3-season tent for winter camping?

[Anonymous]

I want to start winter backpacking in New England and am looking to buy a new tent for the conditions. I have an ultralight Marmot backpacking tent that has a single wall built in fly construction and is not free standing. I doubt it is a good idea to rely on such a tent in the winter. Mainly I am wondering if a good free standing 3-season tent would stand up to winter conditions.

The main question I have is which balance of warmth and ventilation is desired for winter camping. Almost all 3-season tents have plenty of ventilation to reduce frosting on the inside of the tent. But with so much open mesh it could get as cold inside as outside. But of course you have a sleeping bag to do most of the warming. Also I would think that any tent that can keep out rain could keep out snow (as long as 3 feet of snow isn’t dumped on you in one night) and a good 3-season tent should suffice in windy conditions.

If a good 3-season tent would do the job suggestions as to which in particular would be appreciated.

[Lloyd Graves]

I have been using an MSR TwinPeaks no floor tent for the last two seasons in the White Mountains. I think it works great for below treeline conditions. It is no problem to stake it with snowshoes and tails from MSR shoes. I have used a NF frog-style tent that was a 3-plus season(no mesh on sides) before that but I save about 3 pounds with the TwinPeaks with better performance.

[David Colbert]

I’ve used three season tents extensively in winter BELOW tree line and have had no problems. A lot of it depends on pole design and how steep your walls are. Criss-crossed poles support the tent under snow loads and steep walls help shed the snow.

[David Colbert]

I almost forgot to answer the rest of the question… so here it is.

The tent I primarily use in winter is a Sierra Designs Meteor Light which at 6 pounds is not exactly light for a two-person tent. In winter though, the extra space is worth the weight. The SDML has a mesh inner roof which virtually eliminates all moisture issues. If it’s really windy, I pile snow around the perimeter of the tent to limit the air circulation inside.

I’ve had no problems with deep light snowfalls up to 12 inches. More of an issue with wet sticky snow since it doesn’t shed as well, but I’ve never woken up to a flattened tent.

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