GORP should have no place in your mountaineering Essentials!

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Here are the test answers

What's wrong with GORP?

GORP is a traditional mix of "Good Old Raisins and Peanuts", (often called "trial mix" with the addition of M&Ms and more fancy nuts and fruits that are often cooked in oil, rather than dried -check the required label on those banana chips). Gorp and trail mix are know as "high calorie" food.

Well, traditional mountaineers have enquiring minds and keep up with "new" information on sports nutrition for endurance athletes. They learn about high performance nutrition from long distance runners and bicycle racers, tri-athletes and adventure racers and our military. These endurance athletes do not eat GORP during training or during the long event.

What's "wrong" is that GORP and "trail mix" primarily provide calories from FAT. We need to replace the carbohydrate calories that our muscles burn, not the fat calories.

Endurance athletes have understood for years that glycogen and fat together, burned in the presence of oxygen, fuel the contraction of our major muscles. Fat by itself is a very inefficient fuel and endurance activity (while possible at a much reduced level), is severely limited.

We all wear plenty of fat; some folks carry several months supply of fat. OK, then were are the carbohydrates stored in our bodies? Carbohydrates are stored inside our working muscles in the form of strings of glycogen molecules.

We can not store (in our big muscles) the carbohydrates needed in the form of muscle glycogen to keep us from "hitting the wall" or "bonking" and grinding to a halt. We need to replace our glycogen stores as we do our endurance work. People say, "but, my body is different" and we say, "wow, are you more like a cow or horse than a human"? Muscle metabolism in trained humans has been well understood for years. Read Covert Bailey's "Fit or Fat" for a thorough but simple explanation of why you need to replace carbohydrates during a long climb or adventure race. Or read the latest articles on bonking in Runner's World, Trail Runner, etc.

Carbos are easy to swallow and to digest. Examples are ClifBars, ClifShots, Fig Newtons and the like. (It is helpful to have a bit of protein with the carbos to smooth out the process. Google this out on the web for yourself.)

A climber who stuffs down 200 fat rich calories of GORP per hour may be getting only 50 calories of needed carbohydrates!

Studies show the endurance athlete should consume about 200 calories of carbohydrates per hour. The climber who fails to eat his carbs may bonk after a few hours, and have to stop or become a slow danger to himself and his companions on the mountain. Marathon runners who do not eat or drink simple carbohydrates during the race often "run out of gas" or "bonk" at 20 miles, cyclists often start to bonk when their stored glycogen is depleted at about 80 miles on a Century ride.

See how up to date you are in the modern science of sports nutrition! Take this little test. (You can print the test and then compare your results with the answers linked above.)

Here's the test, print it out and fill in the blanks!

NAME THE THREE PRIMARY FOODS CONSUMED BY HUMANS
1.
2.
3.
NAME THE TWO PRIMARY ENERGY FUELS USED IN MUSCLE CONTRACTION
1.
2.
DURING A REASONABLY WELL TRAINED MOUNTAINEER'S SIX HOUR HIGH LEVEL AEROBIC CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT HOOD, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF EACH OF THESE FUELS WOULD BE BURNED BY THE MUSCLES?
1.
2.
WHICH OF THESE TWO PRIMARY FUELS MAY RUN OUT DURING THIS CLIMB?
1.
ASSUMING THAT THIS CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT OF MT HOOD WILL REQUIRE THE EXPENDITURE OF 3,000 CALORIES ABOVE OUR CLIMBER'S NORMAL DAILY EXPENDITURE OF 3,000, HOW MANY CALORIES OF CARBOHYDRATE SHOULD BE REPLACED (INGESTED) EACH HALF HOUR AFTER THE FIRST HALF HOUR? SHOW YOUR WORK.
1.

WOULD COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES OR WOULD SIMPLE SUGARS BEST FUEL THIS CLIMBER'S SIX HOUR CONTINUING HIGH LEVEL AEROBIC EFFORT? WHY?
1.
2.
WHAT’S THIS ABOUT INGESTING PROTEIN WITH YOUR CARBOS?
1.
WHAT'S WRONG WITH USING PEANUTS AND M&M'S, SWISS CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE, TO FUEL THIS SIX HOUR SUMMIT ATTEMPT?
1.
GIVE AT LEAST TWO REASONS WHY IT IS NECESSARY TO HYDRATE EACH HALF HOUR DURING THIS SIX HOUR CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT
1.
2.
ASSUMING A 1AM START IN JULY, HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD OUR CLIMBER CARRY? HOW MUCH WOULD THIS WATER WEIGH?
1.
2.
CAN FAT BE CONVERTED TO GLYCOGEN (SUGAR)?
1.
IS THE CONVERSION OF PROTEIN (MUSCLE) TO GLYCOGEN AN EFFICIENT PROCESS?
1.
HOW MANY CALORIES OF ENERGY ARE CONTAINED IN A POUND OF FAT?
1.
IF OUR CLIMBER ATE NO FAT, HOW MUCH FAT WEIGHT WOULD HE LOSE?
1.