Variety is key to good menu planning. On a typical expedition there will be approximately three weeks of food to prepare for and haul up the mountain. Lightweight, good tasting food is of utmost importance in climbing the big mountains. Far in advance of your expedition start looking for foods that you think may make a good meal. Buy them and try them all out. Experiment with the preperation and try to keep it realistic. For example, I was testing out a Lipton's Noodles and Sauce mix the other day. The mix preperation calls for margarine and milk to be added and to simmer for 10 minutes. On the mountain dairy products are not available but butter and milk powder are. I boiled some water, dumped half the package in a large mug, sprinkled milk and butter powder on it and stirred. The meal was a definate keeper for our next expedition!

Meal planning must take into consideration the type of stove and cookwear that the expedition will be using. On our expedition to Cho Oyu this fall, I'm planning on all very lightweight food that can all be prepared by adding boiling water. We will be cooking using a Bibler hanging stove which has one pot. At high altitude there really is no brain cells left to do much else than melt snow much less cook anything. Therefore it affects how I'm planning the meal bags. Everyone has different tastes at altitude but fortunatly for us we always climb together and we know exactly what we like on the mountain.

Breakfast can include oatmeal (flavored and unflavoured, grits (flavored and unflavored), cup -a - soups, and dry cereal with powdered milk (with fat added). Freeze dried meals are especially good in the morning when you are tired of oatmeal. They include cheese omelettes, pork sausage patties, and eggs with bacon.

Lunch and snacks are typically sausage, cheese, bagels and the likes on lower mountains. I've found that the new carbohydrate gels are fantastic snacks and are much easier to digest on high mountains. Candy and Powerbars are great for a quick snack also.

For supper time we always start off with a mug of cup-a-soup. It's the best way to start to unwind and warm up after a day of climbing. Allow for 2 packages per persons per day. They are very lightweight and a great way to get rehydrated also. The next course is either another soup based mix such as Raman noodles or possibly a freeze dried meal. The variety is super and the taste is very good on these meals.

There are a few sites on the web that offer freeze dried foods. One of the best is Mountain House. There are descriptions of all the meals and they even include a photo! Another site that can be helpful is Mama LaGuardia which features homecooked freeze dried food. I haven't tried them yet but they look good.