Enter your body weight, duration, and climbing activity type to find out how many calories you burn rock climbing. Choose from low-to-moderate difficulty ascents, high difficulty climbing, rappelling, or general mountain climbing — the calculator uses MET (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) values to give you a personalized calorie estimate.
Calories Burned
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Calories Per Hour
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MET Value
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Fat Burned
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The number of calories burned rock climbing depends on your body weight, session duration, and climbing difficulty. A 154 lb (70 kg) person burns roughly 400–550 calories per hour at low-to-moderate difficulty, and up to 700+ calories per hour on high-difficulty ascents. Heavier climbers and more intense routes burn more calories.
MET stands for Metabolic Equivalent of Task — it's a measure of how much energy an activity requires relative to sitting at rest. Rock climbing METs range from about 5.8 for rappelling to 8.0 for high-difficulty ascending. The formula is: Calories = MET × body weight in kg × duration in hours. This calculator applies the appropriate MET value for your chosen activity.
Yes — rock climbing is an excellent calorie-burning workout. It engages nearly every major muscle group, including arms, core, legs, and back. Compared to moderate jogging, climbing at high difficulty burns a comparable or greater number of calories per hour while also building significant muscular strength and endurance.
The calorie burn between indoor bouldering or wall climbing and outdoor rock climbing is similar when effort level and duration are matched. Outdoor climbing may involve additional energy expenditure from approach hikes, carrying gear, and dealing with variable terrain. This calculator focuses on the climbing activity itself and applies equally to both settings.
Absolutely. Higher difficulty routes require more muscular effort, longer time on the wall, and greater cardiovascular output. High-difficulty ascending carries a MET of around 8.0, compared to 5.8 for low-to-moderate difficulty — meaning you can burn roughly 35–40% more calories on harder routes for the same duration.
Heavier individuals burn more calories performing the same activity for the same duration, because more energy is required to move greater mass. For example, a 200 lb climber burns approximately 30% more calories per hour than a 154 lb climber at the same intensity level.
Rappelling (also called abseiling) is the technique of descending a rope down a rock face in a controlled manner. It is less physically demanding than ascending, carrying a MET of approximately 5.8. A 154 lb person rappelling for 30 minutes burns roughly 210–230 calories.
MET-based estimates provide a reasonable approximation but do not account for individual fitness levels, rest breaks between routes, climbing style, or environmental conditions. Actual calorie burn can vary by 10–20% from these estimates. For the most accurate data, a heart rate monitor or metabolic tracker worn during the session is recommended.