Whether you casually or intensely backcountry ski, it is a highly demanding sport. While the touring culture promotes excellence in performance and safety, nutrition considerations are often ignored. As a performance nutritionist and ski coach, I’m keen to educate the community to optimally fuel our time in the skintrack to better equip us for the…
Nutrition Demands for Ski Touring Performance and Safety
Packing some dense real food snacks is paramount to a good time in the alpine. Sawtooth Mountain Range, Idaho. Photo: Jackson Long
Responses
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What’s your jet fuel (overnight oat) recipe pictured? …that looks delicious.
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I typically prefer cooked oats in the cold winter, so just do about a cup of dry rolled oats cooked with water + soymilk, and frozen blueberries. Top with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanut butter, cinnamon, maple syrup, and chopped apple.
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Jackson, great article. Appreciate the insight and ideas, specificially to cognitive operation. I’ve been flirting with the idea of integrating powdered calories as a supplemental fuel for longer forays, e.g., multiday traverses, as a way to reduce weight/calorie. Thinking along the lines of Hammer Perpetum, Kachava, Athletctic Greens, etc. I realize these different brands have different target fuel objectives, but interested on your take/reccomendation, if any, on utilizing powdered calories to supplement “food” intake during days long movement.
Cheers.
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Hey, thanks for reading Brian. I think powdered “calories” for sure have their place, especially ones with additional micronutrients and higher protein during long traverses, multi-day missions, or objectives that require gram counting. However, like most supplements, these products are generally pretty overhyped, and real food is preferred. I would aim for products that are pretty high in calories first and foremost, as energy availability is the primary goal for outdoor activity. Athletic Greens and similar products may be pretty nutrient-rich, but are low in energy and are a glorified multivitamin that are often marketed intentionally to be low-calorie. I would for sure grab something like Kachava or Kyoku and maybe add some extra carbs in the form of Maurten or the Skratch high-carb mix for getting the most energy density. Hope that helps!
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