Food on the hill

[Smatty]

Hi everyone!
I’m looking for ideas to feed myself during long days on the hill, plus during the hour drive back home.

The ole cold sandwich and thermos waiting for me in the car just doesn’t suffice.
Cafeteria food is not sustainable (Whistler/BC).

Ideally high in protein, warm.

Thanks for any input!

 

[snoWYmonkey]

I survived the pandemic by bringing homemade Ramen or soup in a quality thermos as it all stayed in my car during the morning. For snacks I lean towards nuts, jerky or veggies like carrots or celery that are safe to eat while driving. My nemesis is the bag of salty and carb loaded anything that I devour in a mindless fog on the drive home.

I never did stews but they would work well in a shallow wide mouth thermos as well for lunch.

Not sure if you mean meals that fit in a jacket while skiing though? That's tougher. Homemade nori rolls or rice paper rolls are OK but I agree with the cold part. Meh...

 

[Smatty]

I survived the pandemic by bringing homemade Ramen or soup in a quality thermos as it all stayed in my car during the morning. For snacks I lean towards nuts, jerky or veggies like carrots or celery that are safe to eat while driving. My nemesis is the bag of salty and carb loaded anything that I devour in a mindless fog on the drive home.

I never did stews but they would work well in a shallow wide mouth thermos as well for lunch.

Not sure if you mean meals that fit in a jacket while skiing though? That's tougher. Homemade nori rolls or rice paper rolls are OK but I agree with the cold part. Meh...

Thanks for your reply!
I’m looking for inspiration for both. Snacks in the pocket, a proper lunch on the hill.

I tend to feel absolutely exhausted and tired the moment I get in the car. My suspicion is the lack of nutrition and fluids during the day is making things worse than they should be.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

From a medical perspective I know that the carbs are critical if you're really cold at the end of the day, but I also know that the protein will keep you energized for the drive. I wonder if a good dose of fat for lunch will help you energy wise? I personally don't end up hydrating very much because I can't take breaks when I need to because of the work. I look forward to seeing what everybody else does.

 

[Christy]

Whistler is extra tough as there's no place to stash anything on mountain or in a base lodge (what base lodge?. And if you've driven, your car sure is not convenient, it takes forever to get down then back up. Instead of leaving your sandwich in the car can you put it in a pocket? That's what I do. I'll also do a Peanut Butter Clif Bar, which is the only bar I can stomach. It's not hot, but I don't know how you pull off hot there.

 

[Smatty]

From a medical perspective I know that the carbs are critical if you're really cold at the end of the day, but I also know that the protein will keep you energized for the drive. I wonder if a good dose of fat for lunch will help you energy wise? I personally don't end up hydrating very much because I can't take breaks when I need to because of the work. I look forward to seeing what everybody else does.

I certainly need more food than what I have been doing.
Lack of fluids is huge! This summer I’ve been practicing with the P style, hopefully that’ll increase my propensity to drink when skiing.

 

[AJM]

I have the same issue when hiking not so much skiing as I can park the car close to the base and refuel from there. One of the best tips I got from was from this very forum and that was PB&J sandwiches with 2 layers of PB sandwiching a layer of J inbetween to avoid them going soggy. Whenever I've skied at W/BC I've always had nut bars or something similar in my pocket along with chocolate or actual nuts just to keep me going although we did spend an exorbitant amount on food on the hill(s) as well. I'm still trying to find the magic formula but I have found if I have a high protein breakfast such as eggs it helps immensely and I'll often eat a protein bar enroute as well.

 

[Jilly]

Does your pass give you any discount on food? I'm at Tremblant and yes, food at the top is $$. But my Ikon plus the Tremblant benefit pass gives me 15% off non packaged food. So I usually grab a soup, roll and butter. Add in the sandwich out of my pocket and a glass of water. They have a fountain on the way to the upper level washrooms that has the bottle refill station. I have a collapsible cup I picked up at SAIL. I don't want to have a bottle in my pocket.

I also have carried a nut butter bar. Some bars just get too cold to bite into.

My Tremblant benefit also gives me 20 prepaid hot chocolates or coffee - any size.

 

[SallyCat]

If you have access to hot water in the lodge, you could do camping meals. You could also get a little bag cozy and make your own meals that you can rehydrate/reheat--look on backpacking sites for ideas. PackItGormet has a cool little packet called "ramen rescue" that lets you add veggies and/or chicken to your noodles, and then a big selection of freeze-dried groceries including protein.

If a parking lot is handy you could use a campstove or JetBoil at your car. But if you can get hot tea water in the lodge, you could easily carry the food and a fork/spoon in your pocket.

 

[wernerslab]

Last year I saw some woman in the lift line grab a foil wrapped bagel sandwich from her pocket and start munching. I must have been hungry bc I thought it looked so delicious and the next time at the hill, I put half an egg, ham, cheese bagel sandwich in foil in my jacket having eaten the other half on the way to the slopes. It was delicious even cold and ate it when I was waiting for my snowboard son to walk himself across the flat area and get himself strapped back in. Mood changer for me. The bagel doesn’t get too mushy as I dislike mushed bread sandwiches. I like Kind mini’s in my inside pockets. They get cold but not frozen (yet anyway) and have a good balance of sugar, fat and protein to keep me satisfied for a while.

 

[racetiger]

I ski in small resorts where its easy to get to the car.
I start by eating a big breakfast at home though.
For liquids I take a big thermos of hot water, my small thermos of coffee or a Monster depending on the mood, another bottle with whey Protein shake. Food is the standard PBJ with the jelly in the middle between the PB on that thick heavy whole wheat Brownberry bread, carrots or some other easy veggie, an apple/banana maybe a packet of ramen too. I always keep a big bag of the Great value Omega 3 trailmix (its 80% nuts and the rest is cranberries) and a couple Clif bars in the car at all times. If I'm at an event or something where I won't be able to get to the car easily I'll carry some of that stuff in a small backpack and stash it somewhere if I dont feel like wearing it.
Park days are easy, just stash the bag up top. If not doing park laps then I'll keep a Peanut Butter based clif bar (those dont seem to freeze) or even a small Snickers/Almond Joy in my jacket pocket.
I like that idea for a bagel in the pocket, for those quick absorbing carbs. Haven't thought of that since I don't do white breads much but in the instance of skiing thats would be a worthy situation for them! Im getting hungry now.

 

[Kimmyt]

Last year I saw some woman in the lift line grab a foil wrapped bagel sandwich from her pocket and start munching. I must have been hungry bc I thought it looked so delicious and the next time at the hill, I put half an egg, ham, cheese bagel sandwich in foil in my jacket having eaten the other half on the way to the slopes. It was delicious even cold and ate it when I was waiting for my snowboard son to walk himself across the flat area and get himself strapped back in. Mood changer for me. The bagel doesn’t get too mushy as I dislike mushed bread sandwiches. I like Kind mini’s in my inside pockets. They get cold but not frozen (yet anyway) and have a good balance of sugar, fat and protein to keep me satisfied for a while.

I like to do this, I buy or make a bagel sandwich in the morning and wrap it in foil. Eat half on the way to the hill and then put the other half in my pocket. I don't even mind if its cold, it still tastes good. For other sports I like to keep a flatpack of tuna in my pack, my favorite is the thai chili flavored ones. I like these for summitting peaks because the strong flavors convey themselves well when its cold and you are at high altitude. I eat it straight out of the pouch but on backpacking trips have put it on a tortilla. I dont know if it would freeze while skiing, but this thread reminded me and maybe I will try it this ski season. Often I just ski a half day so stick a small cooler in the car with a lunchmeat sandwich on it and then eat before driving home.

My good friend and ski bud skis with pocket bacon and sometimes if I'm lucky she shares.

 

[brooksnow]

pocket bacon

Pocket bacon!

 

[scandium]

For on the hill, I am a fan of some sort of compressed bite size nutrition (trail mix, sour sweets, chocolate almonds, dried fruit, protein bar, beef jerky, etc) plus carrot sticks which are helpfully slightly hydrating. I don't always carry "lunch food" if I have had a decent breakfast and am expecting to be leaving the mountain by 4pm for an early dinner, but have previously done bakery food like a cold quiche/frittata type thing, soups/add hot water meals if I have access, and have also done not-quite-charcuterie board with salami sticks, fancy cheese and crackers, but you do need a pocket knife or to take a soft cheese. I also carry a 600mL soft flask, with the long straw if I'm wearing my run vest or without if it's in a large inner pocket, and may start with sports drink or electrolytes in that flask if I don't have a lot of salt in my snacks.

In the car on the way home: crisps and sweets if I am driving, sometimes more cheese and crackers if not. I typically don't have hot drinks on the way down and also don't like cold bread! Pastries are good but often get eaten before the drive down.

 

[HuntersEmma57]

Hi everyone!
I’m looking for ideas to feed myself during long days on the hill, plus during the hour drive back home.

The ole cold sandwich and thermos waiting for me in the car just doesn’t suffice.
Cafeteria food is not sustainable (Whistler/BC).

Ideally high in protein, warm.

Thanks for any input!

Protein Pucks available on Amazon. ~450 calories of quality protein: nuts, seeds, nut butter and not dry. Very simple food, not ultra-processed and palatable. They easily slip in a pocket. Chase it with some hot mocha (hot chocolate/coffee) in a thermos. Glad you recognized the importance of hydrating during the day. If you haven't discovered Liquid IV powder packets, give those a go in your water bottle. Much more balanced and effective than sugary Gatorade and rather magical restorative properties. Lotsa folks use them for hangovers.

 

[DebbieSue]

3Cs for lunch! Hot coffee/cocoa (50/50 w whipped cream if available) and an oatmeal raisin cookie purchased at the lodge. Pretty nutritionally complete. I don’t like to carry stuff and need the hot drink.

 

[Trailside Trixie]

PB/Jelly pocket things from BJ's, a luna bar, a sandwich or some soup/chilli/mac and cheese in a thermos are my usuals.

 

[Smatty]

Protein Pucks available on Amazon. ~450 calories of quality protein: nuts, seeds, nut butter and not dry. Very simple food, not ultra-processed and palatable. They easily slip in a pocket. Chase it with some hot mocha (hot chocolate/coffee) in a thermos. Glad you recognized the importance of hydrating during the day. If you haven't discovered Liquid IV powder packets, give those a go in your water bottle. Much more balanced and effective than sugary Gatorade and rather magical restorative properties. Lotsa folks use them for hangovers.

Never heard of protein pucks! I love liquid iv, they’re also great hot on a thermos

 

[Smatty]

PB/Jelly pocket things from BJ's, a luna bar, a sandwich or some soup/chilli/mac and cheese in a thermos are my usuals.

I need to try soups etc in a thermos, never done that

 

[newbieM]

I make burritos ahead of time and stash them in the freezer. I heat them in a pan on the way out and then stash them in my car. They taste good cold. I make them mini or double wrap them. I mix beans with a can of chopped chilis, add some rice and taco meat (when I used to eat meat). They are filling, carb plus protein and I feel less crummy than eating the cafeteria food. But a cold peanut butter sandwich in a ziplock that got smushed is also a favorite on the ski lift.