Climbing a mountain (figuratively and literally): what to eat?

[ziffy]

Hi all. Me again. As always, I need to start with a thank you. You all inspire me so dang much to keep my shit together and stay on the right path. After a youth filled with overworking, overdrinking, and undersleeping, you all have helped me put it back together. So thanks again. I’m on the ascent.

And that brings me to my next point/question. I’ve always been a climber, in college and just after you could probably have described me as a climbing “bum,†but then I moved to NYC and discovered martinis, so that got put on hold for awhile. Fast forward 6 years and I’m in a new, better (awesome!) job in a more relaxed place and I will finally be getting back into climbing. Mountaineering specifically.

I’m climbing Mt. Washington with a group in early February. It’s only about an 8 mile hike out and back, but it’s a good 4,000 ft of elevation gain in what generally is accepted to be some of the worst weather in the world. So the question is: what should I eat?

We’re descending back to the lodge both nights as it’s sort of a two-day workshop type deal, so dinners shouldn’t be a concern, but I’ll have to keep my energy up both days, and most importantly on the summit day. Are there any outdoorsy paleo folks with good ideas for quick (like, edible with one gloved hand), clean (I don’t want to have to haul 20 apple cores back down) and light (a jar of almond butter will probably not do…) snacks I can shove in my gullet in what will probably be at or below zero temps to keep me going?

Thanks in advance.

Z

[scarletleavy]

I make my own Paleo energy bars with things like nuts & dried fruits- there are a ton of recipes on the web for these. My absolute favorite snack is a stuffed date (I usually stuff mine with chopped nuts/dried fruit rolled in almond butter. To die for! You can also stuff them with bacon, equally delicious. Beef jerky is another good snack.

I do bring apples and I will admit, I do leave the cores in the woods/on the mountain.

Best of luck!

[spezzy]

ok so. washington isn't an easy hike, and it is an ALL DAY hike.

i did it back in october (and for the record, it was 70 at the bottom and snowing hard at the top)

so first, ziploc bags are your friend and work great instead of tupperware or jars.

second, foods:

sweet potatoes. slice up in wedges and bake.

nuts and dried fruits

ants on a log (celery with almond butter and raisins or cranberries on top)

chicken breast. seriously. bake it, leave it plain. put in ziploc bag. itll stay good for the day.

chicken sausage. again - super easy, precooked, just eat like that.

hamburger patties

apples (put the cores in the ziploc bags you brought your other food in, though i usually throw them into the woods)

larabars

[bigm141414]

ants on a log (celery with almond butter and raisins or cranberries on top)

My Inner child smiled at this.

I second the nuts an fruit and beef jerky. Although spezzy's list sounds like good trail snacking.

[The Tin Man]

If you don't want to make your own paleo bars there are always Lara bars. The base is almost always dates and they use real, mostly paleo-friendly ingredients. I buy mine at Trader Joe's and am sure they have them at Whole Foods and the like.

And why are you climbing the mountain?

Your fault for your title making me think of this. If it's going to be stuck in my head I'm going to take as many down with me as possible.

[ziffy]

Thanks all. Great recommendations. I was hoping not to be that weird guy with twelve sticks of salami in his pack.

@The Tin Man: Fretfully I'm at work and the byzantine security prohibits me from watching that video, so I don't know what the joke is. However I'm sure it's hilarious. I'm climbing it because I love mountains and want the skills to climb bigger ones. I ski, hike, and fly-fish, and I always stare up at these summits and basically want to be on them. So it'll be Washington, then Rainier in the Spring, then Denali, then...Himalayas hopefully. Or the Andes.

[The Tin Man]

The video will make it clear why I was asking your reason for climbing the mountain. But agreed on your reasons, I love hiking myself and plan to do more of it in the spring.