What is wrong with my pitch?

That pitch looks pretty tight, MLD has their directions on their site. I know there are a few different directions on here of people explaining how they pitch theirs. Mine looks pretty similar to yours, I get the four corners as square as possible, then pitch the middle until it's all tight, done. If you're referring to the 'curve gaps' you can guy the middles down before you raise the center, but honestly if you're worried about staying warm you can't beat building snow walls to cover those gaps, it'll be just as warm as pegging down the shelter directly to the ground.

I was having similar problems with a DIY doumid I made a few years ago. It was solved by lowering the pole a few inches. That allows you to get the fabric stretched tight next to the ground.

Ben

Considering you pitched it on snow I think you did well. As mentioned, try raising and lowering the center pole height.

Pretty close- loosen the mid panel tieouts then readjust the others.

The corners should be set tight and the pole installed first- that should get the overall pitch and well formed.

Then OK to use the edge center tieouts to add a bit of rigidity but do not over tighten them or pull out too tight or at too high an angle.

Only then use the center panel tieouts to very gently add a very very small amount of tension. The panel shape should not change or bulge out.

If the center panel tieouts are too tight it throws off the whole pitch ad makes any other adjustments difficult and far overloads that one center panel tieout point.

90% of the total pitch strength and force should be at the corners and then up the main strong tripple rolled and triple stitched corner seams to the apex.

He's everywhere he's always watching… always ;^)

Thank you, everyone!

I am thinking part of the problem is the uneven surface of the snow.
Even though I stomped it flat with my skis, it is not really 100% level.

And FYI, it was minus 26 celsius ( -15F) last night, I was toasty warm.

Ron is right…they are quite easy to pitch nicely. BUT…you are also right that if the ground is pretty uneven I have a horrible time making it nice and tight. It's usually fine, but if I've got a quite uneven ground to pitch on it doesn't look the best…..

The problem is when the four corners of the pyramid aren't in a plane.

Three corners are always on a plane – like a three legged stool.

So – do three corners, then try to have the fourth corner on the same plane as the other three.

Nm