CrossPeak 1

I have the Mid-1 and love it, but want a bit more interior space this year. This one fit the bill, and more! Very easy to set up, and bonus of stronger structure for the windy nights. The tent pole sleeves make a giant difference - no sagging between clips, which means more room. Pushing the poles through the sleeves is quick work (don't pull through - should've been obvious to me why, but that's what practice setups are for). Ingenious design to attach the poles to the corners, as opposed to setting up the poles first and then stretching and coaxing the tent to meet the poles. This makes for foolproof setup, which I think I'll appreciate when I arrive to camp hangry. Love that I can set it up and move it around before staking down. Can't wait to use it this summer!

Set my new CrossPeak 1 up in the backyard just in time for a night of steady rain here in Colorado. When I later went to get in after it had been raining for several hours the tent was bone dry. I slept great with plenty of headroom. Condensation was minimal thanks to the well thought out ventilation system ( impressive during a steady rain). The tent pitches nice and tight and stayed that way throughout the night. The head and foot guy outs create more room inside such that my head had plenty of clearance. The toe end of my bag did touch the wall of the tent but it was barely wet. This is my first single wall tent and I was very apprehensive about condensation but now I’m a believer. Another feature I really like is how this tent holds up the sides of the bathtub floor so well. No drooping mess.

I’m confident that this tent will be perfect for my through hike of the JMT this July! Pro tip- watch the Cross Peak 2 set up video. It’s important to start the polls in the sleeves at the top of the tent as per the video.

I had a blast taking this tent out on a trip where I was "converting"a friend to ultralight backpacking. Given their new frameless pack, quilt, and gear that I had curated to a minute detail of the level of counting the number of Benadryl tablets in their first aid kit, I figured evening time when they were tired was good moment to give them a sense of familiarity with their shelter. Given the minimal weight hit of the Crosspeak 1 and it's user friendliness, it was definitely the right choice.

For myself, I've been known to say you can pitch a trekking pole supported shelter anywhere, and it's true... but sometimes I know I want to make things easy on myself or choose a ridiculous campsite on snow or slick rock. The Crosspeak is a palace for 1, stable in high winds, easy to pitch in spots I might have to fuss for a while with a tarp. It's a fantastic tent to have in the quiver whether you're just starting out or have a highly specialized gear closet.

Nash and the team sent me a Crosspeak 1 prototype last summer while I was on the CDT. I received it in Pagosa Springs (southern CO) and carried a version of it for the remainder of the trail. I had used the Crosspeak 2 a handful of times before this, but have mainly used a Mid 1 Tent or Tarp as my go-to shelter. While I love the Mid 1, the Crosspeak 1 has some standout benefits at the cost of weight.

Benefits:

- Widely spacious. Seriously. I sleep on a Reg/Wide Thermarest and had significant extra space in the shelter. Most nights I would have all of my gear inside the bathtub of my tent. The poles + pole sleeves help provide a huge upgrade in overall headroom compared to a trekking pole shelter. For weight-conscious folks this probably isn't as big of a deal, but the Crosspeak 1 essentially eliminates any concerns I usually have about touching a wet tent wall with my quilt.

- Exceptionally storm worthy. I had the Crosspeak 1 in several hail storms, with the worst being a touch bigger than BB's and found the tent held up great. Adding a trekking pole in on the windward side during wind events also added considerable strength to the tent. Having come almost exclusively from trekking pole shelters, I was a little skeptical of poles breaking but the Crosspeak 1 took big gusts in stride. There were a few nights in Wyoming that I set my tent up in considerable winds and was almost shocked how sturdy it was when fully zipped up with a single trekking pole inserted. I'm usually…