Denali stake removal tool

We’re wrapping up our final prep trip and struggling to get stakes out of frozen snow. I’m reaching out for recommendations for your favorite tool (besides ice axe, shovel, or another stake - which we’re using but it’s inefficient). Also, I think we erred in putting them in vertically. Lots of excavating down. Thanks!

We never take stakes. We use skis, ski poles, pickets, ice axe, etc. About the only one that can be problematic is a ski pole. If necessary we just dig them out. 

Allen Sanderson wrote:

We use skis, ski poles, pickets, ice axe, etc. 

Kinda makes it hard to go skiing or climbing while your tent is up, doesn't it?

Jennifer, I don't think there is going to be a special tool that makes tent anchor removal easy.  Just dig them out with a shovel.

We've been using parachute-style snow anchors in Alaska, they work pretty well.  Various places sell them, or you can make them pretty easy on a sewing machine.  Here's an example: https://simplylightdesigns.com/products/snow-sand-anchors?gQT=1

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Kinda makes it hard to go skiing or climbing while your tent is up, doesn't it?

Jennifer, I don't think there is going to be a special tool that makes tent anchor removal easy.  Just dig them out with a shovel.

We've been using parachute-style snow anchors in Alaska, they work pretty well.  Various places sell them, or you can make them pretty easy on a sewing machine.  Here's an example: https://simplylightdesigns.com/products/snow-sand-anchors?gQT=1

AMH has these by the box during Denali season. Just pick some up when you get here.  They make for amazing tent anchors.   I just used an adze to take them out.  Carrying an extra (or some extra string to repair) is lighter than some special tool if you damage it.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Kinda makes it hard to go skiing or climbing while your tent is up, doesn't it?

No, cause if yer skiing ya don't need yer ice axe and if yer climbing ya don't need yer skis. YMMV

Allen Sanderson wrote:

No, cause if yer skiing ya don't need yer ice axe and if yer climbing ya don't need yer skis. YMMV

Can you explain how this works?  You're setting up your tent, you think you might go climbing tomorrow, so you bury your skis and poles and leave the axes out?  And then when you decide to go for a ski in the afternoon, or the next day, you dig up all of your skis and poles, and bury your ice axes?  And then you dig the ice axes up again the next morning so you can go climbing again?  So every day, or maybe multiple times a day, you dig up your anchors and replace them?

You don’t bury big things like skis or ice axes, just stab them down into the snow and loop the tent guy line cord around them. Pull one out, stab another one in. Plenty strong. 

For stakes, when winter camping we would deadman them horizontally, then chop them out with an ice axe when it was time to go. If you stomp the snow good, they don’t have to be very deep to hold. 

+10 on the deadman fabric anchors.  I'd guess youre prepping in PNW wet snow.  On Denali, you'll be digging up the fabric squares after a day or two buried in dry ice and removal will be quick with judicious adze work.  

After a couple weeks at 14k, it'll take a bit longer, but still not much of an issue.  You will likely damage one or two anchors/some cord while up there.  Theyre super lightweight and dont involve burying something thats otherwise useful/needed.  

Have an awe some trip!! Stay till youre successful :D  It seems 90% of the time timelines+weather cause trips to fail.  

Just pee on it, it will thaw the ice.

Stiles and Kyle are right. We used small stuff sacks. Filled them with snow and quick connect to tent guy lines. Don't use a knot, it will get frozen.

Kyle Tarry wrote:

Can you explain how this works? 

You obviously missed the part about pickets and the etc. The point being that there are better options than snow stakes.

Allen Sanderson wrote:

You obviously missed the part about pickets and the etc. The point being that there are better options than snow stakes.

I didn't miss it.  For a typical team, doing double carries, making acclimatization runs, they would need this stuff almost every single day.  How in the world are you supposed to use a system that requires you to dig up or swap out your tent anchors every single day for weeks?

A typical expedition tent like a Trango 2 has probably 10-15 anchors and guyout points, and a BD Mid cook tent has 8 anchors plus 8 optional guyouts.  That's 20-30 total anchors.  In addition to the logistical challenges, using axes and pickets doesn't math.

Yup, small cheapo stuff sacks packed with snow, girth hitched with cord and buried. Knotted bite in  that same cord sprouting above the snow surface allows for guy lines to be attached and tightened. And you have something to pull on when hacking at it to dig it up.

Dang, super helpful tip for the fabric anchors, and I especially appreciate the specifics on how to use them. I’m so glad I asked.

Do you guys also bring stakes (we just dropped some $$ on Hilleberg snow/sand stakes), or just leave them at home? Leaving stakes at home would make me nervous, so if it’s customary for teams to 100% depend on fabric anchors, please give extra reassurance.

Thanks again!

Jennifer Zuber wrote:

Do you guys also bring stakes (we just dropped some $$ on Hilleberg snow/sand stakes), or just leave them at home? Leaving stakes at home would make me nervous, so if it’s customary for teams to 100% depend on fabric anchors, please give extra reassurance.

You can bring the snow stakes that you bought, those will work fine.  Don't stress about this too much, it's not rocket science and you'll make it work!

We've used a mix of anchor types up there.  Just make sure you have enough stuff for all the anchors you'll need, it's a lot on a big expedition tent plus a cook tent.

You do need to be a bit more gentle digging the fabric anchors out because it's easy to punch a hole in them with a shovel or adze.  On the flip side, if the snow is firm they work fine with holes in them, so it's not a huge deal.

Jennifer Zuber wrote:

Do you guys also bring stakes (we just dropped some $$ on Hilleberg snow/sand stakes), or just leave them at home? Leaving stakes at home would make me nervous, so if it’s customary for teams to 100% depend on fabric anchors, please give extra reassurance.

Return them. I bought snow stakes decades ago. They got used once. If you really want some I'll send ya mine (there are seven with cord) for the cost of a good beer and postage.

Jennifer Zuber wrote:

Do you guys also bring stakes (we just dropped some $$ on Hilleberg snow/sand stakes), or just leave them at home? Leaving stakes at home would make me nervous, so if it’s customary for teams to 100% depend on fabric anchors, please give extra reassurance.

I don't recall using any metal type tent stakes specifically for anchoring a tent on the 9 or so trips I've done the AK and St. Elias ranges.  Like Allen mentioned, you could use a picket or two if need be to supplement if you had super hard snow up high but I never found that to be the case.  I like the 36" MSR coyote pickets and I cut them in half to make two 18" pickets.  Easier to carry and more useful to me than a super long picket.  You could bring four or 6 snow stakes if you were nervous about just using fabric anchors.  Your Hilleberg only weight 2oz each so not much weight (but everything adds up, eh?).

A gob of silnylon stuff sacks and if the cord doesn't appear robust, replace with some perlon.  BD used to sell a parachute type snow anchor but I haven't seen those for a number of years.  Basically a flat piece of coated silnylon fabric (or coated nylon) with a thin flat piece of webbing sewn onto two of the four sides and finished in a loop.  Dig a slot, slide in the parachute fabric, make a slot for the webbing loops and connect them to the clip on your tent corner.  Stomp a bunch of loose snow in and it'll be pretty bomber.

We also buried the tent and tent pole stuff sacks for anchors too.  Bomber when the snow sets hard.

Good luck up there!

Gee Dubble wrote:

The ubiquitous bamboo tomato stake can easily be halved and t-trenched at any time along the W.Butt.

A few small pieces of spruce gathered in T-town could get u started 

lots of "string" is very important, tied with trucker hitches

I’ve always used t-slotted boo or small alu tent stakes (usually the ones that came with the tent) in a t-slot.

Parachutes also work well but require more digging than t-slots to put in and take out. 

Kyle Tarry wrote:

We've been using parachute-style snow anchors in Alaska, they work pretty well.  Various places sell them, or you can make them pretty easy on a sewing machine.  Here's an example: https://simplylightdesigns.com/products/snow-sand-anchors?gQT=1

Okee dokee everyone, I am so grateful to you all for this excellent, experience-proven input. Update: my order is en route from Simply Light Designs.

The key to remove a frozen stake or picket is simply to stomp DOWN on it, then pull it out. 

Kyle Tarry wrote:

This doesn't really apply on Denali, where snow anchors are normally buried and covered (often t-trench style), and you're likely to have fresh snow pile on top of them over the week or longer that most parties are at the major camps.

I’ve used this technique on 13 Denali expeditions