North Face Mountain 25 Review

Likes
The North Face Mountain 25 is a strong, stable, and well-featured two person mountaineering tent. Along with the MSR Asgard, Mountain Hardwear Trango, and Hilleverg Tarra and Jannu, it falls into class of the expedition worthy tents. The Mountain 25 uses four poles for the inner tent and an additional pole to support the vestibule. The two main poles run corner to corner, crossing once in the center. All poles insert through sleeves and clip in with grommets. This is faster to set up than a tent with clips, but also slower to take down; a tossup overall. A fifth pole inserts at either end and supports an eight square foot vestibule (the pole also slides through a sleeve). A smaller three square foot vestibule stakes out above the rear door.

Inside, 33 square feet of space provide plenty of room for two and enough for a cramped third. Steep walls and a reasonable peak height almost allow you to sit up – not quite. Three deep pockets on each side and two on the ceiling provide ample storage space for tons of gear. A vent in the ceiling reduces condensation and makes storm cooking safer. The door zippers are huge and super bomber and the zipper pulls glow in the dark! We originally scoffed at this feature, but then found it to be useful. They glow for several hours after the lights go out and help you find the door without turning on a headlamp. Is the added bulk and weight worth it? We think not.

Reflective Kevlar guy lines are another great feature on the Mountain 25. This is the only tent that includes reflective guy lines, which we absolutely LOVE because you can see the tent from afar and people don’t trip over the lines. The lines also have quick adjust camming adjusters, which make adjusting the tension super easy. The only other tents that have the same style adjusters are the Hilleberg Tarra and Jannu (but their lines are thicker, stronger, and come with even better adjusters).

Dislikes
While the Mountain 25 has been refined over the years and now includes some great features, it does have several drawbacks that force us to recommend other tents over it. Because the competition is so fierce between this tent, the Monutain Hardwear Trango and MSR Asgard, we’ve gone nitpicky.

First, the rainfly attaches to the inner tent at 20 points. This is 12 less than the Trango, which attaches with clips that are easier and stronger than the Velcro on the Mountain 25. More importantly, the fly attaches to the inner tent with grommets, not locking clips. This is inferior because they require a constant upward force to remain attached. We found that they came undone when setting up the tent (due to changing tension). This can be a pain when pitching the tent in strong winds. Because they don’t lock in, they’re also less storm worthy than clips (they could come undone). One tester experienced this with the vestibule pole, which came out of its grommet during a big storm, causing the vestibule to lose its shape (and sending the pole deep into the snow). This was caught early and nothing was broken.

The Mountain 25 is the only tent tested here that includes a spindrift collar (flaps of fly fabric that drape onto the ground at the base of the vestibule). This is designed to be buried under snow to keep the vestibule more secure and prevent snow and ice from blowing into the vestibule from below. Though beneficial for extended basecamps, the feature is unnecesssary for three-season use, and can be an annoying drawback when camping on bare ground in high winds (the flaps make a lot of noise and blow dirt into the bestibule). We much prefer vestibules and rainflys that extend all the way to the ground, but no further. Hilleberg employs such a design in their all-season tents. It works very well and is more versatile a spindrift collar and more stormproof than a fly that ends several inches above the ground.

We also found the vestibule design of the Mountain 25 to be inferior to the Mountain Hardwear Trango’s because it is less supportive and more difficult to tension properly. The geometry and patterning is not as refined as either the Trango's or on the Hilleberg models we've tested. Yes, you can tension it properly, and it pulls tight in direct sunlight, but it's slightly harder and less likely to remain taught in bad weather. A looser vestibule, or any part of the outer tent, is bad becuase it flaps in the wind more and sheds water and snow less well.

All in all, this tent is extremely similar to the Mountain Hardwear Trango 2. For various reason stated in the Overview above, and in the Trango’s review, we prefer the Trango to the Mountain 25. Both tents are capable of enduring terrible conditions anywhere on the planet.