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Welcome to Trek Alaska News - January 2005
In this Issue
First a word about trip scheduling. Now is when the summer planning season really gets going. Many people are starting to book now. If you are planning an Alaska trip for 2005 you should be nailing down your plans and reservations soon.
Physical Conditioning: What Does it Take for an Alaska Trek?
One of the things that people ask me about a lot is the level of physical conditioning required to do an Alaskan trek. We get people on both ends of the spectrum: those who underestimate the challenges and those who are overly intimidated by the rugged terrain of Alaska.
The truth is somewhere in between. Folks with a lot of backpacking experience can sometimes be a bit over confident, expecting that an Alaska trek will be pretty similar to some of the other trips they have done. This would be true if you are doing a trip that is mostly on trails. But trails are non existent in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and if you're going to the trouble and expense of traveling to Alaska you might as well get the full wilderness experience and get off the trail and into the remote backcountry.
The Physical Demands of the Alaska Backcountry
The absence of trails means that you will have to make your way over, around and through a variety of obstacles. These include muskeg, talus, scree, stream crossings, steep terrain, snow fields, glaciers and just plain rough and rugged ground.
When you are hiking on a trail you can find a rhythm, set a nice pace and just boogie along. This allows your body to be efficient in it's energy usage, utilizing certain muscle groups but not others. When hiking over rough ground you will be using a lot of secondary muscles to keep you in balance that would not get used as much on a smooth trail. Also the ruggedness of off trail terrain means that your hiking is a lot more irregular and stop and go. When you add a full pack into the mix the result is that you are probably going to expend a lot more energy to go one mile off trail than you would to travel two miles on a good quality Park Service trail.
The mental demands are higher as well. On a nice trail you can sort of go on auto pilot but off trial your eyes are constantly scanning the terrain to find the best route. You are constantly making many small decisions. That level of attention takes a certain amount of energy.
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Training for Alaska
The best way to train for any sport is to practice the sport. Train for hiking by doing as much hiking as you can. A full pack on your back makes the off trail travel more demanding than some expect. So do hiking with the kind loads you'll be carrying on your Alaska trip. And try to get in some off trail hiking if you can. Even hiking across a farmer's field or meadow will give you a feel for how the pack will effect you on more rugged terrain.
Try to include some hills in your workout routine whether it's hiking or running. Running is great exercise but I've seen marathon runners who felt challenged by off trail hiking. Hiking on rough ground uses muscles that running doesn't. If running is a big part of your workout routine do try to do hill work if possible.
So Do I Have to be a Triathlon Champion to do This?
Definitely not. I have lead people who were well into their sixties on some pretty challenging treks and they did very well. The key was that they had some backpacking experience and kept fit with lots of hiking.
Don't think that because you've never done something like an Alaska trip before that it's going to be too much for you. With proper route selection and some reasonable conditioning you can have a great experience.
- Do as much hiking as you can.
- Train with your expected pack load.
- Build up some endurance on rugged terrain and hills.
- Select a route that matches your abilities
- Team up with people interested in the same level of challenge as you are
With the right preparation and route selection anyone can put together and Alaskan backpacking adventure that will have just the right amount of challenge.
We are always happy to advise people on trip selection in terms of difficulty and the persons experience/fitness.
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Gear Review: MSR SimmerLite
The SimmerLite has been out for a bit now, long enough to have some sort of a track record so it seems like a good time to take a look at this most recent addition to the MSR stove lineup.
The Simmerlite is primarily an upgrade to the venerable WhisperLite stove. I have used several MSR stoves including the SimmerLite, WhisperLite and the Dragonfly.
As the name implies, the main feature of the SimmerLite is that it is designed to allow you to cook at a low flame. The older WhisperLite pretty much had two settings - on and off. An attempt to simmer by lowering the flame caused the stove to slowly shut down.
So does the SimmerLite simmer? Yes... to a point. You can definitely get a lower flame that is stable but there is a limit to how low you can go. I would consider it more of a medium to medium-low setting than a true simmer. But it's a far cry better than the WhisperLite. If you really want to get serious with your simmer action you have to go to the Dragonfly or else a butane/propane type stove. But in my book the Dragonfly is the king of simmer. It's also extremely stable but it's almost twice the weight and bulk of the SimmerLite.
The SimmerLite is also lighter then the WhisperLite by about 6 ounces. I like the new legs which improve on the old wire legs in that they fold down a lot flatter and the legs have better position stops than the WhisperLite.
The stove is fairly stable but you do want to be careful when you set it up especially when you put on the big pasta pot.
I've used this stove for two summers on our Alaska trips and it has held up very nicely. It's about $20 more than the WhisperLite but unless you don't have the twenty bucks I can't think of a reason to go with the WhisperLite over the SimmerLite unless you need to be able to use jet fuel with your stove.
This is a great, light weight backpacking stove that has worked very well for us. Highly recommended.
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Trip Leaders Discount
Planning an Alaska backcountry trip can take a lot of time and energy when you are the group leader. Most people travel a good distance to get to Alaska and there are details of travel, lodging and other logistics to arrange. So this year we are once again offering a trip leaders discount for groups of four or larger on any trips that are booked before Feb. 15.
If you organize a group of four or more to take one of our treks we will extend a 20% discount to the trip leader. This discount applies to the group leader only.
The group leader will be the point of contact with Trek Alaska for the group. So get to work on your friends, put together a group and get yourself a discounted Alaskan Trek. Contact us if you have any questions.
Scheduled Trips vs Custom Trips
As you look at our trip listings on the web site you will notice that some trips show specific dates while most just list a best season. Most of the trips we do are with pre-assembled groups: groups of friends or family arrange custom trips for their group.
But we do offer a few trips each year that are available for anyone to sign up for. This is great for solo travelers wishing to join up with a larger group. In the 2005 we will be offering two scheduled group trips - the >Seven Pass route and the multisport trip. The Seven Pass route can also be done at different times as a custom trip.
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Well that's it for this edition. Drop me a line if you have any questions.
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Greg Fensterman
greg@trekalaska.com - www.TrekAlaska.com
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> Featured Trip: >Seven Pass Route - top
We had huge success with this trip last summer and are offering it again.
If you are looking for a more challenging trek with a never ending variety of terrain then this is the one.
Glacier crossings, high alpine passes, lush green valleys and more.
>read more (see other trips) |
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