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Kind of a catch-22. Accommodating to altitude is much easier with good nutrition and hydration. But at altitude, food and water (especially that iodine-tinted filter water) are so unpalatable. When your mouth and stomach are uninterested in food, getting adequate calories is a chore.

My last big trip I found that nabisco ginger snaps work pretty well (and they are indestructible in your pack). In fact, I survived 3 days on little more than ginger snaps and hot tea.

So what have people found goes down easy at altitude? What tastes good when you are nauseous?

To me the water taste is not a big deal. It's water, you need it to live. Most city water taste worse after they add all the chemicals to it to make it "better" of "healthier" for us.

My food of choice on Aconcagua was oatmeal. At least once a day a big bowl of instant non flavored regular oatmeal topped with some sugar and a bunch of mixed nuts thrown in. Good mix of carbs, fats and protein. Usually washed it down with a Starbucks Via or 2. The extra caffeine was nice.

I also found some random prepacked cookie type of things in Mendoza that found their way up to the mtn. Not food I normally eat here in the states but on the mtn they were perfect and I wished I had bought more. Sometimes it does get hard to force food down but you have to if you want to survive. I also ate Mtn. House on a daily basis. Just stay away from yellow snow and you'll be alright

Pringles potato chips.

M + M peanuts. Slim Jims. Wash them down with Tang. I'm guessing only the old farts here will know what Tang is.
I second Pringles chips.

Instant mashed potatoes, instant oatmeal, summer sausage, dried fruit, rice cakes.

Woodswalker wrote:M + M peanuts. Slim Jims. Wash them down with Tang. I'm guessing only the old farts here will know what Tang is.
I second Pringles chips.

Gatorade powder and orange koolade would probably come close to Tang

Stovetop stuffing, Pringles and snickers!! None of which I eat at sea level!

Woodswalker wrote: Wash them down with Tang. I'm guessing only the old farts here will know what Tang is.

pooot!

top ramen. i never eat it unless i'm in the mountains. but i eat a bag every single night at altitude.

Butter. I put it on everything; instant potatoes, hot cocoa, instant oatmeal, hot granola.

I like the butter idea. Mountain House GB with instant potatoes, instant rice + butter... I like this for dinner on Denali. Will report back in June.

WB on Denali leaves a lot of down time, which I mostly spent eating. I made a pretty good risotto with instant rice, dried veggies, chicken bullion, and cheese.

I'd like to add bacon pemmican to the list. 16 oz bacon (cooked of course), 1 cup cranberries, 1/2 cup coconut oil and an ounce or 2 of butter. Blended and frozen. Delicious.

I've looked into these:

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked calrose or other medium-grain “sticky” rice
1½ cups water
8 ounces bacon
4 eggs
2 tablespoons liquid amino acids or low-sodium soy sauce
brown sugar
salt and grated parmesan (optional)

They are rice cakes and you can find many versions if you google Dr. lim's. They're popular with endurance bikers.

Another option along the same line are masubi, which are rice topped with a piece of meat (usually spam) and wrapped in nori (seaweed).

Shelf life may be an issue if you are talking more than a couple days but great for hard 1 to 2 day trips.

On our long days I usually make bagel sandwiches with salami and cheese. I use a sandwich bagel which is not so dense. I also crave citrus when at altitude so grapes or already peeled oranges come along most of the time though I can cure that citrus crave through energy beans if I need to. When packing longer distance I'm with the rest here: ramen, rice, potatoes and oatmeal, just bring some spices. Also those rice/noodle packs you find 10 for $10 are a much cheaper option. I sealed tuna pack and a broccoli/cheddar noodles or rice can be had for 2 bucks.

Dry oats, definetley! Quite light for the volume.

Peanut butter is good considering it packs ~630 kcal/100g, but it's macronutrient content of proteins and fats is far superior to butter or oil which are 900kcal/100g, but are basically just fat.

Cooking chocholate has ~550kcal/100g but can stand cold temperatures, doesn't shatter and turn grey like standard "candy" chocolate does. Macronutrient-wise it's a disaster of refined sugar, but that's comfort food. Good for your morale.

Nuts and seeds can withstand the elements well, but bear in mind they're quite heavy for the volume. Ultralight hikers avoid packing them.

Dry fruits are great!, but not all. Raisins and cranberries are great and can be cookes with oats.
Some dried fruits like apricots, figs or plums tend to be too heavy for the "ultralight" crowd.

Also ramen noodles, instant soups and even soup cubes are great, but bear in mind those pack a lot of salt.

Bring some tea bags, they're quite light and can be used to improve the flavor of melted snow.