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Chalk Usage In Climbing
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Read this article from another post, but was hoping this might come across John Gill, seeing as he is cited in this article as the first to use chalk in climbing. Opinions on chalk usage: psychological aid? Environmentally destructive? Eye sore? |
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Fine if you clean it off afterwards. |
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An eyesore… yes. |
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I f’n hate chalk. I don’t see it at all as an environmental impact in the scheme of things. It’s really just unsightly littering to me. Banana peels and cigarette butts. On popular routes, especially with stances before a crux, that beautiful route is wearing way too much make up. |
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Never used it. Seems to make the holds greasy when it's caked on. |
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Chalk is like Dumbo's "magic" feather. People think they need it to climb, even though hanging from one arm reaching back into their chalk bag probably expends much more energy than they'll ever gain from the chalk. I quit using it years ago, and now it generally annoys me. If people use it moderately it's fine, but gym climbers especially use way too much. You don't need to rechalk 7 or 8 times on your way up an 18 m gym route. |
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I wish gyms would ban chalk. It's really not necessary, and it's severely overused. I get more than enough chalk on my hands just by climbing on the chalked-up holds. It also makes the air gross and hazy. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's a health hazard to breathe it all the time. If your hands are sweaty, wipe them off with a towel. Works better than chalk. |
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Of all the things in the world to complain about. |
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Weird how you never see these anti chalk folks at the crag, crushing and loving life. You know what must really make them mad? Roads. Cities. Trails. Ropes. Gear. Humans. Other things like this. |
j mo wrote: Comparisons such as these aren’t even in the same ballpark. Chalk is a nice tool but consistently overused just about everywhere, so much so that it makes climbing harder, ergo brushing. |
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I used to rarely use chalk except on the hottest of days. This year though my body changed for some reason and my hands are sweating like crazy. On hard for me climbs this year I can chalk up and two moves later my hands are drenched and all the chalk is gone. It's super annoying and I'm now extremely reliant on chalk to stick onto even 5.9 crimps. Liquid chalk has been a massive blessing and helps out enormously. I got some hand anti perspirant but I haven't used it much, so we'll see if that helps much or not. But what I've learned this year is people who need chalk really really need it. I hate being one of those people now, it's super inconvenient. =( |
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Entertaining article. Came out a couple of years ago. If you click on History of Rock Climbing in the article it completely botches up my background. So much for accuracy. When at Georgia Tech and afterwards I practiced the 20 ft rope climb - 1.5" diameter natural fiber - and the climber HAD to use chalk, a rule of the gymnasium by Coach Welser. Otherwise the rope would get slippery after a few climbers went up and down. Therein lies the source of my addiction. There's no question it is an eyesore. The environmental damages seems a bit of a stretch, but I am hopelessly aged and senile and out of touch with the younger generation. Some climbers have sweaty hands, others don't. Would I use chalk if I were starting climbing as a young person these days? Specious question. There are far too many people in the sport today for it to interest me. The 1950s and early 1960s were times of naive adventure and exploration for me. |
John Gill wrote: “Far too many people in the sport today for it to interest me.” Bahaha I loved reading this! Thanks for your response. VERY SURPRISED to read how many folks sound “anti-chalk,” but as stated earlier ain’t never seen your kind at the crag, and it’s hard to know who’s trolling, and who legitimately does not use chalk while climbing. The environmental aspect of the article, I’d agree with Mr. Gill that it’s a far stretch. Where do all the anti chalk folks climb? Garden of the gods? Where else doesn’t allow chalk, so I can avoid them areas as well. |
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POST AWESOME CLIMBING PICTURES WITH NO CHALK! And not cause you just forgot your chalk bag back in boulder. |
Curmudgeon Don wrote:  Chalk is CHEAP Shut up and GLISTEN |
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I think it's a bit much to claim that chalk is unnecessary - it works and it makes a big difference. As usual, if you're lucky enough to have dry skin (mine is pretty dry) it can be hard to believe how disgustingly sweaty some people are. But I will say, damn I wish I had come up with the idea for "premium chalk", that is a first-rate gumby scam. Friction labs, Magdust & similar are on a hell of a gravy train! I think there is definitely an addiction aspect, firstly psychological of course, but I reckon heavy chalk use can make your hands get a bit sweater over time in compensation. As well your body associates climbing stimulus with dry hands - finally you end up one of those sad sacks that can't watch a bouldering World Cup on TV without a towel on hand. My local gyms ban loose chalk and you are supposed to only use chalk balls or liquid chalk - in theory. But, it's not enforced at all, I reckon because most of the staff are down a rabbit hole of buckets of premium chalk themselves. |
My understanding, and the way that I use chalk in my own climbing for my very sweaty hands, is that this is what you want immediately after applying the chalk. You apply it to absorb moisture and then you get it off of your hand as best you can. I'll tap it off on my pant legs usually (and then even reuse that chalk on my pant legs taping them again after chalk is already on them) or if the move after applying the chalk involves my hand going past my face I'll blow real hard on it. This is why liquid chalk has always confused me and lead me to believe it's just marketing or something. If I want nothing between my dry skin and the rock why would I want to paint my fingers with chalk? I think gymnasts leave it on their hands when they want to have less friction on the bar they are spinning on or whatever. It was truly confusing to me when a friend would first apply a wet towel to his hand to make it moist enough to accumulate chalk as his hands were too dry to ever do so. Seems to me he already has dry enough hands and therefore has no need for chalk at all because, as I understand it, chalk is only used for removing moisture from the hands... A real mind fuck. On the other hand, maybe it adds coarseness to otherwise smooth skin improving friction. I didn't read the article and hope that the environmental concerns are overblown. The eyesore complaint however I think is a bit much and people can surely go look at some choss that has no chalk on it and be satisfied with their rock viewing there instead. John Gill wrote: How do we know that John Gill account is not a troll? Tell us something only the real John Gill would know that I could also verify on the internet. |
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Click on his profile & find your proof. I might be wrong but I doubt Mr Gill will feel the need to jump through any hoops to prove himself to you. |
Jeremy L wrote: If it is him, hopefully he gets the joke and doesn't see a hoop to jump through. Dr.Gill, he has a PhD...maybe you guys know it's not him and are saying Mr.Gill as a joke I'm not getting. |
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Yes, we are all here for the sole purpose of trolling you. |
Adam R wrote: That's Prof. Gill to you. |
