Summit Strength
Menu

TRAINING FOR HIKING TIPS

Find out more about what it takes to reach the Summit

Nutrition For cold Weather Hiking

7/5/2021

 
Picture
Hiking and backpacking in the cold comes with it's own set of challenges. And your nutrition, and what you eat, can make a significant difference to your hiking performance, comfort and enjoyment on a colder hiker. 

What To Eat When Hiking In THe cold

Picture
​Hiking in the cold of winter, in alpine environments and at higher elevations will present nutritional challenges, but nothing that a little knowledge and planning can’t overcome.

When planning your nutrition for a cold-weather hike, here are some considerations you should keep top of mind: 

1) Cold temperature can increase energy requirements 


This means you can burn more energy in colder climates during any type of activity.

Shivering is involuntary muscle tensing that generates heat and offers a
warming effect. Your muscles begin to shake in small movements, creating warmth by expending energy (burning your muscle glycogen – stored body fuel). 

When you first become slightly chilled, you will find yourself doing an isometric type of muscle tensing that can increase your metabolic rate two to four times.

As you get further chilled, you’ll find yourself jumping around and hopping from foot to foot. This is Nature’s way to get you to generate heat and warm your body. If you become so cold that you start to shiver, these vigorous muscular contractions generate lots of heat— around 100 Calories can be burnt every 15 minutes.

To maintain hiking performance (and reduce the risk of early fatigue and exhaustion), you must replace this energy burnt through the hike by eating enough before a during the hike. 

To help here, a good idea is to pack 1-2 extra high energy snacks per day (then you would pack on an average weather hike). And make sure you eat them!


2) Cold temperatures increase carbohydrate requirements 


It is well established that the amount of carbohydrates used by the body when exercising in cold environments increases. 

This can increase the likelihood of depleting this energy source, leading to early fatigue, exhaustion and brain fog. 

To combat this, it is important to remember to pack carbohydrate and energy-rich snacks to help fuel your hike. 

Carbohydrate-rich snacks can include:


  • Muesli bars
  • Fruit (fresh or dried)
  • Bagels, wraps, sandwiches etc
  • Muesli or trail mix 
  • Sweets and lollies (i.e snakes, gummy bears etc)
  • Sports drinks


3) Eating food can keep you warm


Eating generates heat and helps warm your body. 

Food overall warming effect is known as thermogenesis (heat production). Thirty to sixty minutes after you eat, your body generates about ten per cent more heat than when you have an empty stomach. This increased metabolism comes primarily from the energy released during digestion. 

So, eating provides not only fuel but also increases heat production (warmth).

The best way to warm yourself up is to consume warm carbohydrates during and after hiking. A few great ideas for this include:

  • Hot chocolate or tea
  • Steaming soup
  • Hot porridge
  • Chilli
  • Pasta ​

So packing a high-quality thermos, or planning to cook a warm lunch, can be well worth the extra pack weight. 

The warm food, added to the thermogenic effect of eating, contributes to rapid re-warming.


4) Maintain your hydration 

The added complexity of hiking in colder climates means that cold temperatures (and altitude) inhibit the desire to drink. 

Another factor in the cold is many hikers will shun drinking to avoid taking bathroom breaks. Don’t be one of these hikers. 

There is a consequent performance deficit for every 1% loss in body weight (meaning you will get tired and fatigued on the trail quicker).

2hr prior to hiking : Drink 10ml/kg. Drink regularly throughout hiking where possible – up to 250ml every 15 - 30min.

If you are in an alpine environment, you also need to ensure that your water doesn't freeze! So added precautions need to be taken here. 

How can we practically achieve the best performance given the above?

As mentioned in the cold, shivering can greatly increase energy expenditure and carbohydrate breakdown. It may be appropriate in rest breaks to consume hot fluids from a thermos to keep core body temperature from dropping. 

Examples of hot fluids include:

  • Black tea or coffee
  • Lemon, ginger and honey added to hot water. 

Information and advice provided by our friends at Body Fusion Dietetics. If you need help devising a nutrition plan for cold climate hikes, contact them for professional advice. 
What you eat during a cold weather hiking can make a significant difference to your performance, comfort and ultimately your enjoyment on the trail. These tips make take a little bit of planning and a little bit of foresight, but put them into action, and they will serve you well on the trail. 


Want To Learn More About
Physical Preparaton For Hiking?

Join the
​Training For Hiking And Trekking FaceBook Group


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Rowan is an online personal trainer who specialises in training for hiking and mountaineering. He helps get them fit, strong and resilient so they can conquer every adventure. 

    Archives

    July 2025
    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018

    Categories

    All
    About Rowan Smith
    Aerobic Training
    Altitude Mask
    Altitude Sickness
    Altitude Training
    Ankle Pain
    Back Pain
    Balance
    Best Exercises For Hiking
    Book Review
    Breathing
    Camino
    Cardio
    Case Studies
    Challenge Event
    Challenge Hike
    Cold Weather
    Continental Divide Trail
    Core Training
    Cramps
    Desert-hiking
    Downhill Hiking
    Elevation Training
    Endurance
    Equipment
    Everest Base Camp
    Extreme-environments
    Fitness-assessments
    Fitness-tests
    Foot Pain
    Guest Posts
    Gym Training
    Health
    High Altitude
    High Intensity Training
    Hiking Speed
    Hip Strength
    Home Workouts
    Hot Weather
    Hump Ridge Track
    Inca Trail
    Injury Prevention
    Interval Training
    Kilimanjaro
    Knee Pain
    Larapinta Trail
    Live Stream
    Loaded Pack Walking
    Media Appearances
    Mental Strength
    Mera Peak
    Mindset
    Mini-course
    Mobility
    Mountaineering
    Multi Day Hike
    Multi-day Hike
    Muscular Endurance
    Newsletter
    Nutrition
    Oxfam
    Pacific Crest Trail
    Pack Training
    Planning-and-logistics
    Plantar Fasciitis
    Plyometrics
    Podcast
    Recovery
    Rock Scrambling
    Running
    Shoulder Pain
    Strength Training
    Summit Strength Method
    Summit-strength-method
    Te Araroa
    The-overland-track
    Thru-hiking
    Thruhiking
    Time Efficient Training
    Timeefficient-training
    Tour Du Mont Blanc
    Training Hike
    Trek-tips
    Trek-tips
    Trek Training
    Trektraining
    Ultralight
    Uphill Hiking
    Upper-body-training
    Warm Up
    Webinar
    Weight Loss
    Workouts
    Workout Tips

    RSS Feed

About

Summit Strength is a personal training for hiking service created specifically to help hikers have the best chance of a safe, enjoyable and successful adventure. 
Picture

Company

About
Blog
Podcast
Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer

Services

Online Summit Program
Learn How To Train For Hiking Course 

Support

Contact
​

Join Our Free Community Group

Free Courses And Resources For Hikers 

© COPYRIGHT 2018. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Website Design by My Personal Trainer Website
  • Home
  • About
  • Online Training
  • Success Stories
  • Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Online Training
  • Success Stories
  • Blog