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MikeL
climber
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I get deep razor-like cuts on the edges of my fingernails that I'd have to apply superglue to to close them and then tape them with 3M surgical tape to fasciliate the healing. They bleed and it is painful. Using chalk on the rock or on blackboards at school exacerbates this problem. I don't know of other people who have the same problem. I quit using chalk a year ago. When I need "tacky" hands due to the slippery chalk I pick up on the rock, I spit in my hands and rub them together until the moisture is gone.
What gave me the idea to quit using chalk was the article that is referenced above. Works for me.
I don't like tape for cracks either.
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jstan
climber
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As to painful fingertips:
Calluses on the fingertips can reduce the difficulty of climbs by at least one grade. I found weekend climbing did not allow development of adequate calluses. Fortunately I had a concrete block wall available at work so I set up a program of beating the fingertips against that irregular surface several periods during each day. Once you have calluses though, you have to be careful not to rip them off.
Kind of funny. A nurse tried to take a blood sample from my fingertip once. She could not get the needle in. Come to think of it, that might be a good test.
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TradIsGood
Happy and Healthy climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 3, 2007 - 08:30pm PT
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GG - Funny. But this is about chalk, not my pathetic talent level.
All the grades at the Gunks are covered with chalk from 5.2 up.(OK, have not done any 11s and 12s, they might be cleaner for because of low traffic.)
jstan - funny story. Had the same thing happen to me a couple of times donating blood. Probably lots of us have had that happen?
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jgill
climber
Colorado
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Although I began using chalk on rock after being introduced to it in a gymnastics class at Ga Tech in the fall of 1954, it was a year or so later that I got the chance to demonstrate it to climbers from other areas. In the Tetons, those who scrambled about on the Jenny Lake boulders would dry their hands and then pat them on the forest floor, in the powdery duff there. For the most part, they found chalk to be far superior. And, it seems to me Jan and Herb Conn use to use powdery pine pollen from pine cones for the same purpose. Very quickly I found that over-chalking made things worse, and started carrying small brushes and hand towels with me bouldering(chalk caking up on gymnastic apparatus is not good, either!). I never did anything remotely like a scientific study - that seemed pointless when the personal evidence was so convincing. But there certainly climbers from that era who avoided using chalk on principle - they were usually the ones whose hands didn't sweat as much.
And, John, your story about the nurse: when I reported for duty at Glasgow AFB in 1959, the FBI tried to get my fingerprints, but failed. I was interrogated for an hour or so and finally managed to convince them I was not a Soviet agent. I had just arrived from some time spent on the rough granite of the Needles. After a few weeks they were able to get better prints.
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jstan
climber
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I know what you mean. Back in 1958 when I had my first fingerprints taken for a security classification I never for a moment thought the DIA dance would ever be a source for nostalgia. I am finally realizing we all were pretty good back then.
Developing good pads on the fingers was probably the easiest way for desk-bound wussies like myself to move their climbing up. Then being able to do a Tim Allen imitation when someone can’t get through them – is pure unadulterated bonus.
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Ouch!
climber
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"Glasgow AFB in 1959,"
Great place to spend a winter.
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Domingo
Trad climber
Ann Arbor, MI
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Aug 14, 2007 - 11:52pm PT
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Sorry to bump this; I hadn't caught it before. Perhaps chalk is fine when things get sweaty, but my experience with climbers is that many walk around with white gloves of it on their hands.
What really gets me though is that most people chalk up before even touching the wall to see if they need it. Before their foot leaves the ground, before they touch the first hand-hold, they've used it.
I never use chalk; I guess I'm a bit of a purist in that sense. I'm pretty opposed to it. But I could see it when things get sweaty... it's just that no one uses it for that anymore. People don't think about the circumstances it's actually for. And then sh#t gets greasy and overchalked (Reed's Direct, anyone?).
I survive no problem without it. It's like tape gloves: a self-handicap.
The other thing worth pointing out is that I believe this article covers calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate only: all the companies a drying agent to their chalk.
*edited because I'm a dumbass
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Aug 15, 2007 - 12:07am PT
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Calcium carbonate is great if you have gas--but climbing chalk is actually magnesium carbonate. Also, I have never seen anyone climb very hard without chalk.
Curt
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Domingo
Trad climber
Ann Arbor, MI
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Aug 15, 2007 - 12:34am PT
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Then you haven't been looking very hard. I know plenty of people sending hard routes without chalk. I guess they aren't really chalkless though: there's so much powder left on the walls that you don't even need to bring your own.
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Aug 15, 2007 - 02:22am PT
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"...Then you haven't been looking very hard. I know plenty of people sending hard routes without chalk..."
Sure you do. Perhaps my idea of "climbing hard" is somewhat different from yours?
Curt
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turd
climber
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Aug 15, 2007 - 01:35pm PT
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Nice one Curt. Very rc.com.
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Curt
Boulder climber
Gilbert, AZ
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Aug 15, 2007 - 08:56pm PT
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Whatever--a stupid comment is stupid on any website. Or, perhaps you have examples? Any V10s you know of or 5.14s sent without chalk? Just curious. I'll certainly stand corrected if someone comes up with something.
Curt
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Brew Monkey
Big Wall climber
Bend Oregon
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Aug 15, 2007 - 09:41pm PT
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I dropped my chalk bag on the last 5.7 pitch of NW Face HD in'99. I say that bugger drop about 1000 feet hit and explode in white glory. Have not replaced it yet! I climb at Smith and to me it is a personal choice not to climb with chalk and some could say that it is true I am not up on Just Do It every day. But if you have ever been to Smith you know why. Chalk and Bolts EVERYWHERE!!!! So for me, no chalk. On the other side of the issue I have been in Yosemite and thought I was going to slip right off on a nice sunny day. There is a time and a place for everything...except Meth.
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turd
climber
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Aug 15, 2007 - 10:13pm PT
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"a stupid comment is stupid on any website." -- Curt
Well, I'll agree with that.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Aug 16, 2007 - 01:35am PT
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"When Is Chalk Worse Than No Chalk?"
When you spend about a 1/4 of your energy establishing stances to chalk up when you could just climb as I watched a kid do the other day. He literally had a hard time doing more than a move or two without first stopping and heavily chalking up again - and on a very cool, dry day at that.
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Domingo
Trad climber
Ann Arbor, MI
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Aug 17, 2007 - 10:44am PT
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I don't pay much attention to boulderers, unfortunately. I spent some time in Wild Iris and watched a friend work Throwin' the Houlihan and, after about four days, send it chalkless.
The thing is that (believe it or not, God forbid), some people don't make huge deals about the climbs they do. My take on this is that 80%+ of climbers haven't actually tried climbing chalkless, so there's correlation between climbing hard routes and chalk but not necessary causation.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Apr 22, 2016 - 12:20pm PT
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dawn of the dead post! extremely interesting and still a cutting edge topic 10 years after this first was posted. i have seen that in most cases for most people chalk does help dry sweaty hands on difficult terrain. but sometimes chalk does not help or at least too much chalk does not help. moisture can actually help too once in awhile. i sweat a lot and live near the humid coast in lush nor cal and climb slick smooth stone so i need chalk most all of the time to some degree but i am finding that in some instances too much chalk can often be worse than non at all. if you live or climb in an arid environment and do not sweat out of your hands a lot and maybe do not push the level of difficulty too much then maybe you won't need chalk. spitting on your hands and rubbing them together like when you pick up a dry axe with dry hands can help you stick better to some slick sloper hand holds and on easier terrain or bigger holds with dry hands chalk also is not as needed. ~more testing with various chalk types on various rock types and with various skin types (hard dry calloused vs moist soft non calloused) is needed imo :)
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jogill
climber
Colorado
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Apr 22, 2016 - 12:27pm PT
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spitting on your hands and rubbing them together like when you pick up a dry axe with dry hands can help you stick better to some slick sloper hand holds and on easier terrain or bigger holds . . .
As I mentioned some time back, cherry lifesavers work well in this regard.
;>)
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Apr 22, 2016 - 12:51pm PT
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cherry lifesaver eh? good beta! i will add that to the list of various things to try. maybe i will try some tree sap and hell even glue too! ~is glue cheating for a sloper problem crux off the ground lol :) this is serious stuff! always an honor master Gill.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Apr 23, 2016 - 08:05am PT
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Chalk is always better!😎💩
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