or so multiday skirafting trips are addressed in this post:

-Loading Skis into Packrafts

-Gear Selection

-Timing and Route selection

Loading Skis into Packrafts

Click for Video version of this discussion:

Boat mode

I've had good luck paddling with skis inside the tubes of just about every Alpacka model with the exception of the Refuge. A Gnarwhal (12" tube diamater) can swallow almost any matched pair of skis with low profile heels. Any larger diameter craft will have no problem with skis - A Forager (13"+ tube diameter) is shown above handling a bundle of 5(!) pairs of AT skis.

I spend almost all of my skirafting time in two niche boats - the Refuge (lightest Whitewater capable packraft) and the Valkyrie (most Whitewater capable packraft). The rigging required for these two craft illustrates many of the important principles of safe ski mounting. The Refuge is too short/low volume to handle anything other than skimo race skis inside and the lighter weight construction is more damage-susceptible, so I mount them on the Deck

Refuge with a Glacier Harness-turned-3 oz Backband-Thigh Strap combo.

Skis are placed to minimize disruption of Paddle strokes.

For any packraft loading configuration I prefer to have my toe pieces (dis)mounted on inserts, otherwise it is difficult to avoid painful and annoying interference with paddle strokes.

Bindings removed and ski placed to avoid interference with power stroke

I also use removeable heel pieces mounted on adjustment plates, such as the black diamond helio 200. If you can't justify mounting bindings on inserts, then placing them in front or behind your power stroke hand range is best. Deck-mounted skis may require gluing on additional custom attachments.

Skis shifted towards the stern to minimize interference with toe pieces.

If you mount bases down take care to armor ski edges with masking tape.

Ski straps are likely to be more resilient than webbing connections if your boat gets tossed in a hole.

The Valkyrie is the packraft that requires the greatest sensitivity for loading skis inside since it sports the smallest tube diameter (<9"). If your skis have removeable bindings, spoon them and cover the tips and tails with ski socks or gloves. If you can only remove your heels, line edges with masking tape and position in each side tube with the toes directly facing your hips (contact with your hips is likely). Or, in larger tube diameter packrafts match the skis on one side. There is plenty of room to strap items like ski poles, probe, soft items, onto the outside / middle half of the base. The contact points between the outside of the boat tube and your skis will be just the tips and tails. I like to strap some low profile soft parts onto these two spots, cradling the base and bottom side/edge of the tail and tip so any rock contact will have some give.

Obviously, every boat-ski-binding combination is a little different, but for reference I can fit my 188 La Sportiva Vapor Sveltes inside a Valkyrie (more rocker helps). Matched 186's with Dynafit speed radical bindings can fit inside a small Gnarwhal.

I welcome any input from experience with loading split boards. I've heard they can fit inside a Wolverine (<11" tube diameter).

I've always had luck with my ski boots shoved into the nose of the boat. Scarpa boots with liners removed can fit into pretty small tubes since the boot upper swivels in-line with the boot sole. As a bonus, Intuition liners are crazy warm for paddling in meltwater if the traction doesn't compromise your safety.

Other hard and sharp parts like axe, crampons, stove, etc. are safest living in the center of your stern under the zipper, safely inside of your backpack.

Even with these precautions you still may damage your packraft (in an easily repairable way). I've received minor tube damage on two out of twelve adventures, though partners are batting around 0.500.

Ski Mode

I won't say much here - many of the tried and true principles associated with towing traditional pulks apply. Make sure the load inside the boat is far enough forwards or the tracking will become more unstable. I have seen hull damage caused by contact with skis edges on descents, so managing that is also critical.

I've towed packrafts across hundreds of miles of snow and ice and have not experienced any damage or wear from doing so. I've heard reports to the contrary but am suspicious of the circumstances. Obviously, if you encounter ice or snow with embedded rocky debris (anything that would damage or wear your ski edges and bases), it's time to pack up your boat. I see no reason to line or armor your packraft when towing it on ice or snow, unless its purpose is to aid tracking or control on descents.

Foot Mode

Good luck!

Gear Selection/Suggestions

It is easy to get absolutely crushed by the full weight of multidiscipline ultralight equipment. Below is an incomplete list of (mostly expensive) very lightweight equipment that I've used to get my skirafting baseweight as low as 32 lbs.

Paddling Gear

Alpacka Refuge

Aquabound Whiskey Paddle

OR Werner Corryvreckan (larger blade area)

Petzl Sirocco Helmet (if appropriate) plus helmet liner

Sockdolager ultralight uninsulated pogies

OR Stohlquist toaster neoprene pogies

MTI Journey type III pfd (doubles as a comfortable snowcamp seat/foot rest)

OR Astral Layla (lightest type V)

Army surplus insulated liner pants (very cheap, lightweight and warm for drysuit or camp)

Old Alpacka ultralight drysuit (if you can find one)

OR Kokatat Hydrus front Entry drysuit

Snow Camping Gear

Black Diamond Betalite shelter (sets up with Paddles)

MSR reactor stove

Thermarest Xtherm sleeping pad

Western Mountaineering jackets, pants and booties.

Ski Gear

Arva carbon race probe

Arva Ultra Carbon shovel

Black Diamond Helio 200 bindings

Voile Objective BC skis (light, and fishscales are awesome for traversey terrain)

OR Movement Race Pro series skis

Hyperlite 4400 or 5400 pack (I have never had trouble loading everything into a 4400)

Outdoor Research Deviator Hoody (lightweight, warm camp, ski and drysuit layer)

Outdoor Research Echo Sun hoody

Patagonia Dual Aspect Bibs

Salomon ultralight pertex rain shell

Scarpa Alien RS boot

Disclaimer: I have associations with Alpacka Raft and Aquabound. The above list has been assembled and field tested thoroughly by me with the singular goal of maximizing performance, durability, comfort and minimizing weight on these types of expeditions.

Timing and Route Selection

Any Skiraft route is likely to be a competing challenge between flows that are high enough (or channel that is open) and continuity of snowpack with the particular goal of eliminating mileage on foot. Carrying a full ski and packraft kit can be a crushing overload of ultralight gear.

Allen Ottman crossing the Bremner Dunes

The most valuable planning tool that I've employed on every single skiraft route is the semi-real time imagery available for free from the ESA's Sentinel Satellites. You can watch snowpack coverage change through time, and it's often just high enough resolution to see if river channel has broken up or is still frozen over. In most locations, this imagery is available day-of and updates every 3-4 days.

I have been successful in using this tool to identify the historical windows (back to 2016) when river channel is open and snowpack is closest to takeout/hike transitions, or in identifying clean transition points where we can ski down a covered north facing slope to reach a dry south facing slope.

Or, if you're talented or lucky you can skip the intermediate foot travel transition and go straight from river to snow or snow to river.

Before tackling a pair of skirafting routes last year in the Talkeetna and Kenai mountains, Roman Dial had suggested that I take a look at the Eastern Chugach as the potential prime zone for combining long ski traverses and difficult whitewater. The eastern Chugach indeed has a striking architecture for people who like to draw lines on maps - sets of long range-parallel valleys that contain both rivers glaciers, cross-range rivers (like the lower Copper) and river canyons incised into the mouths of hanging valleys.

When our crew of 4 was cut in half a few weeks before our intended May trip onto the Nabesna Glacier in the Wrangells, Allen and I opted for an objective with easier and cheaper logistics and lower weather risk - a 250 mile loop in the Eastern Chugach. This loop, making use of the Lower Copper, West Tana, Tana, and Chitina Rivers, has an amazing 3-to-1 river to land mileage ratio (perhaps only bested by Forrest McCarthy's River of Return route). This ratio may run afoul of Roman's guidance on packraft symmetry, but it is highly appealing to the skirafter burdened with 12 days of food and 65 pounds of ultralight gear.

Trip Video (Click thumbnail to play)

The core of the eastern Chugach exposed along the lower Copper River corridor

Clockwise loop

While many of the smaller rivers and creeks in the Eastern Chugach present significant whitewater challenges, our route featured only one short section - pool-drop big water rapids in Tana Canyon on the back end of the loop. However, as Allen and I launched onto the class II Lower Copper River, we were consumed by an even more intimidating prospect - a large river that may not have completely broken up before our trip window started.

An unfortunate element of the early season Lower Copper River springs from the extreme precipitation gradient that it traverses: the interior basin it drains receives as little as 7 inches of precipitation a year while the coastal end of the canyon receives upwards of 120 inches a year. Thus, the slightest hint of springtime can open up the river at the put-in while it may take additional weeks for ice to clear from the lower section.

Allen and I knew that the conditions we were aiming for were balanced on a knifes edge - the time window separating full breakup and the melt-out of low elevation snow for ski travel was likely to be both vanishingly small and difficult to time.

We missed the window.

Forty-some miles down the Lower Copper we ran into river sections that were still iced over, despite a gage-estimated flow of 80,000 cfs. That river segment was 2 to 3 miles wide, and the iced-over surface was too punchy to walk or ski on, so a stark dilemma was facing us down. We studied our maps and noticed that a parallel river, the Bremner, was only 2 miles away across an intervening peninsula of sand dunes. If the Bremner was open it would be our savior, while if it was iced over it would cost us just a few hours of transition time, and might be more skiable than the Copper.

Springtime Dunescape

Miraculously, the Bremner was completely open for its entire remaining 15 miles down to the confluence with the Copper, which allowed us to finish paddling and transition to skis+boat sleds before sunset.

We skied up the Wernicke River and Glacier, progress slowed only by short open water sections and steep moraine slopes.

After breaking our first glacier camp, we ascended into a thick fog which would last for most of the next two days. We mainly used a compass to navigate to save phone battery, though at one point we were skiing over what I'd barely exagerate as being a mat of ice worms which all seemed to be aligned with, I assume, the direction of the sun.

30 miles of skiing from the Copper delivered us to the high point on our route, a 5700' pass. After two days of fog, a stunning morning set up just when we wanted it to the most.

We decided to spend our half-day weather window on a side trip up to a 8000' point on a ridge that featured views of the main Chugach crest, plus long range vistas of the Wrangell and St. Elias mountains.

After breaking camp before lunch, we started our long, low angle descent of the Bremner glacier system with a goal of making it most of the way to the Tana Lobe terminus.

Another system set in at our last glacier camp, but our position on the rain-shadowed side provided us with consistent visibility and even some sun as we approached the West Tana River.

We chose a point on the West Tana just below the terminal moraine and were happy to give our feet a break as we dried out and stuffed our boots and skis inside our boats for good.

One of the most surprising elements of this trip was the wildlife. Over 250 miles we saw a few bear and moose prints, but sighted few animals aside from birds.

The current and pace picked up as we joined the main Tana, as did the wind. Did I mention the wind? It had been fearsome at our put in where the Chitina joins the Copper (a notoriously windy spot), and it picked back up here. The wind blown dust at the outset of the trip had me coughing and sneezing for several days, and from this point it returned through the end of the trip.

The only reprieve from the wind came where the Tana cuts a sheltered bedrock canyon above the confluence with the Chitina River. Here, a set of riffles and grand canyon style rapids slowed our pace a touch. A near-miss for both of us on one of the longer rapids gave us motivation to start scouting some of the bigger horizon lines - an easy move to justify since our drysuits lacked neck gaskets.