Extremely Lightweight Elite is constructed from a 20D nylon base as well as 20D Nylon ripstops, keeping the fabric lightweight & durable.
Enhanced Durability Not only do the 20D nylon ripstops enhance tear resistance, but nylon offers an impressive tensile strength for the weight.
3-4 Season Protection Thanks to it’s 4000mm Hydrostatic Head, silicone coating and taped seams – Elite will comfortably keep you sheltered across all seasons, whether it’s dry and cold or sustained wet conditions.
Providing a level of thermal protection without the bulk
Engineered to be breathable whilst still offering a level of thermal protection.
The single layer, heat-retentive design allows for greater dexterity - making thermal items adaptable across multiple winter sports and outdoor activities.
Packable
High performance whilst being compact and stowable
Products designed to compress down and stow away when you don't need them, and deploy at a moments notice for when you do.
Using packable items reduces the need for a large pack, keeping you lighter on the trail and helping with marginal gains.
PitchLite
The lightest way to pitch a tent
Products with this icon are compatible with the PitchLite system, enabling flysheet‑only pitching for fast, lightweight shelter deployment.
Lighter pack weight
Smaller carry size
Maximised flysheet space
FlexiPorch
Variable configurations for better living solutions
Features an adjustable toggle system that allows you to tailor the porch size to suit alternating situations and storage needs.
Customisable living space
Stablises groundsheet walls
Maximise storage or living space
PoleLock
Add more stability in high wind environments
Products with this icon can be used with our PoleLock accessory, designed to add structural support to flysheet‑first pitching tunnels and non‑freestanding tents. Suitable for poles up to 9mm in diameter.
Additional Stability
Easier Pitching
Better Wind Protection
X-Dry Stretch
Waterproof, breathable, flexible
4‑way stretch waterproof fabric offering complete weather protection with enhanced flexibility, comfort, and freedom of movement
Engineered for the Elements
Waterproof & breathable membrane
Allows for greater dexterity
Retains warmth in cold, wet weather
From heavy downpours to freezing winds, X-Dry stretch ensures you stay perfectly dry and comfortably warm from the inside out
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DAC Green Anodized Poles
Eco-conscious engineering from the world leader in tent pole technology.
We exclusively feature DAC Green Anodized poles in our premium tent range to deliver world-class strength and weight savings with a radically reduced environmental footprint.
Material: Exclusive TH72M aluminum alloy, providing the highest strength-to-weight ratio in the industry.
Green Technology: The Anodising process completely eliminates nitric and phosphoric acids, utilizing a closed-loop water recycling system to protect both the environment and the craftspeople who build them.
Ultralight Design: Precision swaged at both ends to shed every unnecessary gram without compromising structural integrity.
The gold standard for performance and a sustainable future.
Ultra-lightweight flexibility. Trim weight. Go further.
Designed by our product specialists to offer ultimate versatility for fast-paced adventures, the FastPack system allows you to dramatically reduce your rucksack’s weight and bulk. By using a dedicated footprint in place of an inner tent, you transform your shelter into a high-performance, minimalist waterproof bivi-style setup.
Modular Weight Saving: Leave the inner tent at home when conditions permit to shave significant grams and volume from your pack.
Weatherproof Protection: The system utilises a footprint that covers the entire area under the flysheet, including the porch, providing a clean, dry sleeping area.
Structural Integrity: The footprint is precision-engineered to provide the essential tension and anchor points required for the poles, ensuring the tent remains stable and secure.
In the summer of 1987 four of us, two from Cambridge and two from St Andrews, walked five days up the Biafo Glacier to make first ascents of three unclimbed peaks, and ran a plant survey for St Andrews University along the way.
Advance Base Camp, 15,000ft, in front of Mt Meru
We chose the Biafo Region of the Karakoram because Pakistan’s rules for climbing below 6000m in non-sensitive areas involved little red tape, and no liaison officer. Our team was Struan Gray (leader), Bruce Hubbard (co-leader and chief scientist), Matthew Powell (medical officer) and Robert Rider. Between us we carried a scientific programme for St Andrews University Plant Biology Department alongside the climbing.
Skardu gave us an extra week we hadn’t asked for. Our freight took ten days to arrive instead of three, our first sirdar Wolam Abbas turned out to be a complete waste of space and was sacked, and we replaced him through Baltistan Tours with Ghulam Nabi, who had been to the Baltoro sixty three times. He became a firm friend well before we reached Base Camp.
Rob at 16,500ft on the North East Ridge of Ho Bluk, summit on the right
The walk in took six days, up the Braldu Gorge to Askole, where Haji Mhdi, King of the Baltoro, received us with tea and eggs, then onto the Biafo Glacier itself. Rob disturbed a five foot boulder on the moraine, which crushed him against a rock before rolling clear; he was shaken and badly bruised, and carried a lighter load for the rest of the walk. We reached Base Camp, 13,500ft on the glacier’s SW bank, on 24 July.
Our two Quasars stood face to face under a polythene canopy so we could cook outside even when it rained, which it did, or snowed, on eighteen of the twenty three days we spent on the glacier. We climbed alpine style throughout, no fixed camps or ropes, taking advantage of whatever brief clear spells came. Ho Bluk, 17,600ft, went first on 30 July, traversed by its NE and N Ridges. The Goblin, 18,600ft, followed on 5 August after one aborted attempt and three days pinned down waiting for the weather.
Near the summit of Ghur, photo looking west
Ghur, at 19,000ft our main objective, took Struan, Bruce and Matthew 23 hours from Advance Base and back, up the North Face and down over the subsidiary peak at 18,900ft once the sun made the original line too dangerous to reverse. Rob, whose technical ability wasn’t up to the route, stayed behind as Advance Base Wallah and had food and tea waiting when they got in.
The very top we left to a team less enamoured of life; the last twenty feet consisted of madly piled, loose, overhanging blocks and flakes. We were content with our ledge and a cup of tea.
Rob at 18,oooft on the South East Ridge of The Goblin.
Before dropping off to sleep we graded it ED+++++, and downgraded this to D+ the next morning. Back at Base Camp we found our stores cache ransacked. The culprit was a five foot bear, who gave a friendly snuffle as he came back for a second sitting at what must have been the richest meal of his life, having already accounted for twenty Mars Bars, fifteen Dairy Milk and our first seed thermos. Three miniflares between the ears in quick succession sent him off up the hillside, and he confined himself after that to marking his territory outside our tent door.
The walk out took five days with a fresh set of porters, one of whom, Furman, Haji Mhdi’s nephew, travelled overnight to Skardu on his own initiative to fetch us a jeep. We flew back to Islamabad on 24 August and reached the UK a week later.
EXPEDITION RESULTS
Alongside the three first ascents, we ran a scientific programme for St Andrews University Plant Biology Department. Forty five species of high altitude flora were collected and catalogued around Base Camp, identified with help from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s Herbarium. A survey of 794 Salix karelini plants across six sites found a marked female skew, 74.3% female against 25.7% male, supporting the case for sexual dominance in arctic willows at high altitude. A parallel seed collection trial, comparing dried and chilled storage, was disrupted when the resident bear ate the first thermos, though a second batch made it home for germination testing at St Andrews.
