Would you use a hiking pole supported tent in winter?

[Edward John M]

Not hiking poles; but many decades ago in Scotland I saw  tents held up using skis as the support and I think that was also common here in Australia using old fashioned “A” tents.

Won’t work so well now as skis are getting shorter and shorter every year

[Roger Caffin]

Doesn’t work too well either if you want to pitch your tent in the middle of the day (eg for lunch) and then do some afternoon skiing (on slightly softer snow).

Cheers

[Eric Blumensaadt]

OK, OK, OK! (As Joe Peschi sez)

MORE GUY LINES??

I can admit to a two pole mid as being one of the best pole-supported winter setups.

But Franco’s photo kinda/sorta shows there may be “problems” with a Notch or Stratospire in heavy winter snows. Perhaps “extreme guying” can solve the problem. This likely means adding guy line points to the fly (with proper reinforcement).

Even for my slippery shaped Moment DW solo tent I can see that top side guy lines running from the halfway points between the main hoop and the ends will help with possible sticky snow load.

[Jerry Adams]

Maybe rather than having guylines, have more stakes around the perimeter on the edge of the tent

 

[Eric Blumensaadt]

I agree Jerry, fly hem stakes are always a necessity for winter camping. Keeps fly from flapping in the wind (if otherwise tautly pitched) and if the fly hem is properly low to the ground it keeps snow that has slid down from the roof from pushing in quite so much.

Eventually you’ll still have to get out and shovel that built up “roof snow” away to keep your interior space from getting squeezed in. Done it many times, but less often in dome tents.

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