climbing trip tactics

Snacks, sleep, skin, and rest days... It feels like there's a ton to manage on climbing trips.

Before you start to feel overwhelmed.. I have good news for you: many of these things can be managed BEFORE your climbing trip.

Routine is your friend

Because you're in a different environment on a trip, it's important to keep consistency where you can. This applies to things more in your control like your eating and your sleep.

Food

Here are some questions to think about when it comes to food:

Which snacks do you typically like to bring to the crag or the gym when you're at home? What do you usually eat for breakfast and dinner?

Now work backwards:

Are you traveling somewhere that has grocery stores, or do you need to bring all your own food? Are you staying in an Airbnb that has a kitchen, or are you camping with a camp stove?

How can you keep your trip meals similar to what you eat at home? What is realistic?

Sleep

Sleep can be tricky on a trip because you're sleeping in a different bed and space. Maybe you have the jitters of excitement thinking about all of the climbs you want to get on the next day.

So... do you have a bedtime routine at home? If not, developing one before your trip can be really helpful to signal to your body that it's time to rest.

Maybe you take a shower, make a cup of tea, and read for 20 minutes before you shut your eyes. You put on your 30 minute bed time playlist. Every. Single. Night.

Managing sleep hygiene on a trip starts by having good sleep hygiene before the trip.

When to be flexible

When it comes to things like skin and rest days, it's important to be flexible and adjust as needed. This is because they are directly entwined with your trip expectations (look back at last week's email if you need a reminder).

Skin and energy are finite resources and you need to prioritize where you want to spend them because every time you pull on the wall, you're using both.

If you have a project you want to send, then it's worth taking more rest days to make sure you are fresh and you have skin to give it good goes.

If you want to do more volume, you can go more days on because you're getting on things you know you can do tired and/or with tape on your fingers.

Again, just be realistic with yourself about your expectations. Make a plan before your trip and then adjust it as necessary during.