Gaining a Foothold

Most cabin owners build in the valley floor for multiple reasons. Availability of local materials to construct a cabin, if available. Flat ground to bring materials in during the winter via snow machine and sled, if not. Protection from the elements. Staking up high leaves you with a nice view and exposed to the elements. Not very practical if you think about it. But Jim and I were convinced we could accomplish something different that we would enjoy, even if it took longer to get it done.

These are insulated panels for a future stone cabin for Jim that we have been working on for 20 years. I hired a helicopter to sling this and other supplies up to a the hill.

This fiberglass building would provide hard shelter for two and provide power and a place to store supplies while we worked on the other cabins.

My daughter came along to give us a hand and check out the property.

I had a 4-point custom spider harness built for us in Fairbanks that worked out great for this trip up to the hill.

Safely down. We are able to get everything slung to the hill without incident

We had about an hour on site with the helicopter, just enough time for Jim to connect the batteries and for me to secure the building and the supplies.

I'm using 5/16 aircraft cable and drop in anchors to secure the building. The upper 20 sits on decomposing granite and schist with a south aspect. Good ground that drains well. Jim and I would return in a week to do some minor follow on work.