Morning Glory: High Peak Alpinismo Jasperlite Tent

Published on 07/16/2012

By Aly Nicklas

Staying too long in your tent on a summer morning can result in the following symptoms: an acute sense of being suffocated, a red, sweaty face (often resulting in awkward hair), rapid removal of clothing, and the frantic unzipping of the door that inevitably results in a stuck zipper. When you finally shove the aforementioned sweating, tousled and red-faced head out of the tiny opening to gasp for breath you find the air between the tent and fly is equally hot. Not quite the way you’d prefer to begin your morning in the great outdoors, is it?

Solutions? You can stay at home, of course, but we know as Active Junkies that’s never an option. You can sleep in the car, but they can be heavy to carry when backpacking, and if you’re car-camping - taking everything out to make room for sleeping can be a great way to feed the wildlife. Oh, sorry, did you want to eat those bananas for breakfast? Our bad. At least Yogi the Bear can’t get to you in the car, right?

Another option is a bit obvious (a tent!), and when it’s the High Peak Alpinizmo Jasperlight your morning appearance will be dignified. Guaranteed.

Please note that this is not the tent to pack when heading up Everest. Though at 3lbs, 12ounces, it’s lightweight enough that you might not mind schlepping it up mountains of any size. Light as it is, one might expect the Jasperlite to sacrifice bells and whistles instead of stocking up on them—not the case. The rain fly snaps in with ease, as do the lightweight aluminum poles and the handle-like vents build into the top of the rain tarp (Velcro-ed in, they can be left behind when every ounce matters) add for an unexpected breathability when rain is pouring down. The rain fly is made from silicon impregnated Ripstop nylon, and the seam taped technology keeps everything dry, even the gear you’ll likely have stashed in the spacious vestibule. 

Housed in a small gym-style bag one of our testers referred to as “cute”, there’s a hipness to the simplicity in the design that doesn’t detract from the functionality. Two small mesh pockets on the doors are the only inside storage, but your toothbrush and headlamp (you’ll want it accessible to hang from the hook above your head in addition to late-night bathroom breaks).

The Jasperlight has ample head height (38”) and is surprisingly roomy—one tester found plenty of room for both her dog and climbing partner, and mentioned she didn’t notice the smell of either. Shocking after two days scaling the limestone cliffs in Rifle Canyon with temperatures hovering ridiculously close to 100. Taking off the rain fly allows one to bivy under the stars while keeping bugs out. Made predominantly of no-see-um mesh, this tent is one you’ll want to be cautious with due to the delicate nature of such materials, but the stakes provided with it kept it tacked down even in the shockingly high winds another tester encountered while camping up on Berthoud Pass. The top vents flapped around a bit more than preferable but overall the performance was deemed satisfactory.

The Jasperlight was determined to be a quality tent for the 3 warmest seasons, keeping rain, bugs and bedhead out while letting the stars shine in.

Learn more about the High Peak Alpinismo JasperLite tent