Backpacker Magazine – Fall/Winter Gear Guide 2010

Gear Review: The North Face Mountain 25 Tent

This tent survived the worst of Mt. Washington's epic weather.

by: Kristin Hostetter

Tags:
• Gear
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• Tents
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• Winter camping
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[bomb shelter]
“Of all the tents we tested, this is the one I want to be in when the apocalypse comes,” says our gear editor, who slept in it on the summit of Mt. Washington in truly horrendous weather. While several other tents crumbled around her in winds gusting to 59 mph, the two-person, double-wall Mountain 25 held firm, thanks to a geodesic, four-pole design with seven pole junctions to boost strength. “It’s dry as a bone, too,” says one tester who used it in Utah’s Uintas during a drenching summer storm.

The rectangular, 32.5-square-foot floor plan is compact to save weight (one reason mountaineers love it), but headroom (38.5 inches) is good throughout; two average-size testers were perfectly comfortable. There are two big doors on either end, a small vestibule off the back (four square feet) and a decent-size one at the front. “It only measures eight square feet,” says our tester, “but because it has its own pole, the space is suitable for cooking or stacking packs.”

Two ceiling vents—they’re sealable to keep rain and spindrift out—and ventable doors kept the inner sanctum condensation-free. $500; 8 lbs.; thenorthface.com

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