GoLite Shangri-La 2/3, winter/alpine use?

Of all the shelters I've used over the last 20 years, this is the one I'd trust. By far. I've had in at least 3 storms that I'd count as "alpine scary". It did fine in all 3. One was a stupid site location on my part that funneled a ton of water right underneath the shelter. Driving wind probably in the 40+ range with ice pellets and literally horizontal driving precip coming right off a glacier. It did fine. I was a stressed out mess wondering what would happen if it failed at that altitude, in a storm, and miles from anything resembling protection. But the shelter was fine. That's the night I became a believer. Sub 2 lb palace in summer if you go floorless. 4 lb bomber full-floor and bug protection if you need it. Either way, pretty amazing shelter/weight ratio. Trekking poles in all cases, by the way.

Curt,

Thanks for the reply. Was that the 2 or the 3 that held up so well? They're so differently shaped I wouldn't be surprised if they held up to wind quite differently. And when you go floorless in summer, what do you put under your bag, something like polycro? More importantly, can the bug netting be used without the floor?

Shangri-La 3 on Denali:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INC_Qb_o_OM#t=1m00s

Shangri-La 2 in wind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji0JNewsN4c

http://www.oookworks.com/ sells half-nests, both mesh and solid versions.

http://www.titaniumgoat.com/ sells lightweight poles.

Mine is the 3, although the original version – not the current generation.

To be honest, I rarely use it in summer. I prefer to hang in a hammock. But for alpine use or places that won't have good trees, it's still my preferred. This year I'm playing with solo mesh shelters inside the Hex. Trying out the North Face bivy currently. Still sub-3 lbs for full bug protection, floor, and the massive Hex to cook in, change in, etc.

In alpine conditions, are you going no-floor with a bivy or ground sheet with an exposed bag? Or are you opting for one of those ripstop nylon oook-nests? The idea of going no-floor UL seems really cool, but I wonder if having all that exposed snow leads to horrible condensation.

Alexander,

I had similar thoughts as you. In recent golite sale I bought Shangri-La 2. I feel it is a pretty solid tent. Although I have not got a chance to use it so far, I can see it has a lot of guy points to enforce in windy conditions. The internal bug net is included. I found the floor looks pretty heavy duty. Anyway, I feel pretty satisfied and cannot wait to try it in high country.

The Six Moon Design Haven Tent was also under my consideration. But with the price Golite is given, plus it is a 4 season tent, I cannot justify to spend $350 on a 3 season Haven Tent.

Hope this helps.

Yang

Someone should make a diagonal nest for the Shangri-La 2 for one person use.
A long-wide sleeping pad fits diagonally between the poles.

It would be lighter than the full nest, you would huge vestibule(s), plus it overcomes the major shortcoming of having the poles inside the nest.

Then again, you could just buy a Tarptent Stratospire 2.

Hi everyone,

I am hiking Mount Baker on July 7-9 and Rainier on the 13-15 and am planning on taking my Shangra-La 3 + Floor (weather permitting) and can reply back on this link after the climbs.

This tent is the best tent I have owned in terms of it's versatility. The ventilation on the tent can be adjusted to suit the season you are in which makes it an astonishly good product. The shangrila 2 is not as versatile but weighs less. I went with the 3 because I can choose how much of the shelter I need… just the tarp, a floor too, mosquito net and floor, the one tent pole or leave it at home and use treking poles, if only using the tarp I can hang it from a tree and not have any support from a pole at all.

I have had it in rain, snow, wind (lots of it) and extreme cold. I could not have felt any better in another tent unless it was big enough to have a wodd burning furnace installed.

I love this tent and it can do all that you want it to do. Due to the versatility difference, I would go with the 3 even though it weighs a bit more.

update: after reading the posts a bit more, I see someone states there is a new generation of the 3… when I bought it, the different pieces were bought seperately and had that versatility.. I would make sure the new version is the same before taking my review of the tent to heart.