Expedition/Alaska Food

[forrest_m]

i know that some people get really obsessive about the food, and like to arrive on the glacier with 26 days worth of meals individually bagged and labelled, but that's not my style. anyway, plans always seem to change, as long as you can break out some lighter weight "climbing meals" out of your food supply, you're golden.

 

for me, the key to happy base camp living is to not plan too much ahead, just bring a lot of different stuff and improvise. it's hard to go wrong by combing a starch (instant potatoes, instant polenta, rice, instant beans, whatever) with a sauce and some protein (cheese and/or meat/fish). hit the bulk section of the fred meyer in anchorage and let your imagination run wild. (better to spend $50 on food that you don't eat than to eat the same thing for 8 days straight.)

 

bring a lot of different stuff for variety. it's always fun to try to reproduce a restaurant meal in camp - a good way to kill time on bad weather days. we once spent about 6 hours trying to make tortillas from corn flour and water, worked pretty well but required a lot of trial and error before we got the consistancy right!

 

i second (fourth?) the tasty bites. mix w/couscous and wrap in a tortilla = yum + easy clean up. too heavy to carry beyond the landing strip, though.

 

another big favorite is to mix 2/3 couscous with 1/3 grated parmesan cheese. add salt & curry powder and you get tons of energy and virtually no cooking time. also good with a small envelope of tuna or some other meat thing.

 

i had really good luck this summer with some of those "easy thai" meals you can buy in the supermarket. time consuming to make and a bit fuel intensive (you have to boil AND fry), but in base camp neither is really a big concern.

 

for lightweight climbing meals, crush 4 top ramen packets into a sandwich-sized ziplock with some TVP or protien powder. add all the flavor packs. not gourmet, but 1000+ calories each and very light & compact. chase it with a 600 calorie halvah bar and you're in twight heaven. (i can only stomach this diet for a few days, but it sure is packable)

[griz]

He should bring a bunch of frickin' hot dogs and stuff them deep in the snow til the end of the trip and then when everyone is beat to shit, dreaming of beer and pizza and heading back to the BC area...tell them about the hot dogs waiting in base camp. Sounds stupid but in reality it's amazing how ,after 2 weeks of deprivation, that will put a grin on your team's face and start the drool flowing... Put some buns in tupperware things to avoid hopeless mangling too. Don't forget to toast'em (the buns,that is) over your dragonfly.

I'm guessing guy is getting dumped via bush plane otherwise maybe not...

Double Stuff Oreo's kind of kick ass, too.

[Alpinfox]

Double Stuff Oreo's kind of kick ass, too.

 

MMMmmm..... Transfattyacids.....

[Figger_Eight]

I can't stress enough how good bacon tastes in Alaska.

 

That and peanut butter.

 

Don't forget the Mac and Cheese - fluff it up with potato buds.

 

Squid is right on with the pudding.

 

But whatever he tells you...leave the olive oil at home.

[Squid]

...leave the olive oil at home.

 

you promised not to talk about that

 

[Figger_Eight]

No...I promised not to talk about the blow-up doll you packed in your sled...

 

ooops - DOH!

[STORER]

Couple plastic jars of Nutella and some Clif Bars. Oat meal is a good meal when you get out of the backcountry. It always frezzes for me if it's super cold out.

 

Steve

[swaterfall]

If you get a dehydrator you can make your own jerky from ground beef, turkey or buffalo. Peanut butter is also a good source of calories and fat.

[lummox]

'survival gun' and plenty ammo. aint you ever read 'into the wild'?

[ryland_moore]

Figger Eight recs. Peanut Butter, which is awesome, but will freeze solide and really only be good for ice bowling on the glacier. If you can keep it from freezing (sleeping with it) then it is nice to have.

 

As others mentioned, variety is KEY! Also, with a pressure cooker, you will save so much gas that the minimal increase in the cooker is well worth the weight on an expedition compared with the additional fuel required without it. My two cents.

[Jedi]

A flask of good scotch and a box of Krispy Creames should get any true mountaineer through the toughest month long expeditions. If not, ye'r not worth ye'r salt

 

You guys have had a couple ideas I will give a try

 

Forrest, I am assuming Top Ramin is like most. Around these here parts, the brand at my grocery store is 3oz a packet at 380 cal's. You guys eating 4 of theses? What is TVP?

 

You know the tuna in the (foil) bag has been out for a few years. Now chicken. The local Walmart has 10oz bags of hamburger. Just tear open and heat. Looks like taco's at base camp this year! Thinking about trying the hot dog thing. I assume they would stay frozen if buried.

[Squid]

TVP= Toxic Vapor Protein (or something close). Its what you put in your food if you want privacy in your tent that night.

 

Tuna-in-a-bag works pretty well, if you're into that sort of thing.

 

I'd recommend a sturdy shovel and no food at all. I had remarkably good luck finiding misplaced food all along the West Butt trail...just find a mound of snow and start digging. Sometimes people would even forget their team flag, too. That made it sooo easy. Silly people .

[specialed]

Butter.

[rbw1966]

Peanut butter in the squeeze tube. Dont even bother with a jar--plastic or not. As Ryland noted, it will freeze solid.

 

You can scavenge food from people leaving the glacier too. They dont want to haul that shit around and you have the privilege of being picky too.