Ban white chalk on public lands!

Ok now that Ive pissed off and turned most of you away, I have this batcrazy idea. Why not ban white chalk on public lands? Require the use of the color-matching chalk. LNT bro!

On a related note, why are colored chalks usually so much more expensive than white chalk? Are the additives that create the colors really that expensive?

Lastly, Im adding this because I know Im going to get slammed as being a new climber. This is true. But Ive also used chalk (of any color) exactly once, the very first time I roped up. Since then, I havent touched the stuff. Paul Preuss would be proud ;)

You're definitely following LNT ethics if it's harder to see the trace you've left....

There was a colored chalk experiment back in the late 80s/early 90s. There were two problems -

Instead of matching the color of the rock, the chalk ended up just looking like paint and being just as obvious as white chalk. Crags started looking like a kindergarten art class.

The biggest problem was that the dyes used to color the chalk didn't wash off as easily as white chalk and built up on the holds far worse, filling in the texture of the holds and making them slimy and gross. Rather than Leave No Trace, colored chalk ended up being just a more colorful, lasting trace.

How will we know where the route goes and what holds to use / not use if it isn't white?

ViperScale wrote:How will we know where the route goes and what holds to use / not use if it isn't white?

Why not just leave the chalk behind when climbing in sensitive areas?

Rumney, a nightmare ?

Topher is right, there is a problem with the pigments staining the rock. This originally was a big problem at Hueco....

I think if you want public lands cleaner, maybe try to stop dumping of trash/waste

Ban white people on public lands! The ultimate "LNT", bro!

We used to use colored chalk BITD but it just doesn't work the way you'd think Greg...for numerous reasons, even a few beyond the excellent post Mr. Donahue laid out...I gotta concur w/ the fat kid here...lol

Probably not. Unless u been working secretly on formulations of colored chalk?

As Mr. Donahue said, first off it makes a mess. A variegated multi-hued mess. Worse that just plain white and harder to remove. Also, remember rocks are different colors, you know?

2nd, you need a multitude of chalkbags to hold "every color"~
"True artists" may need less, as they can "mix colors" more accurately than most...

3rd, colored chalk is(was) greasy...

That's the last thing I need...greasy chalk...you?

My wife is an artist who has done a lot of stuff with clays...years ago she thought white chalk was disgusting but changed her mind when the color pigments didn't wash off her hands !

Good for you...lol. I've climbed miles of golden colored granite so there goes your "grey granite" theory...and yes a multi colored mess is worse than white, which looks close to bird crap and actually sometimes...is...

When i lived in new England a certain hot shot showed up who "never used chalk" I said you will be by this afternoon

Damn..i used to chalk my feet

LNT is about minimizing our ecological impact, not blindly striving to wipe away our footprints. The point is to avoid damaging the environment, not to make things prettier.

I have yet to hear about any real, substantive, non-aesthetic impact from white chalk marks, which tend to wash off in a heavy rain anyways. And from the sound of it (i have no experience with colored chalk) that stuff isn't any better aesthetically.

If you want to not use chalk, in favor of dirt and pant rubbing, go for it. If you want to develop a crag, like some in Germany, where chalk use is forbidden, again - go for it. But the American climbing community had this debate decades ago and decided that white chalk marks were ok.

Greg..... Please get back to US when you up your numbers some.....

5.9 isn't crap nowdays....

I would say just wait till they ban climbing in areas. With all the new people coming into it. It's just a matter of time till statistics of injuries and deaths make it banned or a wait list for a permit to go climbing.

Jacob Smith wrote:LNT ...The point is to avoid damaging the environment, not to make things prettier.

I tolerate airmchair climatology/conservationism to a point. That point is when you begin infringing on my personal behavior/quality of life. I will not stop eating meat, taking long showers, driving, wearing leather, using chalk, shooting guns, killing fury animals for food/sport, beating trails in where I see fit (and is leagal), drilling bolts, etc etc...Add to that the surest way to get me to stop listening to you is to bring up any of these "issues" in your own voice or use fear/doom and gloom scare tactic in an attempt to change my behavior. Also suggesting we retry options that failed in the pasts seems a waste of time to me.

It's your thread. I'll moderate my post if you like.

I say we ban not using chalk. Think of how beautiful all the cliffs would be if they were painted entirely white like your nice suburban picket-fence.

Greg said

"" I may be new to being roped up, but Ive been tramping around the mountains for quite a while.

It shows, I don't use much chalk when I climb 5.9.... go and try to hold on when the going gets hard, on a hot day. Chalk also acts like a cushion under ones fingers on very small holds. These benefits really become apparent as the grades of rockclimbing increase, because you don't happen to go there- grade wise- you have zero experience with this.

And I just love it when someone says... "im out".. and then keep coming back for more.

OR

I have been trolled....

happy climbing