Reviewer Information

• Name: Cora Hussey
• Age: 22
• Gender: Female
• Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
• Weight: 155 lbs (70kg)
• Email address: cahhmc "at" yahoo "dot" com
• City, State, Country: Los Angeles, CA, USA
• Date: May 17, 2003

Basic Product Information

• Year of Manufacture: 2002
• URL: http://www.mountainhardwear.com
• Listed weight: 38 oz (1077 g)
• Weight as delivered: 39 oz (1106 g)
• Size: 72 inch length (183 cm)
• Width: 20" (51 cm) tapering to 13" (33 cm)
• Rolled Size: Tubular, 8" x 20" (20 cm x 51 cm)

Product Description

+ General:

The High Mountain is a combination closed and open cell foam pad which is encased by a nylon sleeve. The pad consists of a thin layer of closed cell foam laminated to a thicker layer of open cell foam. This pad slips into a nylon sleeve which is polyurethane coated nylon. Ripstop nylon covers the top, and non-ripstop covers the bottom. The High Mountain has a webbing strap with a compression side-release buckle to hold the pad in a rolled position. The webbing attaches to a large triangle of fabric which extends beyond the inner foam pad dimensions and helps to evenly compress the pad.

+ Dimensions:

The pad is rounded at the top and tapered toward the bottom. The fabric compression triangle has a 12" (31 cm) base where it meets the end of the foam portion, extends 10" (25 cm) beyond the end of the inner foam pocket, and then tapers to the compression webbing. The compression webbing is 0.75" (2 cm) wide. The uncompressed thickness is 1" (2.5 cm), although this was measured after significant use.

+ Details:

The High Mountain has a small mesh vent at the top side foot area of the nylon sleeve to allow for any moisture or small dirt particles to escape from the inside. The pad can mate with another pad since each pad has two toggles on one side, which then can fit into the two small loops on the other side of another pad.

Field Testing

I have used the High Mountain over two years of summer backpacking and mountaineering, as well as multiple winter trips. The trips were located in Aspen and the Indian Peaks in Colorado, the North Cascades and Rainier National Park in Washington, Teton Pass and Teton National Park in Idaho, and the High Sierra (Inyo/Sequoia) area in California.

Trip Details:

The trips saw temperatures from 75'F to -15'F (24'C to -26'C), windy conditions up to 50 mph (80 kph), rain, sleet, and snow. High-abrasion conditions were encountered, including sleeping directly on rocky scree.

Important Usage Points:

+ Comfort: Excellent
Comments: I have slept on logs, on rocks, and even in a tree using it and have never been sore other than from being contorted into weird postions. This is easily the most comfortable pad I own and also the most comfortable pad that I have ever used. The comfort is my favorite part -- I actually look forward to stretching out for an afternoon of reading and lazing with this pad.

+ Insulative Properties: Excellent
Comments: This is also my most insulating pad. I have used it on the snow down to -15'F (-26'C) and I could have been sleeping on dirt for all I could tell. For comparison purposes, I sometimes use a self-inflating pad on the snow, and I can certainly feel the snow through it, but I cannot with the High Mountain. I also sometimes sleep on the High Mountain in conjuction with a very thin sit-pad, but more out of habit than necessity, and this helps to buffer the sides of the relatively narrow foot portion for when I toss and turn. When I used this pad for 12 days in the Tetons in January, I was always either standing on my skis or on this pad, and my feet were never cold on the pad, which was quite amazing.

+ Durability: Good to Excellent
Comments: This pad certainly survived more than I would have expected for any other pad, but it has the scuff marks to show for it. The marks have occurred along the bottom of the pad when sleeping on a particularly rough surface, such as rock, and seem to be only cosmetic. The part that I was most worried about with durability was the toggles and loops on the pad edges, which are used to mate pads together. Since they are so small, I feared that they would pull out and so did not use them for a while. But then I had to use them in a pinch to sleep three people on two pads, and since then I have highly used and enjoyed the pad-connecting ability with no problems.

+ Water Resistance: Excellent
Comments: The top and bottom are both very waterproof, in my experience. The inner foam never fully became wet on any of my trips. When covered with light moisture, the pad and nylon will dry in approximately 30 minutes in sunny and dry conditions, even if the inner foam is not removed from the outer nylon shell. (The 30 minute estimate was obtained by unzipping the head portion for ventilation, and placing two Nalgene water bottles inside, one on either side of the foam, and thus raising the nylon on the top and bottom away from the foam to allow air to flow all around the foam.)

+ Wind Resistance: Excellent
Comments: I used this pad once or twice as a windblock and sit-pad combination to eat lunch in very cold and very windy situations. It worked out very well, although this would probably work for nearly any foam pad. The especially nice part was that I could clip the compression strap to my pack to prevent the pad from blowing away whenever I moved off the pad for a moment.

+ Packability: Fair
Comments: This seems to be the only downside of the pad. The rolled size is rather large (it cannot reasonably fit inside any of my packs with other gear) and the weight is very high for a single pad.

+ Changes over Time: Inner foam shifts upwards, and the outer nylon rotates around the foam.
Comments: The inner foam seems to shift over time within the nylon shell, and this is annoying because it cannot be easily roatated back -- the foam has to be taken out, re-aligned, and put back into the nylon in the correct orientation. There are two ways the foam shifts. First, it shifts up toward the head (leaving cold and uninsulated feet), and second, it creeps to one side of the nylon shell, (resulting in the nylon shell eventually rotating and sticking around the pad in the wrong way). As a side note, however, my friend purchased a High Mountain last year, and his pad has not yet developed the nylon-shifting annoyances that mine has. Perhaps the nylon sleeve fit has been improved since I purchased my pad.

+ Ease of Use: Excellent
Comments: This pad could be put anywhere. It is very foldable, and can be crunched and sat upon to be used in a variety of ways. No inflating is required, and the pad does not really need to be forcefully unrolled like some foam pads -- it springs out easily on its own. In addition, the ability to mate these pads together using the hook-loop attachment has been a handy feature for me. I use it to be able to squeeze three people on two pads mated together when space and weight are a concern for my very cold and snowy trips. The only difficult usage points are having to smooth the very last foot (30 cm) or so of the head portion out when it gets crumpled from packing (as any pad end would when compressed tightly in the middle of a roll), and having to pull the inner foam back down to the foot when it shifts up.

+ Ease of Upkeep/Maintenance: Good
Comments: The inner foam portion can be removed from the nylon shell via the top zipper. This way, the outer nylon or foam can be washed or repaired. The only problem is that the foam is very difficult to get back into the nylon shell correctly, since the foam tends to not slide very well along the coated nylon.

Personal Comments

+ Comments on Fit:
This pad usually has adequate width and length when the foam does not bunch up in the head. I find the middle to be fine for someone who tosses and turns, but my feet are often cold from not being able to stay within the narrow foot area. Because of this, I sometimes bring a small sit-pad to place under my feet.

+ Comments on Design:
I think this is a very well-designed pad. The insulation and comfort are unsurpassed, in my opinion, and the only thing I would like to see improved would be to make the foam fit better in the nylon sleeve.

+ Trips that I would bring this pad on in the future:
Winter trips, or very cushy trips. The name High Mountain seems to be apt because this pad really shines in high, cold, and harsh altitudes. I must admit, however, that sometimes I simply bite the extra weight in the summer and take it along because I know I will never be sore after a night sleep.

Summary

The High Mountain is a combination closed and open cell foam pad with a nylon outer shell. It is relatively heavy and bulky, but very warm and comfortable. The inner foam may be removed from the nylon for cleaning.

Overall, I personally have the opinion that the High Mountain is an excellent piece of gear. The pad is heavy for my tastes, but if I am going into cold conditions, this is the only pad I really need so it actually saves weight and adds comfort in the long run.

Upsides for me:

• Comfortable, comfortable, comfortable
• Very warm
• Durable -- foam rather than inflateable

• The inner foam creeps up over time
• Bulky and heavy

Reviews > Sleep Gear > Pads and Air Mattresses > Mountain Hardware High Mountain 72 pad > Owner Review by Cora Hussey