Hello I saw your post and thought I would throw in my two cents.
#1 I am a climber wanna-be, I live in Texas so my climbs have mostly been walk ups in Colorado and would love to do what you guys do on a weekend. My hat is off to you. That being said I do however have degrees in Kinesiology and I am a IORNMAN competitor as well as a Cat 1 road cyclist and expert mountain bike racer.
So you can rest assured what I am going to say not only comes from experience in the lab but also in the field.
Does Creatine work?
Yes it does it works by increasing the bodies naturally ATP-PC cycle which is at the cellular or Mitochondria level. This is the cycle which gives muscles the ability to do anaerobic work. It is a process that naturally occurs when a muscle tissue fires a response to stimuli. It will increase both strength and size of the muscle based on the theory of recruitment. Would being stronger help climbing? Yes without question but at what cost and here is the Con side of the equation.
Creatine also has an extreme dehydration effect on the cell and the cellular composition. You have to stay extremely hydrated if you’re using it or you will cramp up in the worst way. I have had terrible cramps first hand and have witnessed it many times in races. I know that dehydration can cause many problems with altitude and frost bite and would not think that the minor advantages of using it within a short time frame of an expedition would be worth the risk.
Now that being said if you were to use the product for training and then cycle off of it before a climb I would think that could be done effectively. But my bottom line would be to eat right get lots of sleep drink plenty of fluids and go like hell in your workouts.
I hope this is helpful to you.
