The Alpine Belly: A Theory
My and my belly at the Smith Rock parking lot...after climbing the Zebra-Zion route (4 pitches, 5.10a).
This is a post I made to rec.climbing, about my 'alpine belly' theory. Subject: The Alpine Belly: A theory
From: [email protected] (Cameron McPherson Smith)
Date: 1998/01/02
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.climbing
OK, for years I have harboured what I call my 'alpine belly'. This is a 10-lb ring of fat around my gut. With it, I weigh 163 pounds. It is maintained by consuming beer, as near as I can tell. Aside from the beer, my diet is mainly rice, fish, veggies, and various sorts of beans. Occasional binges on grilled foods happen mainly on climbing trips. The Belly is unobrtusive, you can tell it's there if you 'pinch an inch', but otherwise it is just some extra tissue around the waist. Here is my reasoning for maintaining The Alpine Belly rather than burning it off, which I can do on a stair machine pretty quickly. 1. I cannot often pick the time and circumstance of my climbs; often I must climb whenever there happens to be the correct alignment of (1) time off from work and school (2) excess money (3) a partner (4) a reliable climbing vehicle. Often I have to ignore weather and just go for it. 2. Because I cannot pick and choose the timing of my ascents ( a luxury of the elite...that is how they are so often successful! They can pick and choose timing, routes, etc!) I must be prepared to get hammered on occasion. 3. One way to be prepared is to have a portable caloric reserve. Body fat seems to provide it. These are calories I don;'t have to cook or prepare in any way. They cannot spoil and require no packaging. I can't forget this caloric reserve, or decide to skip it on some blitz where I am trying to cut weight. Ultimately, I figure that if I end up in an ice cave for a week, I expect I wil fare better than a companion without the Belly. So, the Alpine Belly is my caloric reserve, a reserve I want to have because I often have to climb in less-than-ideal situations. It's been depleted twice: in Alaska, on a strenuous 11-day trek, and on a 2-day wall climb in Nevada. I believe in the belly, but I am not sure if I am fooling myself. Maybe a nutritionist or a physiologist ou there has some input? It may be the subject is not well known: I've read a LOT of polar reports on human performance under extreme conditions (e.g. burning c.8000+++ cal per day) but there are few hard finidngs it seems. I am particularly interested in the timing of body fat use during stress: I have read that muscle may be depleted first, leaving body fat for later on, but I am not sure if this is ranked in weeks, days or hours or what. Anyway, that's my excuse for my belly. I propose that if Alex Lowe had to grope around for cash, time, partners, etc. he'd also have the belly. Cameron, headed for the pub. p.s. I do not begrudge the elite, just realize why they are able to do so many amazing ascents...of course they are also excellent climbers, but being able to pick your route and timing can't hurt!
You can see the ensuing thread HERE.
