climbing food...

So, when planning trips I always find myself wondering what food to bring. There's always the cheap and easy PB&J standby, but am I missing something in the nutrition dept? When you are out for the day at the crag, what do you eat? What about a day of multipitch? A 4 day weekend at joshua tree? What keeps you strong and energized and speeds recovery and keeps relatively well and prepares easily and isn't super expensive?
-jesse

For me, it's all about the tuna lunch kits. Especially the Thai seasoned ones. Lara bars are great too.

King Oscar "kippered" herring and saltine crackers are a fav of mine. I'll be eating a lot of that in the fall on El Cap. Don't forget the sour gummy worms!

Trad Sandwiches:

Basically a bagel with cream cheese and ham. You can fancy it up with some mustard and swiss cheese too.

The advantage is that a bagel doesn't squish like bread, and it isn't runny and messy. They're also really tasty.

........... those and clif bars.

Last time I was in Red Rocks, my brother made all our sandwiches with lunch meat and spreads like hummus or (my favorite) artichoke and parmesan dip. We carried one for me in our Camelback and two for him in his cargo pants pockets. They're slightly squished but still awesome. Gives some much needed calories if your day is long and taxing and tastes so much better too.

I also eat peanut butter cracker sandwiches now and then, as well as packets of nuts. Sometimes I take those Hickory Farms beef or turkey snack sticks for protein. Both easy to carry on multi-pitch in my Camelback or in pockets. I also like Larabars and those sweet/salty peanut butter bars glued together with sugar syrup (or whatever it is). My brother often eats those packets of seasoned salmon or tuna on longer routes too (I hate fish so I don't remember exactly which it is).

I recently found these fruit roll-ups that are made from ONLY fruit... Man, are they good but ridiculously expensive for their 2 seconds of noshing satisfaction. And. They don't really fill you up. :(

For J Tree/Vedauwoo/smaller crag days, my favorite is to have a small cooler with fresh grapes inside + a box of your favorite crackers with a block of pepperjack cheese to slice up and eat on top, plus a bag of pistachios on the side.

Also, my brother and my climbing-trips-only sweet fetish is either peanut butter M&Ms or (usually) those Little Debbie Swiss Cake rolls. I like to carefully place one in my pack so that it's waiting for me when I'm done with a route. Sometimes they are almost too revoltingly sweet but for some reason I like them when I climb (damn my brother's influence!).

tortillas go well with pb and honey.

the big plus is that if you run out of toilet paper...

I also like the bags of fish - not just tuna anymore - they have come a long way.

couscous, hot sauce and cheese

Jesse Davidson wrote:So, when planning trips I always find myself wondering what food to bring. There's always the cheap and easy PB&J standby, but am I missing something in the nutrition dept?

Likely so.

Jesse Davidson wrote: When you are out for the day at the crag, what do you eat?

Usually some Gatorade, some water, a couple Snickers, a ham and cheese sandwich, whatever my partner has, and a NewCastle Brown Ale (or three)

Jesse Davidson wrote: What about a day of multipitch?

I leave the ground having tanked up on 1L of Gatorade...carrying 1.5 L H20, some GU, some Slim Jims, some Shot Blox and a snack size zip-loc of trail mix...

Jesse Davidson wrote: A 4 day weekend at joshua tree?

Never been there. See cragging food...add a restaurant meal in the evenings...Mexican, BBQ, Home Cooking....whatever. Followed by more beer at the campsite.

Jesse Davidson wrote:What keeps you strong and energized and speeds recovery and keeps relatively well and prepares easily and isn't super expensive? -jesse

I have no clue...I'm pretty weak, lazy, have poor stamina...take a cooler and put your perishables in a tupperware container. Bury this with ice...ham, cheese, etc. will keep for a weekend.

Beanie Weanies are always an alternative.

Trail mix, cliff bars and home made GU for snacking. PB&J holds up the best for me cause no refrigeration needed, or the jar of peanut butter and celery for dipping works. K.I.S.S

Sean

Phillip Dobson wrote:Trad Sandwiches: Basically a bagel with cream cheese and ham. You can fancy it up with some mustard and swiss cheese too. The advantage is that a bagel doesn't squish like bread, and it isn't runny and messy. They're also really tasty.

My last trip to the Gunks, we would stop at the Mountain Deli in the morning and get bagels with cream cheese and lox. Mmmmm! Like you said, they hold up pretty well over the course of the day. More recently, I've become a fan of beef jerky. Very sustaining. And of course, Gatorade. A full day of climbing is impossible without Gatorade.

Phillip Dobson wrote:those and clif bars.

I once got through a 12-hour multi-pitch epic on one Clif bar and a bottle of water.

JL

Peanut butter and jelly is a good lunch sandwich, especially for a four day cragging trip. It's worth the extra bulk of a tupperware plastic container to keep the sandwich from being smushed. Besides that? Baby carrots, apples, bananas, pea pods, and applesauce cups. These are all foods with a high moisture content, which can be important. Bananas might be a little prone to getting mashed, which can be a mess, so they might be better as an early snack. Maybe throw in some fancy pepperridge farm cookies for an extra snack. I've also tossed a juice box in my pack, just to get a little flavor/variety in what I'm drinking.

For a multi-day trip, don't skip breakfast. Oatmeal and hot chocolate are quick and easy on the camp stove, and make a good start to the day. Dinner is a lot harder on a camp stove, especially if you want to avoid canned stuff like spaghetti-o's.

Ham sammiches for traddies!

I have a problem when it comes down to fueling my body properly. I am almost always un prepared when it comes down to this. I have gone with out food and water on numerous outings ranging from single pitch cragging to multi-pitch full days as well as numerous times in the back country snowboardin. I hate when I get food and water with the anticipation of bringing it but forget it in the car.

I have this problem where if I eat alot before activity I feel lathargic and bloated. so if I do eat usually it consists of light food. Energy bars, beef jerky, and gu are the norm for me. I will sometimes eat a pastry or two in the morning if I can force it down.

My partners like to bring nuts/ trail mix, and from time to time water mellon (which was a god send on the castle one day), apples and other fruits, sandwiches from time to time.

it's interesting as I was watching the discovery channel last night and "The Human Body, Pushing the Limits" was on. It talked about the way your body works in extreme sittuations one of wich was starvation. Interestingly when you starve the body of calories you become more efficient to a point. not only muscles benefit but I think also your thought processing speeds up or something, it was late last night when I was watching, but I hope I recorded that part on tivo. They were even saying that by reducing your calorie intake you can also slow, stop, or even reverse the aging process!

Fig Newtons...awesome little snack that really fills me up.
I've also got this burlap lunch purse (Basmati Rice bag) that everyone laughs at but I fill up with granola bars, some salty cracker like Goldfish and a "CD case" (plastic sandwich keeper) with sliced up fruit or a sandwich if there is any fixins in the house. The guys nearly messed their harnesses when I pulled out a perfectly sliced kiwi from the sandwich case, complete with toothpicks to eat with.

String cheese, tuna/crackers, a couple of apples, a bagel & cream cheese, and a nice beer or 2 for the walk out is my typical Smith Rock meal plan.

if you really want to be a rockstar,
y'all will stay skinny cause you just won't eat

youtube.com/watch?v=DmeUuox…

but i prefer food and am usually not picky about what ill put in my stomach

o, and also pack CANS of beer. bottles are bulky, heavy and don't compact.

try any combination of these yummy foods: yogurt, any color bell peppers sliced (great water content) or cucumbers and tomatoes, apple/orange, crackers, cheese, nuts/granola/trail mix. I find these snacks are better than a whole sandwich because they offer great energy and do not weigh you down or slow you down; they are easy and fast to pack and eat also. A small container of juice or tea or gatorade is helpful, too.

If I got into a real pinch, I would consider eating my partner.

Well, thanks a lot everyone for the great advice. I've eaten something pretty similar to the above trad sandwiches, and I think the hummus sounds like a great addition. I have no intention to eat any kind of herring, but the flavored fish in a bag sounds pretty good. I never really saw those at the store, but probably because I wasn't looking. Anyone ever eat canned chicken?
-jesse

i love bananas...and then half way thru the day the classic pbj. I once brought wings...that was tasty.

Jesse Davidson wrote:Well, thanks a lot everyone for the great advice. I've eaten something pretty similar to the above trad sandwiches, and I think the hummus sounds like a great addition. I have no intention to eat any kind of herring, but the flavored fish in a bag sounds pretty good. I never really saw those at the store, but probably because I wasn't looking. Anyone ever eat canned chicken? -jesse

Canned chicken for the win! Drink the juice too.
Apples are also good, durrable fruit to pack.