Anchorage Daily News

For 25 years, Alaska adventurer and Alaska Pacific University professor Roman Dial has used a packraft to explore corners of wilderness next to impossible to reach on foot.

He's used the packraft in most of his 11 Alaska Wilderness Classics, perhaps the toughest backcountry race in the world.

He's used it to help him cross the Brooks Range and the Alaska Range.

He's used it to navigate Class V white water.

Now Dial hopes he's riding a wave that will make the light rafts must-have outdoors gear for travelers on foot -- and that his new book "Packrafting!" will help ignite a surge of interest.

"I happen to be one of the people who thinks it's going to explode," Dial said. "Anytime somebody gets in the packraft, they want one.

"It's kind of like mountain biking was when it was getting starting. It's like a mountain bike for the water."

Packrafts are tough, durable rafts that weigh 4 to 10 pounds, making them easy to pack and easy to inflate.

"These boats can open up Alaska's backcountry like nothing short of a Super Cub," Dial said. "A packraft is the best piece of gear an adventurer can carry other than clothes, food and fire starter."

Dial was introduced to packrafting on the banks of the surging Skilak River during the 1982 Alaska Wilderness Classic race from Hope to Homer.

He and other racers were wondering how to cross the glacial river that emptied into an iceberg-choked lake in front of the Harding Icefield, just five miles away.

That's when legendary backcountry traveler Dick Griffith, 55 at the time, unpacked a tiny raft and oars and rowed to the far shore.

The gambit didn't win Griffith the race, but it convinced Dial that packrafts were invaluable -- even if he could barely maneuver one back then.

"I didn't know what I was doing. Back then, it was more 'get in the boat and hang on.' I'd use it to cross rivers and float rivers to get in the direction I was going. It was more a tool."

No more.

"Now I do it as a sport," he said "I treat it the way kayakers treat kayaking."

And while packrafts have been popular among adventure travelers for years, Dial hopes his book reaches outdoors lovers who'd never consider a race as daunting as the Alaska Wilderness Classic.

For them, a packraft can make a long trip more manageable and enjoyable, Dial said. A few of his close-to-home favorites:

• Hike the Crow Pass Crossing trail that begins in Girdwood to the Eagle River crossing midway through.

Pull out the packraft and float down Eagle River to Echo Bend -- avoiding the long, tedious hike on that part of the 24-mile trail.

"I don't really enjoy the hike to the Eagle River Visitors Center," Dial said. "With the packraft, I get the best of both worlds."

• Hike the Winner Creek Trail from Alyeska Resort in Girdwood to the headwaters of the creek and then onto Twentymile River.

Hike downstream about a mile to avoid some obstructions. Blow up your raft and float out to the Seward Highway.

• Float gentler in-town water such as Campbell Creek, which can be lots of fun in the highly maneuverable packraft that makes sweepers easier to avoid.

'CONSISTENT SMALL GROWTH'

Sheri Tingey is a former Alaskan now living in Mancos, Colo., who runs a company called Alpacka Raft LLC. The company makes two types of Alpacka rafts that are considered by many to be the best on the market.

She sold her first packraft seven years ago, and in the early days most of them went to Alaskans. Now Alpacka rafts are sold to people in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and even Antarctica. She says her Alaska sales are down to 40 percent of the total.

Unlike Dial, Tingey doesn't see a packrafting explosion on the horizon. She predicts more of the same -- "consistent small growth."

When Tingey starting selling Alpacka rafts, "I was selling the idea as much as selling the boat. I don't do that anymore in Alaska. I just sell boats.

"There are enough boats out there. People have seen them. They know about them."

She compares river running in a packraft to skiing on fat skis. Once you figure out what you're doing, she said, the enjoyment curve steepens sharply.

"I'd venture to say that in an afternoon you can be bouncing down a Class III rapid and be fine. You couldn't begin to do that in a hardshell. (A packraft is) really hard to dump over. It's extremely forgiving."

Dave Manzer, Dial's traveling companion during the 1982 Alaska Wilderness Classic, agrees with Tingey. He think Dial's book will help introduce some people to packrafting, but the sport will remain somewhat of a niche activity.

"Roman's book will help," he said. "It'll open doors to some people. How many, I don't know.

"But you've got to remember that not that many people have paddled a canoe or rode a raft on moving water. We're more terrestrial. That might be a difference."

CHOOSE GOOD EQUIPMENT

Decades ago when Dial, Manzer and others were pioneering packrafting, the standards were much different.

"I never wore a life jacket ... it was extra weight," Manzer said. "As you get older, things change."

Now, of course, a life vest is mandatory. A good, foam-filled swim vest with a front zipper is probably your best bet. Its thick layer of closed-cell foam allows it to double as an excellent insulating vest no matter how wet it gets.

And on long trips, a swimvest doubles as a sleeping pad.

Tingey and Dial say that choosing the right paddle is as important as picking the right boat.

"With a good paddle, a bad boat can be made serviceable," Dial said.

"Likewise, a good boat can handle a bad paddle. But bad boats with bad paddles -- the combination you buy in discount stores -- are dangerous," he said.

Tingey suggests a river kayak paddle or spoon-shaped blue-water kayak touring paddle between 220 and 240 centimeters to provide enough length to clear the tubes.

Four-piece -- and some three-piece -- paddles will fit in a backpack with the raft. Light carbon-fiber paddles are available, and Sawyer Paddles recently introduced 29-ounce paddles with blades of laminated red cedar reinforced with fiberglass and carbon fiber, adjustable from 205 to 230 centimeters.

Some long-time Wilderness Classic rafters prefer old, aluminum-shafted paddles with removable blades.

They pack the blades and carry the shaft as a walking stick.

"One of the reasons I really wanted the book out there is that I wanted (readers) to learn to boat safely," Dial said.

BOOK AIDS NOVICES

Dial, who has raced in four Eco-Challenges as well as the World Championships of Adventure Racing, has seen plenty of experienced racers flounder when they reached water.

"There were people who showed up with absolutely no preparation. They couldn't even cross rivers and streams with it. They were out of control and having a horrible time on the water."

Readers of "Packrafting!" should be able to avoid that. The first section defines the sport, details the gear and teaches many packrafting techniques. Part two is the payoff -- packrafting trips that Dial has done with family and friends. Among them:

• Skiing, hiking and floating from the Don Sheldon Amphitheater in the shadow of Mount McKinley to Talkeetna;

• Packrafting six rivers with wife Peggy while crossing Gates of the Arctic National Park; and

• Packing out moose meat on a solo hunting trip.

"I still love the wilderness travel, but these days I really like long trips with family members," Dial said. "A 5-pound packraft with my wife in the boat with me -- it doesn't get much better than that."

As an author, Dial stands alone. While there are thousands of books on fishing, hunting, climbing, boating and scores of other outdoors pursuits, "Packrafting!" is the only book devoted entirely to Dial's passion.

"The potential is fantastic," said Addie Morstad of Backpacking Light, the publisher of Dial's book. "We're marketing it pretty heavily. The stuff we publish is all about being self-sufficient, getting into the backcountry and going lightweight. This really broadens the scope for those folks."

Find Mike Campbell on line at adn.com/contact/mcampbell or call 257-4329.

READING: Roman Dial will read portions of his book and do a signing and presentation on 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Northern Lights Title Wave Books. PODCASTS: For more information on packrafting, including podcasts on several trips. www.backpackinglight.com/packrafting

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