Don’t Save Your Sandwich

If you are walking/climbing up something that is a long day out in the UK e.g., Ben Nevis then eat a hearty carbohydrate-packed breakfast with lots of liquid and make sure you have spent the previous evening getting hydrated.

Don’t save your lunch sandwiches for the top, eat them at the bottom (and have a carbohydrate filling, not cheese, you won’t digest the fat in time to turn it into energy – I like marmalade and banana).

Stuff you pockets with e.g., fig rolls/Mr Kipling cakes etc. The top’s the place for extra sandwiches/the banana, nuts and chocolate. (It’s a bit like the preparation and aftermath for/of donating blood.)

Some people carry extra chocolate as their emergency food and as it gets devoured in non-emergencies they hopefully remember to replace it.

The alternative is to put something in the rucksack that is such a faff to open that you are not tempted, my choice is small Christmas puds purchased in the post-Christmas sales. Or those very sticky packets of dried bananas.

Shortlist of Lightweight Mountain Climbing Foods

Here are a few favorites that can’t go wrong:

• Granola bar

• Light and watery foods like biscuits

• jelly ace

• Peanut butter

• Chocolate

• Marmalade, honey and banana

• Fig rolls

• Mr Kipling cakes

• Nuts and dried fruit

• Packets of dried bananas

• Small Christmas puds

If you are asking about those kinds of expeditions where you disappear into the wilderness for some days (along or up) carrying all food with you then the issue is weight and energy/nutritional requirements by how many days. And in snow, you will have to carry fuel to melt drinking water as well as for cooking food.

Andy Kirkpatrick was the BMC rep at one of the winter safety seminars who recommended the a) eating lunch sandwiches at the bottom to aid getting up and b) stuffing pockets with small cakes/biscuits. (Point about Mr K cakes is they are individually wrapped but any similar brand will do.

I carry packets of fig rolls and shovel them into pockets at stops, crumbs can be contained in sandwich bags.)

What Pro Mountaineers Drink

For drinks, I carry a bladder that I can sip Gatorade from while I am on the move. (This may be the most important thing I have going).

Back in the day I used phoo phoo the things but carried a litre of water and at the end of the day I had 1/2 litre left. With the bladder, I carry 2 litres and am done with it 3/4 of the way through the day. This much depends on the wheres and the hows though.

More Mountaineering Food Tips

This is another of those questions that is way out of that useful location, context. Are you perhaps related to the person who asked about the kind of sneakers one needed to ‘climb mountains’? (BTW Climbing and mountaineering are two different things).

You basically need to do your carbohydrate loading in the morning meal and don’t underestimate your calorie intake. Eat more.

I do carry a few of those stupid power/cliff bars as a last recourse to get me through the end of the day or to fuel a client who thinks they have hit the wall. “I can’t take another step” usually means to me I can get another half day out of them.

Having Sufficient Liquids on The Mountain

I mean as long as you can carry it then what’s the problem right? Well, that might be true, but I would recommend staying away from sugars and sticking to water. Boring as may be.

You will not be able to carry sufficient liquid for your day’s hydration needs for high level walking in many places, regardless of whether you got to the top shimmying up rock/ice or plodding up.

No snow, I top the flask up with water from (high) streams as do my companions but in snow you may have a water deficit.

(There are some remote huts where driving up to a short walk from the front door and emptying out a large group supermarket shop is not feasible so good advance planning needed for the walk-in even if returning to a base each day; what goes in must be eaten/come out).

How Much Food to Pack for a Climb

Depends on the length of the climb, but basically everything. High energy diet for high energy output.

Shorter climbs with only a day or two out to attack the summit allow for efficient packing.

Dehydrated food is convenient and only requires boiling water. Lots of protein and candy bars, and dried fruit and nuts.

The BMC (British Mountaineering Council) tours UK cities in the autumn with an evening of lectures on good practice in winter mountaineering, including food. If you are in the UK go to them. Ditto Lochaber (Scotland) at Feb half-term, you will find a safety seminar evening under the auspices of the Mountaineering Council of Scotland.

Conclusion

Diet and foods are always tough subjects since they differ and depend so much on the individual and the circumstances.

I am an example of someone who can eat cold pizza and coffee for breakfast and still feel fully energized when taking the first step upwards. That being said, I don’t recommend doing that.

For drinks, try to stick to water. However, I know some people who take some flavored waters up the mountain, and it seems to work well for them.

The most important thing is that you don’t get dehydrated, and some flavor in your drink may make you less inclined to forget about staying hydrated.

Find what works for you. Generally, stick to high and dense caloric foods. Remember that we are after the energy, not the perfect summer body. Happy adventures!