A pulk is a Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n short, low-slung small toboggan

Toboggan

A toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...

 used in sport or for transport, pulled by a dog

Dog

The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

 or a skier

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

. The name of the sport is pulka. The sled can be used to carry supplies such as a tent

Tent

A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using guy ropes tied to stakes or tent pegs...

 or food, or transport a child or other person. In Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, pulks are often used by families with small children on skiing trips (small children being pulled by the parents). More commonly, it is used to transport children when walking, or by the children for tobogganing downhill; this mode of transport requires a snow cover. Pulks are nowadays made of plastic, which makes them cheap to buy.

A larger pulk, designed for transporting larger amounts of goods, is called ahkio [ahkio] in Finnish. This word is also used by the US Army for a human-drawn snow sled.

External links

• "The Gear Junkie," a syndicated newspaper columnist in the United States, has an in-depth review of a pulk sled here: http://thegearjunkie.com/gear-review-eds-wilderness-systems-ski-pulk
• Providing reviews of a number of XC ski sleds: http://www.xcskiworld.com/family/Parents/sleds.htm
• A French pulk website: http://www.skirandonnenordique.com
• Building a Backcountry Pulk: http://laughingdawg.blogspot.com/2008/01/building-backcountry-pulk.html