Anybody have any knowledge or experience in making a pulley for their sleds on hills? I want to camp and fish on south lake but worried about the steep hill. It sounds like a real doozie!

You might consider using a Z drag. It is commonly used by whitewater paddlers to drag a pinned boat from rapids. Here is a simple explanation of how to make a Z drag on youtube:

Z Drag video

I like the Z drag idea, and thats a well done video. I had steep portage problems last year too. I'm thinking the lightweight climbing pulleys from my old bear bag may have a new use.

Yeah that looks like a good system. I'll have to test it out and see how much weight the pulleys and rope adds.

Good aluminum pulleys from the climbing section of REI or similar weigh very little and work much better than the heavier metal ones from a hardware store.

IcePaddler- I've gone up that hill quit a bit in the winter. My dad and I used to go into South on day trips ice fishing a few times per winter. About 8 years ago I camped in South and we drug our camping gear up that hill. As long as you have some crampons or something for good traction you'll be able to dig and crawl your way up that hill. Just take your time and make sure you fill up your water bottles on South before you start the trek out. Now I use a snowmobile and access South via North.

quote walleye_hunter: "IcePaddler- I've gone up that hill quit a bit in the winter. My dad and I used to go into South on day trips ice fishing a few times per winter. About 8 years ago I camped in South and we drug our camping gear up that hill. As long as you have some crampons or something for good traction you'll be able to dig and crawl your way up that hill. Just take your time and make sure you fill up your water bottles on South before you start the trek out. Now I use a snowmobile and access South via North."

walleye_hunter- good to hear from somebody with experience on that hill. Were you cold camping on south? Just trying to get an idea how much you were hauling down and up the hill. Makes me feel better about it knowing others have done it without problems. Did you fish the west side of the lake? I know that's where the portages dump out but it looks pretty featureless. The east side seems to have more structure but it would double the distance to walk.

We cold camped in South. I have taken a wall tent up some nasty hills in the winter though. One man pulling the toboggan and one man pushing. You can catch fish right where you enter South from Topper but your assumptions about the east end being better fishing are correct. South is a productive lake so if you aren't catching fish keep moving around and trying different stuff until you start catching fish.

quote thebotanyguy: "You might consider using a Z drag. "

Ignorant guy question here. I've never pulled a sled like you all are talking about, but as a racing sailor I have a decent grasp of blocks and tackle, and purchase. Seems to me this rig would be helpful pulling a sled for about a foot or so until the line is pulled through the system, then you'd be right back to 1:1. What am I missing?

quote ParkerMag: "

quote thebotanyguy: "You might consider using a Z drag. "

Ignorant guy question here. I've never pulled a sled like you all are talking about, but as a racing sailor I have a decent grasp of blocks and tackle, and purchase. Seems to me this rig would be helpful pulling a sled for about a foot or so until the line is pulled through the system, then you'd be right back to 1:1. What am I missing?"

The video demonstration used a very short length of rope to illustrate the system in a tight camera shot. In real life, one will certainly use a much longer rope which will allow placement of the prussic loop near the sled load. If one has that length, the 3:1 mechanical advantage exists until the load is pulled to the top of the hill.

Even with a shorter rope, the prussic loop is positioned as far toward the load as possible, and when it is pulled to the anchor, it is again re-positioned toward the load maintaining the 3:1 advantage.

Here is another video demonstration in which the prussic loop is re-positioned midway through the pull: