Best foods to fuel a day of climbing

What foods do you find best to keep energy levels and strength up for long days of projecting or long combing day?

donuts and coffee

I usually pack a couple of PB&J's as well as some cashews and almonds. both of these items are easy to eat on the move/fast and give you plenty of energy to continue climbing. Only downside is you're going to need to bring extra water lol

Apples.

Vietnamese sandwiches.

Bagels, clif bars, water...fast, simple, convenient, easy to digest. After a few days in a row of that diet I start to die a little from lack of nutrition, though.

Cabot pepper jack cheese

Sleeve of Fig Newtons.

Tasty ones.

redlude97 wrote:donuts and coffee

mono bars from lee vining

I've been playing with a power bar recipe. The ingredients don't matter:

3 cups of 5-minute oatmeal (adjust with more once everything is mixed til the consistency looks good)
1 cups of whole milk
3 tbsp of peanut butter
3 tbsp of honey
one or two eggs
1 tbsp of some kind of fat, coconut oil, butter or something,
a little bit of flower (I have no idea if it does anything but lots of baked things have flour so I was sure to put some in there)
dried cranberries
chopped banana
walnut peices
chocolate (although maybe like baking chocolate, I last tried with semisweet and it was too sweet)
mix everything together, the consistency should be a little bit wet but not gloopy. Butter a baking pan and lay it so it's like 3/4" thick. I think I use a 9x14 pan. Mix it together and bake for like 20 minutes at 350 til it's firm then let it cool before cutting into squares. I've been making up the recipe and it works every time. Must be hard to mess up.

Danishes. One of my friend re-rated all ice climbs to the Danish scale. A 1, 2, 3, etc Danish climb. This includes not only the climb, but the approach and descent as well. For example the ice climb "Guinness Gully" up in Field, BC is a 2 Danish climb.

Personally I use a mixture of bars, nuts, crackers, and cheese. I usually cut up the following into small bite sized pieces...1 each of, Snickers, Milkly Way, Cliff, Protein, and Gronala. Then mix them all together in a bag and put powdered sugar over everything so that it won't melt into a sticky mess. After that I usually add a good handful of mixed nuts and a few M&M's. A separate bag for some cheese and crackers and you should be set for all day (provided you take a break to eat).

jolly ranchers or other hard candy are good during climbing and help your regular food last just a little bit longer. or if you're in the voo just some crack and a couple of McBitchin's

Ask a friend or acquaintance who's a long-distance bicyclist. They live or die on this. When you smoke off 5000-9000 calories in a day for giggles, you get a very good sense of how to fuel yourself for sustained exertion.

I second the Fig Newton, Clif bar, and PBJ recommendations. Those plus bananas and a lot of Gatorade have gotten me through quite a few 100-200 mile rides.

Thanks for all the suggestions, It should help when I head out to project some hard routes in the next few weeks

I use energy gels for triathlons. They are basically just pure sugar with lots of sodium and some natural and artificial energy boosters. Anyway, they work well for triathons. I am not sure how great they would be for crag food, but for a long, hard free climbing wall, they would probably be great. I think I am going to try them out the next time I do a long free climb.

A dietary physicist acquaintance, yup really, recommends high carb the nite before, quick absorb protein during (gel and liquid) and caffeine only towards the end of the push. Literature also recommends a high protein drink within 30 mins of high activity.

I find the energy needed for climbing trips is different than the energy needed for cycle touring. When I'm climbing I like to eat less as I have to move around a lot but cycling I always gorged myself and just dealt with being uncomfortable for the first 10 or so miles.

So for climbing I'm a big fan of pocket almonds. I just throw a few fist fulls of almonds in a few pockets and that will get me through most multipitch climbs. It's also nice when you're rooting through your pockets and you find the last couple of almonds from last weekend. Nice little treat.

good hydration the day before and good hydration in between climbs. this will make you climb better. i would know because i usually skimp on hydration and i can't climb for shit. oh and also speed. just visit your local college, pick up some adderall and head to the crag

An envelope style pack of tuna and some crackers. Lightweight, filling, salty, fatty, happy.

We ALWAYS bring beef jerky. I don't think we've ever gone climbing outside without jerky and I always crave it (probably because we always have it). Nice because it's not messy, plenty of protein for energy, and it's usually made with brown sugar so you get some energy quick too.

Also KIND bars because they're so delicious. I like the tuna and crackers idea too, yum