Mountain Snack and Lunch Ideas

Lunch and Snack Ideas while in the Mountains

Making sure you are getting enough calories while climbing is essential to success in mountaineering. However, just eating bars and energy chews can get boring fast and aren’t the healthiest, most complete options especially for longer stints of time in the mountains.

Many of our programs include breakfast and dinners, but not all. Be sure to understand what is provided on your trip by reviewing the pre-departure materials. The breakfasts we provide often consist of instant oatmeal or similar, with coffee or tea and our dinners can range from freeze dried meals, to gnocchi and pesto or ravioli and chicken depending on the time of year and the group size. If you have any dietary restrictions or allergies, make sure to inform us beforehand and we will do everything we can to accommodate your needs.

When thinking about lunch and snack ideas for the mountain there are three main things to take into consideration: calorie intake, weight/packability, and freshness.

A good way to think about snack options is that every time we stop while climbing you want to consume around 200 calories. 200 calories might look like a few sticks of beef jerky, a few handfuls of trail mix or a few bites of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it is up to you! Generally finding a good mix between sweet and salty snacks that are high in calories, diverse and yummy you can’t go wrong.

As for lunch ideas, you want things that are easy to quickly pull out and munch on. On our trips we often don’t have a set lunch hour, so we recommend bringing snack type lunches that are not too complex to make and eat. Something that you can take a few bites of and then store for later is a great idea!

Below are a few options for some mountain lunches and snacks. These are just a few ideas to get you thinking, and the actual food you bring is up to you but it’s important to think outside the ordinary and bring things you enjoy eating.