The Packrafting Podcast

Annie shares some of her most memorable packrafting and bikerafting adventures in Scotland and Greenland. We hear about her encounters with muskoxen, quick sand on a glacier-fed river, and dealing with a sinking raft. We also talk about the dynamic of doing trips with a romantic partner.

Jeffrey Creamer is a packrafter based in Colorado who loves designing creative whitewater expedition routes. His favourite trips combine hard whitewater with backcountry skiing or ski mountaineering, often in remote areas of the lower 48 where people don’t typically explore. In this episode we chat about many of his most memorable adventures, including a Bull Lake Creek trip and adapting the ‘Du’Mor’ packraft route to include several ski legs. We also talk about packrafting Upper Cherry Creek, a classic whitewater run in the Sierra Nevada. As a special bonus at the end of this episode I talk to Thor Tingey from Alpacka Raft. He shares a bit more about the history of design for their more technical boats and what’s so special about their new packraft, the Valkyrie.

Sheri Tingey started working in design in the outdoor industry in Jackson Hole when she was a young adult. It wasn’t until she was in her mid-50s that she founded Alpacka Raft with her son, Thor. After almost two decades battling chronic fatigue, Sheri was ready to get her teeth stuck into a new project. With somewhat serendipitous timing, Thor asked her to build him a boat. And so the vision of Alpacka Raft was born. In this episode she shares some of the evolution of the outdoor gear industry in the USA, including the impact it had when companies went into mass production and manufacturing moved off-shore. She also talks about ‘Alaska Crazies’, the birth of modern-day packrafting in Alaska, and gives us an insight into the beginnings of a new sport and how the packrafting community has evolved over the past twenty years. The creators out there will also love her insight into her inspiration and design process.

The tables are turned as Dulkara answers questions put to her by her mother, Janine Martig. Dulkara bought a packraft before she ever sat in one, at a time when they were little known in New Zealand. She already had a passion for outdoor adventures and remote journeys but packrafting made her view topo maps with fresh eyes.In this episode, she shares the camaraderie and excitement of some of her trips, including a sweaty mission in the Kimberleys of Australia, a journey in the Fairweathes in SE Alaska and a recount of an evacuation from the Gates of the Arctic National Park. She also shares a little of her other passions and what drives her to encourage others to embrace the great outdoors. Podcast sponsored by Alpacka Raft:Alpacka Raft has been handcrafting packrafts for 20 years and has spearheaded packrafting into its modern, more accessible era. All of their boats are made-to-order, in Mancos, Colorado. Whether you’re looking for the perfect whitewater packraft, an ultra-light option for bikerafting or backpacking, or the ultimate do-everything backcountry adventure tool, Alpacka Raft has a packraft for you. Find out more at their website AlpackaRaft.comMusic: Original music by Evan Phillips, a musician from Anchorage, Alaska. He’s also the host and producer of The Firn Line, a podcast about the lives of mountain climbers.

Avid ‘packraftineer’ Stanley Mulvany has spent decades exploring the rugged terrain of Fiordland and South Westland in New Zealand.