recommended type of stove for alpine camping

[Randy]

I'm planning a 6 day hike up the JMT late July. I've heard that the altitude can affect the performance of the isopro canister type stoves (pocket rocket). What's the recommendation on this? I'd prefer not buy a white gas stove if I could. Thanks for the counsel, Randy

[RickM]

My understanding is that it isn't altitude that's a problem, but cold can affect canister stoves. Some canister stoves are constructed differently so that cold is not much of an issue. I believe the Jetboil Sol stoves are an example that are made for colder weather.

Rick M.

[AlmostThere]

canister stoves are less efficient below freezing, but putting the canister in a dish of water helps.

[jchapell]

For reference, I've used a knock-off pocket rocket (purchased for around $5 on amazon) at 12k feet in CO around 35F, and didn't have problems. I've only used it for 2 nights at a time, so I'm not sure how efficiency was impacted (we never used up a canister of gas), but there wasn't a problem.