Samaya x Feeding The Rat Expeditions:

 

 

When passion brings pioneers together

 

At over 6,000 meters, a tent is no longer just equipment. It becomes a refuge, a survival tool, sometimes the only place to recover before heading back onto the face, into the cold, wind, and altitude. It is in these conditions that the relationship between Samaya and Feeding The Rat Expeditions was built.

 

In 2020, FTRE discovered Samaya as customers, first with the Samaya2.5, then with the ASSAUT2 ULTRA and the ULTRA bags. Very quickly, these products found their place in their long, autonomous, and committed expeditions. These are precisely the kinds of situations for which we develop our products: environments where nothing can be left to chance, where gear is never an accessory but a direct condition for success.

 

Through continuous field feedback, the relationship naturally evolved. Feeding The Rat Expeditions no longer simply used Samaya products: they tested them relentlessly, challenged them, and pushed them into extreme environments. From this level of demand emerged a deeper collaboration aimed at advancing our products. Gradually, the partnership became focused on developing concrete solutions for the future of mountaineering and expedition travel.

 

Today, FTRE has become a true development partner for Samaya. Together, we have designed several custom products, including the ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP, specifically engineered to meet their needs for alpine-style expeditions in remote high-altitude environments. As part of this partnership, they also test our prototypes, provide detailed field feedback, and help us improve the product with every new expedition. All with a shared objective: enabling a new way of thinking about modern expeditions lighter, more mobile, more autonomous, and capable of improving efficiency, safety, weight, and pack volume to make climbing smoother, safer, and freer.

 

This collaboration is first and foremost built on a human story. FTRE and Ghislain Pipers share the same passion for mountaineering, product design, and innovation, but also a common vision of the mountains: a committed, lightweight, more conscious practice that deeply respects the territories crossed and the experiences they make possible. Expeditioning is as much a physical commitment as it is an inner journey.

 

Feeding The Rat Expeditions: Learning, Sharing, and Pushing Limits

Starting nearly 20 years ago, Feeding The Rat Expeditions runs high-altitude trips. It is a true incubator for mountaineers, where people go to remote altitude, organize their own expeditions, and embrace a responsible alpine style. Their expeditions take place across some of the world’s most spectacular mountain ranges, the Himalayas, North Karakoram, Kunlun, Tien Shan, and Pamirs combining technical ascents, glacier traverses, demanding high-altitude approaches, long glacial crossings, and extended bivouacs in sometimes extreme conditions. Most expeditions involve several weeks of complete autonomy and revolve around a primary objective reached through long and wild approaches. All pursue the same vision: evolving in remote, committed environments far removed from heavy and standardized commercial expeditions.

 

The working climbers at Feeding The Rat Expeditions are all highly experienced expedition mountaineers, deeply familiar with high-altitude environments in obscure areas. Among the expedition formats offered are:

 

• Traverses of isolated and remote mountain ranges requiring total self-sufficiency for weeks;
• Mixed and winter ascents on peaks that are rarely, if ever climbed, often above 6,000 meters, up to the 8000m Karakoram North Faces, where advanced camps are established and the tent becomes an essential refuge;
• Training expeditions for future expedition leaders learning how to organize their own lightweight expeditions, manage logistics, and refine tactics in cold and high-altitude conditions;
• Attempts of unclimbed summits or open new routes, demanding the importance of carrying the lightest possible equipment in order to remain efficient at all times.

 

These extraordinary adventures are often harsh and prolonged. Most routes pass through uninhabited areas, fractured glaciers, austere faces, and wind-scoured ridgelines. Extreme cold, dust, UV exposure, and constant wind place equipment under continuous stress. Storms can force climbers to remain confined for days. It is in these environments that our products truly perform and continue to evolve.

 

Why develop a special ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP edition?

Expedition climbing is evolving fast, as new areas open up, offering new types of objectives at a time when materials, technology and design makes previously inaccessible places possible. FTRE realized that the old ways of doing things no longer applied, so reworked how climbers get to, live around and climb at high altitude.

 

Along with advocating the ethics and styles of alpinists like Shipton, Anthione and Kurtyka, FTRE also advocate the role of the climber to develop what resources they use. Rather than be limited by the designs of the day, new ascents can only be done with new tools for the job, aligning perfectly with Samaya’s vision to push into possibilities previous equipment couldn’t realize.

 

For several years, Samaya and Feeding The Rat Expeditions have developed, tested, and refined multiple versions of the ASSAUT2 ULTRA. After numerous expeditions, dozens of nights spent in storms, and hundreds of kilometers carrying equipment, it became clear that some expeditions required an even more specialized shelter: lighter, more compact, and more protective for extended autonomous periods.

 

At high altitude, it is common to spend several days in camps under snow and wind before completing an acclimatization rotation or resuming the ascent. In these moments, the tent becomes a true living space. It must provide enough ventilation and comfort for recovery, cooking, and shelter while remaining easy to carry on the back.

 

For Feeding The Rat Expeditions, this was essential: their expeditions combine lightweight alpine approaches with extremely demanding high-mountain conditions. Climbers carry all their own equipment throughout the expedition while climbing steep objectives. In these remote high-altitude regions, winds are violent and temperatures frequently drop below -30°C.

 

The objective was to design a single tent capable of accompanying the entire expedition: the approach, base camp, advanced camp, and final ascent. A tent light and compact enough to reduce weight and pack volume, yet strong, simple and livable enough to provide genuine comfort and recovery space at altitude. On expedition, saving weight without sacrificing recovery space fundamentally changes the mountain experience.

 

This led to the development of the limited-edition ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP: a true synthesis of several years of field development between Samaya and FTRE, positioned at the crossroads between the versatility of the original ASSAUT2 ULTRA and the specific demands of committed expeditions.

 

ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP: the embodiment of Samaya x FTRE expertise

The ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP tents were developed as a "one-tent solution", for long, unsupported trips that require extended living at high altitude. Samaya already was pushing the limits of tents for fast and light ascents, so the XP became the solution for ascents that are fast, light and long. This means rethinking ideas about the phases of ascents approach, base camp, high camps and bivouacs streamlining it all into a continuum that moves seamlessly towards the summit. Rather than take several tents or compromise with tents ill-suited for different phases, the XP does it all for ascents right to the highest peaks on Earth.

 

Produced as a limited edition, the ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP retains the proven structure and materials of the original ASSAUT2 ULTRA, designed for two people, while adding an integrated vestibule. This feature comes directly from Feeding The Rat Expedition’s requests: an extended area allows climbers to cook under shelter and store gear without cluttering the sleeping space. To avoid increasing weight, the architecture was simplified and optimized specifically for winter and high-altitude use: less focused for summer applications, but exceptionally effective when wind gusts and snow offer no respite.

 

In concrete terms, it combines an extreme lightweight construction of 1,225 g with a geodesic structure, integrated vestibule, optimized liveability, and a level of protection usually associated with tents two to three times heavier. With a packed volume reduced to just 6.2 L, it minimizes impact inside the backpack while still providing a genuine protective and recovery space in extreme conditions. At high altitude, recovery becomes a direct component of both performance and safety. Despite its additional vestibule, it remains one of the lightest tents in its category, and can house extra climbers in the most extreme situations.

 

The tent is built using highly resistant Dyneema composite fabric combined with a waterproof-breathable membrane to limit condensation and drastically reduce weight compared to traditional double-wall architectures. Ventilation is ensured through two opposing openings to further reduce condensation and frost formation, while the vestibule provides wind protection without unnecessary weight. Every detail from poles to guy lines was refined and validated in the field by the FTRE teams.

 

To validate its real-world performance, FTRE teams tested the tent in temperatures down to -40°C, with winds exceeding 100 km/h, and during high-altitude bivouacs above 6,000 meters. An integral feature of the XP’s design is the extended vestibule and permeable inner wall, that smartly enhances the way the tent ventilates, retains warmth and handles condensation. Discerning use of the vestibule’s doors and adjusting the interior space, make the tent incredibly adaptable to everything from humid valley approaches to the intense cold of the highest camps.

 

A limited edition of 30 units

To celebrate this unique collaboration, we decided to produce only 30 units of the ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP. Each tent is delivered with a special kit. This intentionally limited production reflects our desire to maintain an artisanal, demanding, and deeply field oriented approach while preserving the quality of products designed to remain intentionally exclusive. There are some users to whom this tent defines the possible from the impossible.

 

A story that continues

This edition is not an endpoint but another milestone in our shared journey. Together, Samaya and Feeding The Rat Expeditions continue their pursuit of equipment that is lighter, more efficient, and better adapted to the realities of the field. Other projects are already underway that continue the XP concept, and new prototypes are being prepared, always with the same objective: allowing mountaineers to fully experience their expeditions, push their limits, and focus on what truly matters.

 

We are proud to present this shared creation, born from four years of trust and friendship. More than a simple limited edition, the ASSAUT2 ULTRA XP represents a certain vision of the future expedition: lighter, more autonomous, more adapted and more committed.

 

A vision in which equipment does not seek to dominate the mountain, but instead allows people to move through it with greater freedom, efficiency, and awareness.