Mountain Hardwear Trango 3.1 3-Person 4-Season Tent

Bought my Trango as a replacement for another famous mounaineering tent to take up the West Butt route on Denali. It turned out to be the perfect tent for this route -- easy to set up in the wind, solid in the wind, relatively quiet in the wind, easy to take down in the wind -- did I mention Denali can be really windy?! Oh yeah, and you don't have to worry about your foam plugs blowing away because there are none! Pretty bombproof -- in all but the most wicked storms, you can sleep the night away without having to worry about digging out every hour. It does have a large footprint, so I wouldn't take it on a chip your own platform route. But there is an upside to the size -- when having to sit out a storm for six days at 17,000 there is plenty of room to kick back and relax without having someone's feet in your face all the time. The large vestibule is great for cooking and putting your plastics back on in the morning. I've also use this tent in the cascades in some pretty wet conditions -- a very dry tent if you keep it vented correctly.

There is a reason why this tent has withstood the test of time: it gets the job done. There is no other tent I would rather be in in a patagonian storm or a the classic wind and sleet Storm of say the Waddington Range. I have slept in mine many nights guiding on Denali or just car camping in Indian Creek- and miraculously, it still stays dry in a squall! And if for some reason, it falls apart, there is a lifetime warranty. The doors make for super easy entry and exit, the windows are in the right place for checking conditions, and the color fends off depression when stuck inside. When living in it long term with three people, it provides plenty of pockets for everyone to claim a bit of their own real estate. It might be heavy, but it is worth every ounce when sitting out a storm. To staying dry in the mountains!

Me and my tent have been up many a mountain. Of course this is the bench mark in old school heavier bomb shelters. I put up this puppy (sing "My Tango")on the K2/Annapurna saddle (elev 14k ft) 7 years ago, in a 30 MPH wind. We were certainly "tango-in" about 6 min. even with mittens on. Minarets - a breeze(well maybe high wind), Mt Washington Vt. -walk in the park(not). Grindelwald in the snow-piece of cake(or torte?) Good ventilation, but once again old school non breather in the rain. Also it has started to stink, but hey, it seems to always go in the car (1990 Toyota thank you, money on airplanes not cars). It gets carried and used if the hike in is less than 3 miles (otta love that NPS Golden eagle for the free trail camp in the Nat Forest), or always taken if going over elev 8k ft. The ultra light stuff that fits in my Camelbak for weekender across the ditch and back is the back up. No complaints other than the weight. I wish it could be made out of that space blanket stuff and weigh 10 oz. I would pay $600 for that.