Pawtuckaway chalk-bombed

This amount of chalk is insane. Please clean up after yourself, whoever you are.

Looks like most of the popular boulder problems I see around here.

Gotta love the foot long tick mark. God damn.

First, I don't do this. But second... Why do people care about this so much??

I normally don't care that much. Stuff gets washed off especially with the amount of rain we get around here. But this amount of chalk obviously came from a single session (I go to pway enough to tell) and there was no effort made to clean up afterward. Those pictures are AFTER I went to town with a brush trying to clean up. I object to people not cleaning up after themselves, chalk included. I know we all leave chalk behind, but at least make SOME effort to clean up. The ground around these boulders looked like it has snowed.

Sadly there are folks that believe "the more the better" when it comes to chalk. This is not limited to boulderers either. I recently got on a coiuple routes that had just been sieged by some mostly-newbie top-ropers. I swear the only way I could get as much chalk on the holds as they did would be to close my fist around a handful of chalk in my bag and open it once I'd touched the hold.

Jef Anstey wrote:

First, I don't do this. But second... Why do people care about this so much??

Also, this is slightly more acceptable in areas that get a lot of rain. In the desert, like Joe's or Bishop, this is just there forever unless someone comes along with a huge brush (a big scrubber works fine, $3 at Lowes or Home Depot).  

caesar.salad wrote:

Also, this is slightly more acceptable in areas that get a lot of rain. In the desert, like Joe's or Bishop, this is just there forever unless someone comes along with a huge brush (a big scrubber works fine, $3 at Lowes or Home Depot).  

I can see the logic in an area like this yes.

In an area it would be gone in one rainstorm? Not so much.

also depending on if it's in plain view or hidden somewhere secluded would impact my consideration

What gets me about this is that it's actually counterproductive:  chalk reduces friction, that's why gymnasts use it.  If you put more chalk on your hands (and the holds) than needed to absorb sweat, it's just making it easier for you to slip off, rather than helping.  Plus, this is just wasteful.  I like those silly chalk balls, since I only get just enough chalk on the part of my hand that can use it, and it's tough to make a huge mess, even if I clumsily knock over my chalk bag.  

John Badila wrote:

What gets me about this is that it's actually counterproductive:  chalk reduces friction, that's why gymnasts use it.  If you put more chalk on your hands (and the holds) than needed to absorb sweat, it's just making it easier for you to slip off, rather than helping.  Plus, this is just wasteful.  I like those silly chalk balls, since I only get just enough chalk on the part of my hand that can use it, and it's tough to make a huge mess, even if I clumsily knock over my chalk bag.  

True. Too much chalk is a dry lubricant.

Jef Anstey wrote:

In an area it would be gone in one rainstorm? Not so much.

That's the same as expecting someone else (or something else) to clean up your mess, isn't it? Besides, even in coastal areas that rain consistently, there's still dry periods.

Use as much or as little chalk on your hands as you see fit, but the only way those tick marks are legit is if Carl from Up was learning how to boulder.

Mark Waterous wrote:

That's the same as expecting someone else (or something else) to clean up your mess, isn't it? Besides, even in coastal areas that rain consistently, there's still dry periods.

Use as much or as little chalk on your hands as you see fit, but the only way those tick marks are legit is if Carl from Up was learning how to boulder.

A lot of this chalk was in places on boulders that are overhanging (see the one my wife is standing next to) and thus will never get rained on. I'll be back out there Monday, scrubbing away. 

hmmmm you don't have a pic of the lightning? it rained wed and thurs that thing must have been chalked to the shits?  i here what your saying but as these areas keep getting ticked as some of the best boulders in america and with a growing climbing population it;s a sign of the times? growing up and climbing here for 30 yrs it'll wax and wane as the tides but the caliber and quantity of climbers that have ripped threw and chalked these woods r vast and impressive... it gets chalky for a few yrs and gets quiet again for a while. what does suck is that these boulders are on established hiking trails in a state park, the chalk looks like graffiti and i'd say the majority of redbull cans and trash come from us. anybody remember the giant olympuke gym mat from a few yrs back? 

since no one else has said it:

CHALK IS AID

JFM wrote:

since no one else has said it:

CHALK IS AID

lol

So are shoes, hang boards, cams, climbing gyms, crash pads...

Won't scrubbing the chalk away after every day of climbing start to polish the rock (at least on the most frequently climbed routes) over a long enough timeline?  Wouldn't it be better (for the rock) to just leave it be?

Won't scrubbing the chalk away after every day of climbing start to polish the rock (at least on the most frequently climbed routes) over a long enough timeline?  Wouldn't it be better (for the rock) to just leave it be?

No, if done with a soft brush (nylon, boars hair etc) it will not damage the rock (unless maybe extremely soft sandstone). A wire brush on the other hand will cause damage.

HBTHREE wrote:

hmmmm you don't have a pic of the lightning? it rained wed and thurs that thing must have been chalked to the shits?  i here what your saying but as these areas keep getting ticked as some of the best boulders in america and with a growing climbing population it;s a sign of the times? growing up and climbing here for 30 yrs it'll wax and wane as the tides but the caliber and quantity of climbers that have ripped threw and chalked these woods r vast and impressive... it gets chalky for a few yrs and gets quiet again for a while. what does suck is that these boulders are on established hiking trails in a state park, the chalk looks like graffiti and i'd say the majority of redbull cans and trash come from us. anybody remember the giant olympuke gym mat from a few yrs back? 

I do remember that mat. People got pissed and I feel like it was removed pretty fast. Oddly, they didn't touch Ride the Lightning. That problem is still pretty moist. As more and more people go outside I just wanted to put this out there. I feel like if a couple new outdoor climbers have run across this thread then I can say I did what I could to spread the word about us all cleaning up after ourselves. 

Damn gym rats!!!

I've always head of 1'+ tick marks being referred to as "Connecticut" ticks since the late 90's, Soooo being that you're in lovely Raymond/Nottingham, it's only logical that those came from Connecticut, or Europeans of course.  

Someone has been doing this around boulder natural and round pond since last fall. 

wow...who cares seriously?