Review of Marmot Alpinist Tents  

Enduring the night in weather conditions such as those you would find in the Himalayas, with frigid temperatures and other unfriendly factors, requires a rugged tent build to keep you safe and sound against the worst that Mother Nature can muster.  Hardcore outdoor adventurers need look no further than the Marmot Alpinist, a four-season, two person tent designed for winter climates and the many hazards that mountaineers and climbers encounter during their expeditions.  The Alpinist is constructed to conform to the two features that are most essential to anyone looking to conquer a few snowy peaks:  durability and weight.  In spite of only weighing a scant 4 pounds, the Alpinist is packed with elements that make it an excellent sanctuary in the midst of a blizzard or on the side of a sheer mountain face. 

 

 

The sturdiness of the Alpinist is attributable first to the layout and make of its tent poles, which utilize a tried and tested DAC Featherlite pole design.  These poles are 9 mm thick, stronger and thicker than most other tent poles, and are anodized in a process that does not make use of harsh acids, which could compromise the poles’ toughness.  The Alpinist’s tent poles are arranged in a hub structure that increases their resistance to exterior forces, and are set into the tent fabric with both sleeves and clips to ensure that the tent fabric doesn’t just fly off the poles.  As you can expect from any four-season tent, waterproofing is an indispensable factor, and the Alpinist not only comes with an overall reinforced ripstop single-wall tent body, but with a bathtub-type floor so that its occupants will stay dry even with rainwater and snow welling up around them.  Likewise, the canopy seams are all factory sealed, and feature an adjustable vent, set with zippers, to ensure adequate air flow in the tent and prevent condensation due to accumulating moisture.  The Alpinist also boasts a wide D-shaped door for easy ingress and egress, as well as a front vestibule for the storage of extra gear. 

The Alpinist comes in a bright pumpkin-orange color, which was selected for maximum visibility, which any expedition group would appreciate particularly if conditions take a turn for the worst.  It also sports a complement of both fabric repair and pole repair kits for added security and convenience, so if something tears or breaks out in the wild, you are not without the means to fix the damage.

In spite of its many excellent qualities, the Alpinist falls short when it comes to one minor aspect – head room.  In spite of a knee-pole design and double-diameter poles that allow for increased steepness inside the tent, some users have quibbled that the Alpinist still leaves them with less room than they would like above their noggins.  Not that being able to sit comfortably upright is the first thing you look for in a heavy-duty four-season tent, but it is a deficiency that should nonetheless not be too significant a factor in deciding to purchase this fantastic four-season tent. You can buy it online here.

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