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Travel Tips - circa 1935 - Sledging
(please note this has nothing to with the "sledging" undertaken by current
Australian cricket teams)
The following extracts may be
of assistance to the adventurer or just good reading. We will change the
advice on a regular basis.
SLEDGING
The speed and comparative simplicity of sledging with dog teams has
been realized to the full only in post-war years. Its technique has been
studied by all recent Polar expeditions, and there is no question that
it is the best general method. Man-hauling is suitable for short journeys
in mountainous country; mechanically propelled sledges have not yet proved
themselves. In general an arctic traveller must learn the art of dog-driving,
and a good driver with a trained team will keep the dogs fit and well. Only
a very long and arduous journey may necessarily include a certain degree
of remorseless use of the dogs, disagreeable to the feelings of dog lovers,
but essential to success. There seems to be no doubt that three out of four
Englishmen become good drivers in a season, and perhaps one in ten very good.
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these sledge designs.
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Where it is possible to travel by sledge and dog team as in Greenland,
it is sometimes best to live with Eskimos at the base; to employ them there
for hunting to save time, by sewing, and for making travelling and hunting
equipment; to learn their technique in travelling and hunting. But travel
alone for speed and punctuality; one should seldom make plans essentially
based on cooperation with Eskimos, and the same may be said of many other
people in the world.
"On a long journey, there should be one dog team to every man; the
loads on each sledge will then be small and long distances can be
covered. A two man unit can remain out very easily far two weeks
without restocking provisions. At the beginning of such a journey the total
weight of dog food and man food on each sledge will be about 500 lb. Since
it seven dog team should not be made to pull more than 700 lb. to get the
best results from it, there is
still room for 200 lb on each sledge. With this load it should be possible
to do 25 miles each day." Watkins. Labrador.
"A sledger's mind becomes very shallow, and can measure events only in
contrast with things that have just happened." J. M. Scott. Labrador.
"The whole journey was made very efficiently. Scott was the only
member of the party who had ever sledged or used dogs before. In spite of
this, each man had his own sledge and team of seven dogs. With their heavy
and awkward loads they averaged 10 miles a day on fheir journey from
the Big Flag depot to the Ice Cap station (this includes the time spent in
their tents during bad weather, and also the time spent taking their observations.)
They did the return journey from the Ice Cap station to the base in four
and a half days, an average of 28 miles per day." Watkins. B.A.A.R.E.
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Last updated 31st of March 2003
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