Bringing real food for all day climbing

Looking for suggestions that get away from probars and gels that will keep me fueled for 12 to 20 hours of mostly continuous exertion. I can make jerky, bars, and gels work; but I'm wondering what can be a better choice for my body. Bonking and having a gurgling/upset stomach is not ideal.

Looking for things that are not overly heavy, if possible

I like to bring along spam musubi or other varieties of rice cakes. The saltiness of the spam really hits the spot late in the day. Scrambled egg and pickled japanese ginger is great and the ginger can help soothe the stomach.

Allen Lim at Skratch Labs has all kinds of recipes for rice cakes and other packable foods.

skratchlabs.com/blogs/news

Mother knows best: "Have an apple."

No-Bake Energy Bites:
rockyforkranchresort.com/sn…

Honey Stinger waffles are my personal fave.

Single-pitch cragging or long routes?

a couple P B & J and bananas

I usually rack a turkey sandwich on my harness on long routes.

Rigggs24 wrote: a couple P B & J and bananas

X2 but on
on mini wheat bagels. they'll end up less smushed in the bottom of your pack.

plus slim jims

Climbing friend,

High quality cheesesteaks for power-flash, and cold fish-heads out of bucket for more endurance style flash. You like, myah?

Frozen water bottle. Wrap up your favorite perishables and wallahhhh. My buddies appreciate every time.

Rigggs24 wrote: a couple P B & J and bananas

I'm a huge fan of this for all my trips. Put it in a small Tupperware box. I like some heavy nut bread, chunky style.

Or an egg sandwich with cheese avocado sriracha, tomato, spinach.

Time for breakfast!

Tuna in sunflower oil comes in a large foil pack. Add 2 mayo and 2 mustard packets (get them from a fast food place) and you have 500-600 calories and real food, I eat this plain on all day mountaineering trips for lunch. You can also add crackers and smash them up into it.

I have found for long single day excursions I do best with a small breakfast on the way and a lunch like the tuna along with the bars and gels, your body will need easily digested sugars so you still need those bars and gels

The well crafted Tupperware-like container seems to rule for healthy food at the crag food: sport climbing and single pitch. Contents are covered in earlier posts.

On multi-pitch ...guess it depends on conditions and how long you are on the climb as to what and how much you take. I prefer fast and light. I don't like to climb with a pack. A double bagged quality zip lock baggy can substitute as a soft food container and seldom extrudes in your pack. I think REI or outdoor backpacking outlets sell a dedicated container.

If hauling then what you can bring to eat can have more variety.

I tend to stay away from sugars.. I dislike the sugar rush and subsequent bonk. YMMV.

In the desert I freeze my water bottles with 20 to 50% water and fill the remainder the morning of the climb. I recycle Powerade bottle for water bottles. Some of my buddies chill their Camelbacks the night before.

Dr. Long Arm wrote:I usually rack a turkey sandwich on my harness on long routes.

+1

Sandwich wrap, avocado, banana (early snack), gruyere, dried sausage, nuts.

JWong wrote:I like to bring along spam musubi or other varieties of rice cakes. The saltiness of the spam really hits the spot late in the day. Scrambled egg and pickled japanese ginger is great and the ginger can help soothe the stomach. Allen Lim at Skratch Labs has all kinds of recipes for rice cakes and other packable foods. skratchlabs.com/blogs/news

+1 on Allen Lim recipes. I've used his recipes for century rides, and no GI distress that I would routinely get from gels/bars. This cookbook is amazing:

feedzonecookbook.com/portab…

Probably not what you're looking for but I used a bunch of military MRE's on a backpack trip once. They weren't terrible, also not delicious. Kinda heavy. Though I had a ton of energy and my friends were zonked out from elevation and their dehydrated foods. I was running circles around them. Hunting out good fishing spots and even hiking all around lakes at our camp while they laid in their tents.

Gummy bears are amazing and cheap

lately i bring a foil pack of tuna and an avocado, mush those 2 together in the foil pack and it makes a decent lunch that doesnt sit like a brick. bonus to bring some hot sauce (salt is useful on a long day).

i snack on small amounts of dried fruits throughout. apricots, dates, etc all work.

unfortunately i have a hard time keeping avocados and bananas from squishing in my pack so its more of a day-cragging lunch... need to find another solution. same goes for pbj, too squishy.

I seem to work best with a decently sized breakfast which is high in fat and protein, and then a slow-drip of carbs throughout the day.

When I ice climb, I bring along a thermous with some hot soup. I suppose you could throw in some pasta...go heavy (and hot) and the sauce and maybe cook the pasta a little extra al dente and it should be somewhat decent for 4-5 hours. A good tip is to pour hot water into the thermous and get it warm before adding the hot food.

Being one with the metabolism of a hummingbird, I like to think of myself as an expert on this subject of keeping food close by. Here are some of my favorites for climbing..

Multi-pitch and/or cragging:

• Premade tuna salad pouches and a couple slices of heavy grain/nut bread like grainiac
• PB&J (or even better - almond butter and jelly) again with the heavy bread
• Any bar (cliff, lara, power, Granola, etc, etc..)
• Nuts - almond, cashews, any mix.. leave the chocolate out though; get's everything messy and it's just empty carbs/sugar.
• Jerky of various types (turkey, beef, summer sausage etc)

Cragging:

• Hummus with melba crackers, baby carrots, celery or other grain chip for dipping (optional: toss in a frozen water bottle to keep the hummus cool)
• Grilled cheese with bacon on heavy bread [ideally] made that morning
• Smoothie of some sort. Boathouse farms or Odwalla kind of stuff.
• Zucchini or banana bread

SteveMarshall wrote: i have a hard time keeping avocados and bananas from squishing in my pack so its more of a day-cragging lunch... need to find another solution. same goes for pbj, too squishy.

Oh man, this has been a life saver. I love bananas for climbing and always struggled with smashing them. I got this idea from Jonathon Siegrist's mom in Ten Sleep last summer.

amazon.com/Peregrine-609230…

I'm sure there's one for avocados as well. For PBJ, just use a sandwhich tupperware.