Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned rock climbing

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 280 kcal in 30 minutes of rock climbing (Rock or mountain climbing, general), and about 560 kcal in an hour. That is 8 METs.

30 minutes: 280kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 560kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 480kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 640kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

Climbing is rated by difficulty and style. Easy routes and rappelling are lower; bouldering and speed climbing are among the highest ratings. Time spent resting or belaying between climbs is not climbing, so enter only the time you were on the wall.

Calculate calories burned rock climbing

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of rock climbing at 8 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned rock climbing by weight and time

Kilocalories for rock climbing at 8 METs (Rock or mountain climbing, general), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned rock climbing at 8 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	100	200	300	400	600	800
60 kg (132 lb)	120	240	360	480	720	960
70 kg (154 lb)	140	280	420	560	840	1,120
80 kg (176 lb)	160	320	480	640	960	1,280
90 kg (198 lb)	180	360	540	720	1,080	1,440
100 kg (220 lb)	200	400	600	800	1,200	1,600
110 kg (243 lb)	220	440	660	880	1,320	1,760

Rock climbing: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates rock climbing on 6 lines, from 5 METs (Rappelling) up to 10.5 METs (Speed climbing, very difficult). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned rock climbing by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Rappelling	15540	5	150	175	200	350
Low to moderate difficulty	15537	5.8	174	203	232	406
High difficulty	15535	7.3	219	256	292	511
Rock or mountain climbing, general	15533	8	240	280	320	560
Free bouldering	15534	8.8	264	308	352	616
Speed climbing, very difficult	15536	10.5	315	368	420	735

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 15540, “Rock climbing, rappelling”; 15537, “Rock climbing, ascending or traversing rock, low-to-moderate difficulty”; 15535, “Rock climbing, ascending rock, high difficulty”; 15533, “Rock or mountain climbing”; 15534, “Rock climbing, free boulder”; 15536, “Rock climbing, speed climbing, very difficult”.

What changes the number for rock climbing

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of rock climbing (Speed climbing, very difficult) is rated at 10.5 METs, 2.1 times the 5 METs of the gentlest (Rappelling). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 735 kcal an hour against 350 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 8 METs of rock climbing for 30 minutes comes to 200 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 440 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 11 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): rappelling is 175 kcal; low to moderate difficulty is 203 kcal; high difficulty is 256 kcal; rock or mountain climbing, general is 280 kcal; free bouldering is 308 kcal; speed climbing, very difficult is 368 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For rock climbing at 8 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 8 × 70 × 0.5 = 280 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn rock climbing in 30 minutes?

About 280 kcal at 8 METs (Rock or mountain climbing, general). The whole range for rock climbing on this page runs from 175 kcal (Rappelling) to 368 kcal (Speed climbing, very difficult) in the same half hour.

How many calories does rock climbing burn in an hour?

At 8 METs, about 480 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 560 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 640 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does rock climbing take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 11 minutes at 8 METs (Rock or mountain climbing, general). At the gentlest listed pace (Rappelling, 5 METs) it takes 17 minutes, and at the hardest (Speed climbing, very difficult, 10.5 METs) about 8.

Does the number for rock climbing include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 8 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 13% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 245 of the 280 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for rock climbing?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For rock climbing that average already spans 6 entries from 5 to 10.5 METs, a 2.1-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for rock climbing?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “Rock or mountain climbing, general”, about 55% of the way up the 5 to 10.5 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (15540, 15537, 15535, 15533, 15534, 15536).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.