Big wall food

My friend and I will be climbing Salathè wall next month and I’m trying to figure out what would be good to eat while on the wall. Any recommendations help. Also, if anyone has beta on packing the haul bag that would be nice. 

I like having a bag for each meal type:

Breakfast bag: bagels, honey, cream cheese, nut butter, coffee/tea, canned fruit

Lunch/snacks bag: bars/energy snacks, cheese, bagels, jerky, electrolyte mix

Dinner bag: Tuna packs, Tasty bites rice and curry packs, cheese, bagels, chocolate, fruit, tea/hot/chocolate/miso soup mix

Packing the bag: put most of your water at the bottom except for the gallon or two you’ll use/drink during the day. Then put dinner and breakfast bags in, stove, approach shoes etc, then shove sleeping bags and bivy kit around dead space. Leave the lunch bag and a gallon or two of water at the top of the bag, along with extra rack you’ll need that day. Line the haul bag with a piece of cardboard or a foam sleeping pad if you’ll be using one. 

Tl;dr: you’ll want lots of bagels. 

Christian Black wrote: I like having a bag for each meal type:

Breakfast bag: bagels, honey, cream cheese, nut butter, coffee/tea, canned fruit

Lunch/snacks bag: bars/energy snacks, cheese, bagels, jerky, electrolyte mix

Dinner bag: Tuna packs, Tasty bites rice and curry packs, cheese, bagels, chocolate, fruit, tea/hot/chocolate/miso soup mix

Packing the bag: put most of your water at the bottom except for the gallon or two you’ll use/drink during the day. Then put dinner and breakfast bags in, stove, approach shoes etc, then shove sleeping bags and bivy kit around dead space. Leave the lunch bag and a gallon or two of water at the top of the bag, along with extra rack you’ll need that day. Line the haul bag with a piece of cardboard or a foam sleeping pad if you’ll be using one. 

Tl;dr: you’ll want lots of bagels. 

Good advice. Just wanted to emphatically give my +1 recommendation for Tasty Bites.

I've never done a big wall, but I've done a fair bit of backcountry camping, and I've found I prefer packing a large plastic bag with food for each day. Put a breakfast, lunch (I always just do snacks like cheese, pitas, dehydrated fruits, nuts, jerky) and dinner in each bag. Otherwise, on the first couple days, you have to keep pulling out big bags with five dinners and five lunches to get at your breakfast. This would all go inside a bigger "food bag" that one of us in the group would carry. Maybe this beta is less useful if it's all going into one giant haul bag.

I find it's worth the weight to bring some fresh veggies (carrots pack well) and eat them on the first couple days. They are big and heavy per calorie, but a week straight without veggies makes me sad.

Couscous.

Squeezable baby food... heaven.

As simple as possible. E.g., Mountain House for breakfast and dinner and some Snickers and/or nuts/raisins mix for lunch. Wall food is just an energy source.

I would use empty 2 liter coke bottles fill them with water 85% full, freeze them,  then top them off.  Just drink the topped off water as it melts. (this is how I pull out cold beer after 3 days on the wall) You will want cold water this time of year.  Line your bag with your sleeping pad (makes it like a cooler inside) then put the water bottles in a circle around the bag.  Kind of standard stuff.  You can get some tasty backpacking no cook meals that doesn't need a stove (if you want to go lite).  I personally would rather eat good and haul more. Treat it just like you would if you were backpacking have a good heavy meal your first day and the lighter stuff latter.  I would say one thing and that's take more food that you think you will need. You might take a day longer than you thought to do the route.  There  might be parties above you slowing you down. Have fun and stay safe

Lon

Pavel Burov wrote: As simple as possible. E.g., Mountain House for breakfast and dinner and some Snickers and/or nuts/raisins mix for lunch. Wall food is just an energy source.

I strongly disagree; cooking on the wall (particularly dinner) is a nice distraction once it gets dark and you [edit] don't want to climb anymore [\edit]. No reason to get expensive dehydrated food since you have to lug up the water as well. I agree lunch should be simple though.

I rather like Trader Joes packaged pasta-like dishes (gnnochi, ravioli, tortellini) which pesto; the water you boil it in could be drunk too. Could also bring up fresh fruits and veggies (if they don't get too squished) to eat on the side. You could even get one of those silly backpacker egg containers, and bring up packaged udon or ramen noodles and cook it with a few eggs!

I also like the Tasty Bites; could bring up some tortillas too to eat it with.

It is all about focus. When on a wall I am focused on climbing. Don't care 'bout food's taste or smell. It charges me good enough means it's just perfect. Cooking on a wall? Nope. I'm not that crazy to waste my precious rest time. Having those extra 15 minutes I would sleep 15 minutes more to be stronger tomorrow. If I want some fancy food (yep, I do want some fancy food) I would (read: I will) go to some fancy restaurant after the climb.

once it gets dark and you can't climb anymore   

I did all my best leads at night.  When you cant see past twenty feet you don't really worry how much you just backed cleaned LOL Climbing a wall is  pretty much a 18 hour + day job for me...……. you must be much faster than I am.  I really enjoy leading at night.

Pavel Burov wrote: It is all about focus. When on a wall I am focused on climbing. Don't care 'bout food's taste or smell. It charges me good enough means it's just perfect. Cooking on a wall? Nope. I'm not that crazy to waste my precious rest time. Having those extra 15 minutes I would sleep 15 minutes more to be stronger tomorrow. If I want some fancy food (yep, I do want some fancy food) I would (read: I will) go to some fancy restaurant after the climb.

Different strokes. When I'm exhausted or really hungry, food has to be incredibly appealing for me to choke it down. That's a positive feedback loop that goes bad quickly for me.

Ryan Dresser wrote: Couscous.

Yes! Pre mix 100g-150g in a baggie w salt and pepper and Parmesan. Cook it up. Add olive oil and tuna or salmon or chicken and maybe a little can of veggies (peas corn spinach peppers whatever) after u cook it up. Mmmmm. Practice at home first. 

Lon Harter wrote: I did all my best leads at night.  When you cant see past twenty feet you don't really worry how much you just backed cleaned LOL Climbing a wall is  pretty much a 18 hour + day job for me...……. you must be much faster than I am.  I really enjoy leading at night.

I guess I have led a lot at night, but usually out of necessity not desire ;)

Go lite take backpacking food. Or like Warren Harding did haul up Thanks Giving Dinner to Dolt Tower. Lite and fast or dine like a King.

Either works as long as you pull out a few cold brews at night any thing less is simply barbaric infact it's just bad form and we don't do that.

I think my main point is that taking backpacker's food isn't really any lighter than taking real food, since you need to carry the water to rehydrate it, so you might as well take up real food. I wouldn't take a whole turkey though since the bones aren't edible and are dead weight.

I'll need to try out the frozen water-jug haul-bag cooler concept though!

I ran across this on YouTube and thought it could be helpful. Or not...You choose.  

I know I’ve already put in my 2 cents, but I also wholeheartedly disagree with Pável. Basically just take tasty food you’ll be psyched on eating, and a little more than you think. Dehydrated food won’t save you any weight. Good food adds a lot of morale to big wall climbing, and at the end of the day, it’s psyche that will get you to the top. Good food = good psyche = sending the mountain. 

Good suggestions from Christian, although bagels can be kind of doughy if youre thirsty and don’t have lots of water to spare.  I always liked fig newtons for breakfast.  Good carbs, easy to eat and tasty. However, I also agree with Pavel that fancy food can be a hassle.  I’ve never brought a stove, though the hanging rigs they have now seem nice for coffee if nothing else. I always craved protein more than something warm and bland like couscous. Multiday walls are more or less vertical camping, though we’d always hit it early and crash pretty hard once we stopped for the night, so breaking out the stove would’ve seemed like a chore.   And yes, we’d always have a nice meal afterwards.

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market,
It’s not about what you want, it’s about what you can afford

https://www.rei.com/product/878023/alpineaire-foods-cinnamon-apple-crisp-2-servings

SOOOOO good after a long day and not much water needed!