Hiking menu: ready-made layout. Will we eat? Basics of creating a layout Eat breakfast yourself

The issue of food on a hike worries the minds of more than one novice tourist. Indeed, the importance of a correct and balanced food layout is difficult to overestimate. But first, it is important to understand by what criteria a mountain diet is selected and planned. After all, our health and well-being depend on it.

Calorie content of a day's ration on a hike

An ordinary man who leads a sedentary or moderately active lifestyle spends 2500-3000 Kcal per day, a woman - 2000 Kcal. In the mountains, this figure increases to 3500 Kcal for men and 2500 Kcal for women. It would seem that you will have to eat more and the food should be more satisfying. But in practice this is not always the case.

Muscles that are unaccustomed to stress require an additional influx of oxygen in order to completely break down sugar (glucose) in the blood and obtain energy for movement. If the muscles do not have enough oxygen, lactic acid is formed from sugar, which accumulates there. It is she who is responsible for pain after excessive strain (krepatura). To ensure sufficient oxygen supply, blood circulation increases in the working muscles. But the volume of human blood is a constant value and the more blood circulates in the legs and back, the less there is left for everything else. The digestive system is one of the first to suffer from this.

In practice, this means that it is not able to perform its functions fully, especially in the first days of trekking and during difficult transitions. Fatty heavy foods are not digested or absorbed normally. At the same time, the feeling of hunger is dulled.

This process is absolutely natural. If you don’t listen to your body and throw half a centner of food into it, the blood in the muscles will decrease and the next day the pain will intensify, but the food will still not be completely absorbed. But the sensations will not be forgotten;)

What does the body feed on in such situations? Uses reserve stocks.

>> Will you lose weight while hiking? Yes:). But not for long and for a couple of kilograms.

>> Did you know that climbers lose 14-16 kg while climbing Everest? If that sounds like a lot, here's another fact: to swim across the English Channel, swimmers burn 6-9 kg of fat.

When the tourist has “acclimatized”, gotten used to the movement and the weight of the backpack, the appetite returns (sometimes with a vengeance:). This takes 2-4 days. But the stress has not gone away and the digestive system still cannot effectively withstand heavy food. How to properly meet the body's needs?

What to eat on a hike

Carbohydrates- beloved friend and fellow tourist. They are easily and quickly absorbed, completely replenishing the need for energy. There are simple(or “quick”: sugar, chocolate, raisins, cookies, fruit...) and complex(oatmeal, multigrain biscuits, bran bread, brown rice...). Simple ones instantly release sugar into the blood, and complex ones break down for several hours, dulling the feeling of hunger. Some sources of carbohydrates weigh little, for which they are highly valued among tourists (oatmeal, cookies, biscuits, bread, raisins).

Squirrels- essential for muscle function. But you shouldn’t overdo it, because their excess leads to an increase in blood pH (acidity), which makes it more difficult to saturate it with oxygen. But tourists rarely get protein from meat because it is heavy and spoils quickly. An alternative is raw smoked sausages, dried meat (basturma, jamon) and legumes (peas, lentils).

Fats- it is better to use unsaturated ones (vegetables: nuts, seeds). Animal fats are almost not absorbed during physical activity.

Vitamins- are absolutely necessary for well-being and health maintenance. Vitamin C plays a special role, without which the immune, muscular and cardiovascular systems do not function normally. They are the ones who are exposed to the greatest stress during the hike. Every climber knows: the best cure for altitude sickness is sweet tea with lemon :).

Water plays an even more important role than food. It maintains blood pressure at a stable level and serves as a medium for all those violent chemical reactions that are triggered under stressful conditions. Without 2-3 liters of water a day, a trekker loses the ability to think soberly and assess the situation, and may even faint.

Diet variety

In addition to satisfying physiological needs, a person also has psychological ones - the desire to eat NOTsame thing every day. But, taking into account all the criteria, the list of tourist supplies turns out to be quite meager. Therefore, when planning a diet, they make up several options for dishes (for example, dinner: buckwheat with canned food, pasta with cheese and tuna, soup with lentils and sausages) and alternate them so that each is repeated as rarely as possible.

Cooking while camping

In nature, food is cooked over fires or burners. This must be taken into account when choosing products: if it rains or there is no firewood nearby (this happens in the highlands or at popular sites), it will not be possible to build a fire. In nature reserves, by the way, this is prohibited in any weather. The volume of gas and gasoline that fits in a backpack is quite limited. And who wants to cook, for example, peas for three hours after crossing? Therefore, for the trip they create a menu that is quick to prepare, and ideally you can just pour boiling water over it: oatmeal (yes, that again;), noodles, couscous, rice, buckwheat.

WITHmodern jet boilies(JETBOIL)or Reactors (MSRReactor) allow you to boil water in a matter of seconds with minimal weight of the gas cylinder and the equipment itself. Therefore, more and more climbers and experienced trekkers are choosing dishes that requireenoughmugs of boiling water.As they say: - Why drag more? ;)

Weight of food in the backpack

When we figured out what we need to eat and how to prepare it, the question arises: how to carry it all? Autonomous trekking trips can last up to two weeks and the entire layout will have to be purchased before the start. On a commercial trip, the optimal weight is 800-900g of food per person per day (~12 kg for 14 days). As you can see, it is physically impossible to go far with such a burden. We need to look for a compromise. Eating oatmeal alone is not an option: where can you get such important vitamins, proteins, unsaturated fats, and fast carbohydrates? A solution to this problem is offered by manufacturers of freeze-dried products, or sublimates in common parlance.

Sublimation

— This is the transition of a solid directly into a gaseous state (bypassing the liquid state). Freeze-dried food- those from which water has been removed by sublimation. First, the product is subjected to rapid deep freezing and then vacuum drying. In this case, cell walls and the vast majority of useful substances are not destroyed.

Freeze-Dried Foods: Pros and Cons

	Freeze-dried products	Classic layout
They weigh little
Prepare quickly
Useful
Varied
Do not spoil
Habitual
No need to wash dishes ;)

Are freeze-dried foods harmful?

There is an opinion that sublimates, if not harmful, are at least not as healthy as regular products. But think about this: Is instant oatmeal bad for you? Or maybe raisins and dried apricots are not healthy? Humanity has been drying and eating mushrooms, nuts, meat, seeds, medicinal herbs and even grape juice for centuries! If we are sick, the doctor advises us to drink uzvar - from dried fruits, mind you. It has been proven that freeze-drying food retains more nutrients, vitamins and minerals than drying it. This happens because the substances do not come out with water, and the process itself occurs without the use of high temperatures.

Berries: freeze-dried (left) and dried (right)

“Harm from sublimates” is more a reaction to innovation than a real fact.

Sublimates on hikes with Pohod V Gory

Considering the benefits, in our commercial tours we decided to include sublimates in the layout. Our instructors switched to them a long time ago ;).

We tried many sublimates from different companies and found decent dishes there.

The freeze-dried products produced to our order are distinguished by a balanced composition, a wide selection of options and excellent taste. Using only proven natural ingredients, we are confident that our dishes are safe and healthy for our customers.

Constantly By experimenting with interesting compositions, we are expanding the club’s menu as much as possible. Therefore, when hiking with Pohod V Gory, you definitely won’t get tired of the layout and won’t find it monotonous.

Our experience of communicating with tourists allows us to understand well what products people usually prefer in the mountains. The instructors' menu is the same as that of the group, so after the hike we and our producers listen to detailed reports;) What stimulates development and improvement.

Own production provides a real opportunity easily take into account the needs of vegetarians, vegans, children, people with chronic diseases, diabetics, and allergy sufferers. There are always appropriate bags for them :).

N Our sublimates are a mixture of dried ready-made dishes. Potatoes, noodles, some cereals, cheeses, mushrooms They are not sublimated, but dried after cooking.

Contains freeze-dried vegetables -green peas, sweet corn and similar foods that cannot be dried out.

For breakfast we have: sweet porridges (wheat with cranberries, corn with pumpkin, oatmeal with dates and cinnamon, with apples, nuts and dried fruits...)

Dry weight of a portion is 85g, yield is 200 ml. Calorie content: 400 - 500 Kcal.

Soups: chicken with noodles, peas, borscht with pork, lentils with mushrooms or chicken, buckwheat with meat or mushrooms(vegetarian). Each contains carrots, onions, herbs, and spices.

Dry serving weight: 55g. Yield: 350-370 ml. Calorie content - 220-320 Kcal.

On insecond:

• Pastas - vegetarian (with mushrooms, vegetables, with cheese and cream sauce) and meat (with chicken, meat);
• mashed potatoes with pork, potato pieces with meat and lean potatoes,
• buckwheat and rice with meat and/or vegetables;
• banosh with meat and cheese;
• porridge with mushrooms, vegetables and meat.
• Each bag contains carrots, onions, herbs and spices (pepper, basil, coriander, paprika).

Dry weight: 85g. Yield: 250 ml. Calorie content: 350-500 Kcal depending on the dish.

Three packets per day contain about 1500 Kcal. This is almost the full calorie norm for women and more than half for men (more hearty meals together give from 2000 Kcal).

>> The weight of the daily menu is 240-300g.

>> The weight of the daily menu with snacks is about 500-600g.

Much better than the classic layout with its 800-900g per person, isn’t it;).

And most importantly, you will always have a plate of delicious hot soup at hand, which will take a couple of minutes to prepare;).

PVG sublimates in Patagonia, the Carpathians, Madeira

Meal plan during the hike

We provide three meals a day. Thanks to sublimates, you will have hot dishes at every meal.

Approximate daily layout

Breakfast	Dinner	Dinner	Snacks
Sublimate (sweet porridge or main course) Tea, coffee Cookie Chocolate	Freeze-dried soup Crispbread or biscuits Hard cheese Sausage	Freeze-dried second course Cookie Chocolate	Mixed nuts and dried fruits Energy bars Oat bars candies

Let's diversify the hiking menu

If you think this menu is a bit boring, we will make you happy :). If possible, we always buy local products along the route and prepare “celebratory” dinners. We visit restaurants and cafes (the instructors know where it tastes best) and taste the delights of national cuisine.

Photos from our hikes in Norway (yes, the first))) and Uzbekistan

On the trail we collect berries, mushrooms, herbs, fruits (sometimes vegetables), we are treated to honey, homemade bread, (wine), cheeses on polonyny and other delicacies.

The mountains are by no means as harsh as is commonly believed. Especially if you know where to look for food. And we know;)

Believe me: with us NO ONE will go hungry!

Each of you will have a couple of dozen stories about how you cooked porridge “from an axe,” gnawed stones and did other things necessary to survive in the harsh mountain reality. This experience has probably toughened you up and taught you to make do with little, on the one hand, and to make full use of what you have at hand, on the other.
Our friends shared their finds in the field of mountain catering :)))
This is a post-invitation to tell in the comments what you have done!

I asked a few questions to people who know what an “expedition” is first-hand.

What usually forms the basis of your diet in the mountains?
- What tricks and life hacks have you developed over the years of harsh expedition experience?
- Are there any dishes that you prepare that are unusual for cooking in the mountains?
- And your favorite camping dish with recipe!

Alexander Gukov

(winner of the "Golden Ice Ax of Russia" and Piolets d'Or, as well as a lover of "shil")

I love buckwheat in the mountains. Lately we’ve been buying buckwheat in bags with already dried meat; I think it’s sold at Lenta; Lonchinsky is the chief buyer of it. Great product, very nutritious and tasty.

Before this winter’s trip to Kyrgyzstan, I read about how Sasha Ruchkin walked in his youth - including that in winter in Ala-Archa, or rather their women, they made dumplings, and they took them to climb. I took note. Of course, we had no one to sculpt, but in the supermarket we picked up a lot of them and, attention, there weren’t enough! They went with a bang. The main thing is not to defrost them during delivery to the camp. Otherwise, it’s difficult to break them later. But they cook quickly and eat deliciously.

Marina Kopteva

(Needs no introduction. “Steel Angel”, “Golden Ice Pick of Russia” and “Crystal Peak” speak for themselves. And also 35 days on the wall of Trango’s Big Tower! Now we’ll find out what he, Galya and Anya ate there!)

In recent years, our diet has been formed on the basis of sublimates. We either dry it ourselves or order it. Well, cheap vermicelli in briquettes;) the trick is the ability to endure hunger and at the same time maintain efficiency. Lately we have also been using sports nutrition.

BCAA with caffeine and vitamins. Snack – Snickers. I don’t cook at all in the mountains;) the maximum is to pour boiling water over something. Favorite dish: Irkutsk coffee! But the authors keep its recipe a secret!

Gleb Sokolov

(snow leopard, climber to the highest peaks in the world, has been to the top of Khan Tengri more than 30 times)

There are no such pickles or anything specific on my menu.
Every time, and this is while we are talking about acclimatization, we or I take (take) what is in the BC from what we want. For example, boiled potatoes for 2-3 times. Salted or fresh cucumbers to go with it. Several boiled or fried chicken legs, hard-boiled eggs.
Sausage, lard, and fish of various preparations are suitable as light snacks.
I don't like porridge. I've eaten for my life.
For tea - various sweets, jam from the camp assortment, all sorts of nuts and dried fruits.
For a snack, usually apples, peaches, etc.
During acclimatization, the appetite is poor, torn, like (in my opinion) that of pregnant women. I'm talking about South Inylchek now.

On the main ascent, the food selection is poorer and more specific.
These are MountHouse packages or similar ones. You can find it, albeit expensive. Same lard, better quality sausage, fish if available. Sublimates are desirable. Homemade stash from crushed lingonberries with sugar, pine cake, etc. In general, everything is like with people.

Among the life hacks there is nothing that will make your mind spin. The only chip is SPM-17.
High-quality military concentrate.
Replaces everything (but not all). Just drink water. Made in Novosibirsk on special order. But you can get it through Oleg Makarov, if the order is decent.

Definitely some more isotonic drinks. You can buy decent ones like Isostar from any store that sells proteins for jocks.

Many ascents are timed to coincide with some holiday. Then a bottle of champagne (this is May 9th) or good Chilean wine (this is Airborne Forces Day) greatly decorates the table (hehe!).
You just need to know when to stop. After all, we still have to go down...

I don't cook anything unusual. All food is semi-finished or ready-made meals, as close as possible to peaceful life.

The most favorite dish - as I wrote above - is boiled potatoes in their jackets with lightly salted cucumber, a piece of pink lard and 50 grams of White Crimean Massandra Port... And life becomes beautiful and painted with all the colors of the rainbow.

Mikhail Fomin

(another lover of lard and vitamins! How else can you go fast’n’light?)

The basis of my diet in the mountains is lard, of course, like all crests (:-)) And this is not a joke, this is the only element of the menu that we try not to cut too much in weight either during the acclem or on the mountain. But in general, we eat standard: sweet porridge in the morning, dried fruits or sports nutrition (gels, isotonics) in the afternoon, soup/borscht/porridge/potatoes with meat and lard in the evening, plus crackers and garlic. Everything dried/sublimated (except lard of course (:-)))

It’s unlikely that I’ll tell you any top secrets here, but here’s what we use:
- jelly is a very important thing, it’s a must for days, and sometimes we use it at school,
- 20 g of alcohol for two in hot tea before bed - warms the feet and helps to quickly fall asleep even on uncomfortable overnight stays
- don’t eat onions on the mountain, as they make you dry the next day (you’ll be thirsty); Garlic is better - it has just as many benefits, no downsides,
- for the day - vitamin bombs (lemon and dried apricots ground with honey).

We are lazy when it comes to cooking, so in the mountains we mostly cook only things that we simply pour boiling water over, or, in extreme cases, boil for 5 minutes :))

It's hard to say which dish is your favorite. On the Talung expedition, our favorites were buckwheat flakes with dried meat, cheese and lard. Plus 2 drops of creepy Nepalese spices (if there were three, it was impossible to eat :))

Yulia Kuznetsova

(parents are climbers, have been in the mountains since childhood - how many spoons of sugar do you put in your tea?! :-))

For me, as a partial vegetarian (milk, eggs, and fish are present in the diet), eating in the mountains is somewhat of a problem. You don’t want to carry 100 kilos of raw food with you, you might end up overextended. I want to move lightly, so I focus on light (in weight) and dry foods; in the morning before going up the mountain these are porridges like “Bistrov” (2,3,4 bags) + a sandwich with cheese (my comrades usually eat sausage) and tea with 8 tablespoons of sugar for a turbojet run up to the beginning of the route (but without exhaust gases!).

During the day, this is an endless light snack: small sour apples, oranges, chocolates, lollipops, sandwiches (some even with lard), water with zuka or turbo-yellow tablets from the pharmacy, which are not childish to stick in. But! If it is possible to stop for lunch, then we cook a light soup from instant noodles, eat sandwiches and drink hot tea.

For dinner there is already heavy artillery in the form of cereals (buckwheat, rice or egg pasta) + a jar of stew or dried meat for those who eat. I usually snatch the plate before someone’s remains + cheese (lard), onion-garlic, cognac, chocolate, tea with sugar, of course, fly into it.

Our chips:
- A vegetable dryer is a thing!! In one of the trips we used self-dried vegetables (tomatoes, herbs, leeks, peppers). When added to soup, they are practically indistinguishable from fresh ones (which cannot be said about store-bought sets), very tasty! The guys also dried the meat. Of course, it looks so-so, like powder, but it seems to give men strength.

Oranges on the route!!! Vitamin C gives strength, and the bright color of the peel is pleasing to the eye!! + saving water) 3 in one!
- Apples!!! If you add a couple to chocolates, it will be much healthier and tastier!
- Onions and garlic in the evening before bed! They increase the chances of an exhausted and frozen body not to get sick and continue to abuse itself tomorrow!
- Sugar!!! Girls who are losing weight, stop being stupid and eat everything in the mountains! And you will have more strength and a chance of not fainting from hunger and, again, glucose into the blood and carbohydrates. This way you can enjoy life in the mountains! On the plains I don’t eat it at all, but in the mountains I want and need it.

Competent catering on the route can be decisive for a successful climb or high-altitude trekking. Selecting foods for a balanced daily diet is as important as any other part of training, along with developing endurance, technical skills and specific equipment. To create a healthy mountain menu, you need to understand exactly how elevation gain and daily physical activity affect digestion and the organization of human nutrition.

Stay in the high mountain zone and decreased amount of oxygen in the air and blood lead to a number of negative factors for the digestive system: the absorption of nutrients, fats and liquids decreases, salivation decreases, and the activity of the glands slows down and deteriorates. All of the above changes ultimately cause digestive disorders, interfere with the proper absorption of food and lead to indigestion. These signs are especially characteristic of the first acclimatization days of climbing or trekking, when a person finds himself in conditions that are unusual for his body.

Calorie consumption, digestibility and energy value of food

During periods of daily stress and long journeys, significantly calorie consumption changes. The calorie consumption of the average man with a moderately active lifestyle is about 2500-3000 Kcal per day. A woman in an urban environment spends about 2000 Kcal. It is believed that in complete rest, the body of an adult consumes 1 kcal per hour per 1 kg of body weight to maintain general vital functions. Any movement requires additional energy, which increases calorie consumption. Thus, a person with a backpack of about 20 kg during an active climb uphill spends about 8 kcal per hour per 1 kg of body weight, which is about 500-600 kcal per hour, and on some parts of the route, on assault days, calorie consumption indicators can reach 6000-8000 kcal per day. Energy consumption also depends on a person’s physical fitness: the higher the endurance and muscle training, the less energy is consumed during active movement.

Given the increase in caloric expenditure, it is logical to assume that it is necessary to increase the frequency of meals and the caloric content of foods, but this is not the case. The thing is that during heavy climbs or climbing a peak, the body works at its limit and spends so much energy that there is little energy left for digesting food. The same situation is possible in the first days of acclimatization, when, in conditions of lack of oxygen, the body copes worse with filtering poisons and spends a lot of energy on normalizing the functioning of internal organs in new conditions. In such cases, it is much easier for the body to take energy from general reserves (fat deposits) rather than digest heavy food. During active assault days, it is recommended to increase the amount of easily digestible carbohydrates. The digestibility of food is determined by the energy received from digested food. Thus, the digestibility of sugar is about 99%, pure meat is 95%, and stewed meat is only about 30%. Here it is necessary to understand the food components on which the definition is based energy value certain products.

Proteins, Fats and Carbohydrates in the mountains

BJU (proteins, fats and carbohydrates)- the main components of food products necessary for the body to function normally. Each of the three elements has different digestibility and has its own functions, but it is extremely important to eat a balanced diet, combining all components together. The most common optimal BJU ratio is considered to be 1:1:4(5).

Squirrels- the main building material of the human body. They are part of all cells, tissues and organs. Proteins are divided into animal and vegetable. Animal proteins are more valuable for the body, are complete and contain essential amino acids. In mountain conditions, protein is necessary to normalize metabolism, but only in moderate quantities, since its excess can lead to increased acidity and difficulty in saturating the blood with oxygen. The product with the highest protein content is meat. Unfortunately, meat is a perishable product, quite heavy in weight and requires long cooking. Therefore, alternatives in camping conditions include dried and jerky meat (sudzhuk, basturma), raw smoked sausages and stewed meat. Processed or regular cheeses and milk powder are also resistant to transportation and relatively long-term storage. Lentils, beans and nuts are excellent sources of vegetable protein.

Fats- these are strategic reserves of the human body and one of the important components of a living cell, with the help of which it is easiest to restore strength after intense physical activity. During the oxidation of 1 gram of fats, 9 kcal are released, while during the oxidation of 1 gram of proteins or carbohydrates, only 4 kcal are released. Fat deposits are also the main mechanism for protecting the body from heat loss and are the main source of energy when the body weakens during illness or loss of appetite. Fatty acids themselves are divided into saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fats are obtained by the body from food of animal origin, unsaturated fats are obtained from plant foods. Animal fats are considered more nutritious and high in calories, but in mountainous conditions and with great physical activity, saturated fats are practically not digested, since sufficient amounts of oxygen are needed to break them down. That is why in the mountains it is best to give preference to vegetable fats, such as nuts and seeds.

Carbohydrates- the main source of energy in the mountains. Compared to proteins and fats, carbohydrates are the most digestible organic substances, consuming the least amount of oxygen in this process. During intense physical activity, muscles receive energy through the oxidation of sugar (carbohydrate) contained in the blood. When sugar levels drop to a certain level, a person’s performance decreases noticeably and a feeling of fatigue appears. To quickly restore strength in the mountains during difficult treks, the best solution would be sweet tea with lemon, since glucose is absorbed into the blood in the shortest possible time. According to their properties, carbohydrates are divided into simple (fast) and complex (slow). Fast carbohydrates used in the mountains include sugar, honey, jam, dried fruits, chocolate, and cookies. As slow carbohydrates, which release energy gradually during digestion, providing a long-lasting feeling of fullness, it is best to use oatmeal, rice, potatoes, pasta, biscuits, and nuts.

Maintaining water-salt balance

In everyday life, the human body releases about 3 liters of water, including evaporation through the skin and lungs. In the mountains, under conditions of strong solar radiation, temperature changes, high humidity and intense physical activity, this figure can increase to 10 liters per day, which can ultimately cause dehydration. That is why it is extremely It is important to monitor your water balance in the body. When passing difficult sections of the route in the high mountain zone, the amount of fluid consumed should be about 4 liters. Losing 5% of water from a person’s total body weight can reduce his performance by 50%. Among other things, sufficient water consumption promotes the removal of under-oxidized metabolic products that are formed as a result of a lack of oxygen.

Another important aspect is the quality of water and the presence of necessary salts in it, since with sweat a person loses not only liquid, but also useful minerals. Mountain water and melt water obtained by melting snow are not much different from distilled water, have practically no organic or inorganic impurities in their composition and in themselves help to wash out salts and calcium from the body. This water is good for tea and cooking. In the case of mountain water it is relevant use of isotonics- sports drinks or instant powders containing some salts, carbohydrates, minerals (potassium, magnesium) and vitamins. Isotonics also increase the absorption of water, thus, without the use of isotonics, the human stomach is able to absorb only about 200 grams of pure water, regardless of the amount of its consumption; isotonics can increase absorption up to 400 grams. In addition to isotonics, it would not be amiss taking a vitamin complex before and during going to the mountains.

Catering at our events

Our events include three types of catering for participants:

- camping meals throughout the program
Joint cooking by participants and guides. Meals are included in the base price. Available at the following events:

- meals in cafes, lodges and mountain shelters along the route
It is not included in the price of the event and is paid for by the participants themselves. Available at the following events:

- combined option
Nutrition on active lifting days. Meals in a cafe or in the kitchen of the base camp on days in the lowlands / in the city. Depending on the event, meals are included or paid for independently.Available at the following events:

The basic principle of nutrition in the mountains is that food should not only be nutritious, but also desirable, so that after a tiring trek, food will bring pleasure and satisfy the feeling of hunger. This principle implies a variety of diet and some variability in the mountain menu.

Standard camping food involves cooking hot food over fires or gas burners, depending on the type of camp. As a rule, the option of eating over a fire is only possible in base camps in the lowlands in dry weather conditions and if firewood is available. In other cases, in mountainous areas, a modern tourist is forced to resort to a gas burner. Our guides first calculate the required set of products for the group of participants and the number of gas cylinders for preparing tea and food. Food, gas and boilers are considered to be public equipment and are divided between group members, which is why it is very important to correctly plan the food layout, minimizing weight. You also need to understand that in most cases, breakfast and dinner are prepared in the camp, while lunch is forced to be replaced with a nutritious snack due to the organization during a short rest during the transition between camps.
As an example, here is a classic set of products and an approximate menu at our event “”:

- breakfast: rolled oats / instant oatmeal / muesli, powdered milk, condensed milk, cookies, sweets / kozinaki / halva, jam, raisins, tea, lemon, sugar.

-

- dinner: buckwheat flakes / pasta / instant puree, sauces, seasonings, stew / sausage, vegetable dressing, bread, cookies, jam, tea, lemon, sugar.

Freeze-dried food are food products that have been vacuum-freeze dried. This process involves the rapid freezing of food and subsequent vacuum drying, which can immediately convert the frozen water inside the food into steam. Thus, moisture is almost completely removed from the products, making them almost 10 times lighter compared to their original state. At the same time, freeze-dried products retain their color and beneficial properties, since their drying eliminated the heat treatment process. The advantages of sublimates are obvious: light weight, quick and easy preparation, variety of dishes, no need to use or wash dishes. Each package provides a complete meal and can contain more than 500 kcal depending on the chosen dish. We provide our participants with freeze-dried main meals for breakfast and dinner on high-altitude climbs and difficult sports routes. As an example, an approximate altitude menu on the ascent “ ” is given:

- breakfast: sublimate banana porridge / millet porridge with cranberries / oatmeal, cookies, jam, raisins, tea, lemon, sugar.

- snack: bread, dry-cured sausage, cheese, chocolate bars / kozinaki / sherbet, cookies, jam, tea, lemon, sugar.

- dinner: sublimate buckwheat with beef / risotto with mushrooms / pea soup with pork / navy pasta, bread, cookies, jam, tea, lemon, sugar.

For participants climbing in the Alps Several possible power options are provided. Considering the availability of comfortable mountain shelters on all Alpine routes, the most convenient option would be to order breakfast and dinner from the shelter’s kitchen. The cost of breakfast in the shelter cafe is about 15 euros, dinner - 30 euros. Some of the shelters include meals in the price of accommodation, such as the Hörnli shelter at the foot of the Matterhorn. A more budget-friendly camping food option is also possible. Each shelter has a special room for self-cooking, so that everyone can cook their favorite porridge in warmth and comfort. In case of self-catering, you must notify the instructor in advance, who will provide gas, a burner and a saucepan. Many of our participants prefer a trekking dinner option and a ready-made breakfast from local chefs to save time in the morning before climbing.

During climbing Kilimanjaro For any of the four routes presented, our team offers a combined meal option. During their stay in Moshi, participants eat in city cafes of local and European cuisine at their own expense. Already on the second day of the climbing program, the group leaves the city and enters Kilimanjaro National Park, beginning their journey to the top. Then, throughout their stay in the park, participants are provided with three full hot meals a day, which is included in the price of the ascent. Good catering is provided by a qualified local cook, who is part of the service staff of each group. We offer our participants a classic diet, including cereals, meat, fish, eggs, bread, vegetables and fresh fruits. Also, in addition to hot drinks and juices, all participants in our African climbs will always have clean drinking water available, which is extremely important for good health and a successful climb. We respect all our participants, trying to take into account long-term taste habits and forced restrictions. Therefore, upon prior request from the group coordinator, we offer vegetarian and dietary menus.

When I say “mountaineering”, I do not separate mountaineering, tourism, trekking in the mountains - these are all quite similar things, especially in terms of nutrition and water-salt regime. The layout of products is very individual and depends on a lot of factors: where we are going, for how long, with what group. Still, the difference is huge: we have a mountaineering trip for two days or a month-long hike. Well, the possibility of dropping off and purchasing groceries on the spot also changes the situation with the quantity of food and its quality.

About energy consumption

The questions “what to eat and drink”, as well as “how much to eat and drink” depend, firstly, on the climbing style. If you go Fast and Light, then speed is the determining factor, which means you will have to take light and compact products that you don’t have to cook, but pour boiling water over them. Secondly, the range of products depends on the characteristics of the group. As a rule, it always happens that someone does not eat meat, someone does not eat meat and fish, someone does not eat eggs, in general, there are always some peculiarities. This is not difficult if you know about it in advance.

Under normal conditions, a person living in a city spends from 2,000 to 3,500 kcal per day - this depends on age, weight, gender and lifestyle. But in the mountains the situation is completely different. There, on a normal, not difficult day, expenses can be 5,000-6,000 kcal. On a hard day, for example, on the day of climbing - getting up at 02:00, leaving at 04:00, 16 hours on the route, then going down, cooking and sleeping - this is 20 hours of vigorous activity, and energy expenditure can be 8,000- 12,000 kcal. This is 4-5 times more than in normal life.

About the calorie content of foods

You need to understand that the average caloric content of a normal person's diet in dry form is 300-350 kcal per 100 g. To compensate for energy losses in the amount of 6,000-10,000 kcal per day, we need to eat approximately 2,000 kg of dry food.

If my memory serves me right...

• Chocolate - 500 kcal per 100 g.
• Cereals - 300 kcal per 100 g.
• Stew - 200 kcal per 100 g.
• Lard - 800 kcal per 100 g.
• Sunflower oil - 900 kcal.

I know of only one expedition that could eat so much - it was Shparo’s expedition to the North Pole. They walked for about 50 days - that's 100 kg of food, plus equipment, plus gasoline. The output weight of their equipment had to exceed 200 kg per person - this is simply impossible. But once a week a plane flew to them and brought food and gasoline. Therefore, the story about 2 kg per day is only possible if food is periodically delivered to you from outside. All other expeditions are severely limited by weight. It is impossible to carry more than 800 grams of dry product per day. This amount of product gives us 3,200 kcal per day per person.

Conclusion: you will have to be undernourished on the hike, because it simply won’t be possible to bring enough food with you to offset the expenses.

What to do to make it good?

So, you have to live in conditions of malnutrition. If you are undernourished by 2,000 kcal per day, that is minus 200 g of your weight. Most of us, excluding very thin people and athletes, can easily lose 2-3 kg of weight with improved health, and 5-6 kg without any health problems. That is, the issue of malnutrition is not a matter of survival, physiology, energy, loss of strength - it is rather a matter of psychology. Because in addition to replenishing energy after going out, you need it to be tasty, pleasant, comfortable after eating and to have the feeling that you have eaten.

You can add high-calorie foods - lard, sunflower oil, chocolate - then a daily diet of 4,000 kcal will weigh 300 g. But it will be extremely tasteless, very unhealthy (fats are poorly absorbed in the mountains) and you will be very hungry. The feeling of hunger in us is caused by the absence of something in the stomach. Many people have tried this story - they drank a couple of glasses of water before meals, and then they needed much less food, because the stomach can be deceived by volume.

“Healthy” food or “plastic” porridge?

From the editor: Plastic porridge is porridge made from bags that does not need to be cooked.

In general, if you are going for a long time, then there can be no games with long cooking. Although somehow, in a completely incomprehensible way, we raised chicken breasts to a height of 5,400 meters and cooked them in sour cream sauce. We didn't have an autoclave, and I couldn't wait for the food to be ready: they cooked for two hours, but this rubber was inedible by the next morning. At a temperature of +80°C nothing is cooked at all.

Of course, it’s a great idea to cook meat and rice, but at altitude it takes a monstrous amount of effort, time, gas, you have to sit in the cold, and so on. Overall, it doesn't pay off in any way.

By the way, about cooking in tents. The advent of burners such as Jetboil and others like them, with radiators that save fuel and cook quickly, led, unfortunately, to many accidents - both in our mountains and in the mountains of neighboring and not so neighboring countries. In Russia last year there were 5 or 6 cases of poisoning from combustion products (carbon monoxide) - because people were cooking in tents. Remember, even with modern burners you cannot cook in a tent or under an awning. This is written in large letters on every burner, but for some reason people still die.

Total: In order to cook quickly and not carry extra weight, you will have to cook plastic porridge. And the best one is one that doesn’t need to be cooked.

Veganism, vegetarianism or meat-eating?

Of course, it is everyone’s personal choice to eat or not eat meat. If a person warned the group in advance, then this is not a problem at all. Problems may arise if you are expected to have a long period of heavy physical activity (5-10 days in a row, 10-12 hours of work) - in my experience, people who do not eat meat get tired faster and recover slower. Even excellent athletes who do not eat animal protein can work 4 days at maximum, but they need another 4 days to recover. And if 15 days of hard work await you, be prepared that most likely your body will suddenly demand meat and you will have to eat it. We've seen this a couple of times.

Which food is better - tasty or high-calorie?

High-calorie food is, I repeat, chocolate, lard, sunflower oil. Everything is extremely tasteless, unhealthy and poorly digestible. Calorie content is largely a conditional thing; it is the energy that is released when a specific product is burned. That is, there is a chemical reaction, but the question is how this product is absorbed. Sunflower oil, for example, is not absorbed in any way. Fat at altitude is also almost not digestible - in order to digest a large amount of fat, you need a lot of oxygen, and at altitude, especially in the first days of the hike, there is an acute lack of it and altitude sickness. And lard in this case becomes simply a tasty food (for those who love it), but not an energy product.

Hence the conclusion: It is impossible to bring enough food with you to completely replenish the energy expended. An attempt to do this will lead to the fact that you will eat little and taste bad - and this will create serious psychological discomfort in the team. When, after a day of walking, two pieces of chocolate and a few pieces of lard fall into your mouth and you wash it all down with some sweet-fatty product, your stomach remains empty, the feeling of hunger does not go away, and besides, it was tasteless. And then people start creating problems. It is better to eat less calorie food, but there should be a lot of it and it should be tasty.

Regarding lard and fats. It is clear that they are very high in calories. But probably many of you have encountered a disease called “travelers' diarrhea” - an upset stomach. We will definitely encounter this problem in a person who climbs high mountains, above 4,000 meters. People climbing Elbrus have constant problems. This is compounded by poor acclimatization and too rapid ascent. So they rise to a height of 4,000 meters, the body is in the phase of acute mountain sickness, there is not enough oxygen, the body sends it to the brain, heart and lungs, the rest goes to the muscles, but the stomach and intestines get nothing. And trying to eat fatty foods when there is no blood, no oxygen, no energy in the stomach and intestines is a transfer of foods.

A short summary:

In short outings, you may not fully recover lost energy - this is normal. You can throw in energy bars. The taste of food and its volume are more important than its calorie content. On long hikes (more than two weeks without a descent into civilization and the option of drop-offs), energy bars will not save you. You will have to consider the layout, including from the point of view of nutritional value. It must contain proteins and fats - both of these components contain amino acids, thanks to which the body functions normally. There are no amino acids in carbohydrates.

About drinking regime in the mountains

A person can live 30 days without food. Without water - 3-5 days depending on external conditions.

In Soviet times, for example, such an experiment was carried out. You find yourself without food in the taiga in the summer. There are mushrooms, berries, and some fish are caught. It's a 10-day walk to civilization. What are your actions?

All normal people chose the option of picking mushrooms and berries, fishing, eating and walking. But, as it turned out, this is a rather erroneous story. You can’t fool mathematics: to collect berries and mushrooms, catch fish, kill game, if you don’t have a gun, it will take so much time and energy that a person has to collect food for two days and walk for one day. And a ten-day trip to civilization turns into a thirty-day one. And this is three times the risk of injury, bad weather, illness, and so on. And if you walk for ten days, don’t eat and just drink water, it will benefit almost anyone. The main thing that you shouldn’t do in this situation, and this is a very interesting story, is that you shouldn’t pick the berries and put them in your mouth while walking.

The body has two different modes:

starvation; malnutrition.

When a person is starving, it is difficult for the first 2-3 days, then the body understands that they will not feed, and begins to spend resources very sparingly. And after that you can work quite intensively for another two weeks in complete fasting mode, at 60% of full strength.

And if you put a berry in your mouth, the body sees the arrival of food, is in malnutrition mode and becomes weak for 4-5 days. You are deceiving the body, but the calorie content of berries and mushrooms is almost zero. 2,000 kcal of berries, for example, is a bucket. And even if you eat a bucket of blueberries, you won’t go anywhere for the next two days - you’ll sit under a bush, which won’t add to your health either.

So, a person can go without eating for a long time, but he can’t go without drinking for a long time.

The dangers of “pure mountain water”

I'll start with “clean mountain water”. The statistics are cruel: a person who drinks such water for a month doubles the risk of fractures. It simply flushes calcium from the body. “Pure mountain water” is practically distilled. You can drink a lot of it, it does not contain salts, and itself flushes salts from the body. It's impossible for her to get drunk. General recommendation: drink it in tea, add isotonics, mix with juice or mineral water - whatever you like, just not in its pure form. The problem is at high altitudes or in winter when you melt water from snow. Melt water is also distilled. You can drink a lot of it, your stomach will gurgle, but in fact the feeling of thirst will remain.

To drink or not to drink?

One of the unpleasant stories of the highlands is the feeling that in the cold you don’t seem to want to drink. For example, you spend the night at 4,500 meters in the summer on Elbrus: it’s cold at night, it’s not hot during the day, the weather is not very good, you don’t feel like drinking - and you don’t drink. There was a tragic story on this topic in 2006. A tourist group decided to go to Elbrus for the May holidays. The participants did not know each other, there were problems with the organization, with the tents, with the burner - in short, a complete mess. We arrived in Terskol and got ready. The first overnight stay is 3,000 meters, the second is a little over 4,000 meters, the third is 5,300 meters. We walked from the west, went to the Mir station, to the Khotyu-tau pass, and spent the night on the top of the Dome. The third day with heavy backpacks from below at 5,000 meters, then bad weather, two days of forced sitting in tents, almost without moving, then a window in the weather and an attempt to get out, a squall, a couple of tents flew away during the assembly process. Then for another day and a half everyone was in the remaining two tents, sitting instead of lying down, then again there was a window in the weather, and shouting to the rescuers, everyone ran away in different directions. One girl died and one boy spent the night in a sleeping bag in a crack, but got out alive. All of them suffered very hard from altitude sickness, everyone felt very bad. And when they started to find out why and how, it turned out that during those three and a half days that they sat at 5,300 meters, they only made tea three times. It was cold, there was nothing to do, it was hard to move, it was burning. Well, we drank maybe three cups of tea the whole time. But at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters in the cold, breathing is frequent, and the lungs are 10 m² of mucous membrane that secretes water. You don’t sweat, you don’t make active movements, but at altitude, even lying down, you breathe quickly. Breathing takes up a lot of water. And people become severely dehydrated, which worsens altitude sickness. And this, in turn, leads to the fact that it is difficult for a person to move, he cooks food less often, and drinks water. Such a vicious circle.

Surely everyone has heard the phrase regarding moving uphill and, in general, any long movement or running - “You need to rest before you get tired”. Because when you already feel very tired, it will take a long time to recover. The situation with water is exactly the same. You need to drink constantly, little by little, and before extreme thirst begins to choke you. If you feel very thirsty, it means that everything is already very bad. The loss of 5% of moisture in the body leads to a decrease in performance by 50%. What is 5%? For simplicity: if a person weighs 100 kg, this is a loss of 2 liters of water. You can drink a lot of water, but the stomach can absorb (translate water into the blood) 200 g of pure water per hour. The water that is hanging out in the stomach is just hanging out in the stomach. And at the same time, you can lose 2 liters per hour. A very sad story. That is, if you don’t drink for a long time, recovery will take a huge amount of time. To prevent this from happening, you need to drink constantly, a good schedule is 100 g every 15 minutes. And it’s great if it’s not pure water, but an isotonic drink. The simplest and most accessible to us is rehydron. You can go to the pharmacy, buy a few sachets and try drinking it. Very tasteless, fantastically simple! There are isotonic drinks that are produced on an industrial scale - dry, liquid, tablets, whatever. In general, this is the same set of salts - potassium, magnesium, which we lose through sweat.

There are two stories with isotonics:

First: they restore the set of salts in the body. Second: salted water is absorbed twice as well by the stomach. That is, if you drink isotonic drinks, the stomach can absorb not 200 g per hour, but 400 g.

In normal life, a person needs about 2.5 liters of water per day for normal activities. Of this, he drinks a liter of water itself, the rest is obtained from food, the breakdown of fats and everything else.

On an active day in the mountains, water loss can be up to 10 liters. And these expenses are comparable to ultramarathons. Marathon runners drink 100 g, but constantly. In general, the physiology of mountaineering, hiking and marathon running is very similar.

Let's summarize. You need to drink:

often (every 15 minutes); regularly; little by little; not melt water, but better isotonic drinks.

Physiology of sports loads and construction of a training plan

Should you drink while driving or wait until you stop?

When I started going to the mountains, I was taught that you shouldn’t drink water while moving, because if you drink too much, you’ll damage your heart and everything else. At that time, this story seemed dubious to me, but authority prevailed, and we only drank at rest stops. This basically works if you walk in short bursts of 30 minutes. Nowadays we often walk not by the clock, but by our feelings. That is, if the terrain allows us to walk for two hours, then we walk for two hours. But if you don’t drink all this time while moving uphill, then this is guaranteed severe dehydration with a very long recovery of several hours.

You can drink regularly if the bottle is hanging on your shoulder. Or if you use drinking systems - it’s a good and efficient thing. They, of course, have disadvantages - in winter, the pipes of almost all systems freeze. But there is a life hack: if you drink water, blow out the tube. This way the water will go back into the container and not freeze.