Someone once told me that 1% decrease in hydration equals a 10% decrease in performance, 5% decrease in hydration equals a 50% decrease in performance. 10% decrease in hydration will soon result in your mummified remains.

Hydration is the most necessary component of life. For climbing it is the difference between life and death. The annual publication “Accidents In North American Mountaineering” published by the American Alpine Club bears this out, one of the recent entries talks about a climber who was in a rush to get to the bottom of a climb because she had some water at the bottom. She dropped her ropes for the ride down but failed to complete her knots in her slings. She leaned back and went 100 feet down.

I’ve been in a similar situation where thirst has almost overcome me and the rush to get down to water was absolutely overwhelming. The instinct to get down to water was so great that my rappel was setup and I was on my way down within one and a half minutes, hardly enough time to setup a safe rappel and check the system.

Climbing is dangerous enough, carrying some water up a climb with you is a no-brainer way to eliminate one of the risks of climbing and keep yourself climbing at your best.

See you on Higher Ground.