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Chalk bans
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Guys I've been getting laughed at for years for saying this but seriously, can we please start using colored chalk. It blows my mind that no one cares about this. I don't know about you but I like using chalk and I'd hate for this to become the new norm. Let's address this before it's a problem else where. https://www.outtherecolorado.com/news/colorado-park-bans-rock-climbing-chalk-and-chalk-substitutes-as-popularity-of-sport-grows/article_a96e6784-8683-11eb-91ed-1f25779e3d53.amp.html |
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Things to do to live a better life: 1. Quit smoking weed. ,/ 2. Quit drinking. ,/ 3. Quit eating sugar. ,/ 4. Stop using chalk. |
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As some one who wants to climb in the Utah deserts does anyone know where to get reddish brown colored chalk? |
Bryce Dahlgren wrote: Climbing Addicts makes different colors of chalk for this reason. It's a bit more expensive and I haven't tried it myself but I do think its a good idea in principle. |
Bryce Dahlgren wrote: It's hard to find. I use gray being east coast, but I know climbing addicts sells a gold one that's supposed to be good for desert sandstone. But it's all so pricey and too fine for my liking. I wish metolius or black diamond would get into the market. It would be a game changer |
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Idk, Is it really that big of a deal? I mean when it rains most of it will wash off anyway. I just think there are much more impactful things we do in climbing chalk is less of a concern. Like bolts or trails etc. |
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The problem with colored chalk is that the pigment creates permanent stains. White chalk, though visible, can be washed off with water. |
Frank Stein wrote: Is that so? That definitely changes my stand on them but some more explanation or examples would be appreciated |
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Chalk is clearly aid and it leaves traces. A reckoning is due for popular areas on public land. It sort of boggles my mind it hasn't been prohibited yet. |
Jake G wrote: "Chalk use was previously not permitted in the park, though chalk substitutes were allowed." |
Bryce Dahlgren wrote: I am wondering how efficient is the dust you can pick on the trails to the cliff ? They are the same color ..! |
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Climbers aren't pro-active. That's why it's never been a thing. I'd refer to the previous thread. Anything that the climbing community does is obviously either great or perfectly acceptable for everyone. A by-product of climber's habit, such as huge white marks all over the cliffs, cannot be a nuisance by definition.  I'm guessing that image was taken during peak season at the Red, all that stuff would be gone by like the next day. |
Cutler Jensen wrote: This is what I always hear. But it really is a concern just look at the city of golden in the link I sited. Keep in mind it's not the average tourist we should be worried about. It's the other 1 percent of non climbing outdoor enthusiasts that have made the great outdoors they're life. They are the ones with the loudest voices who run organizations like the AMC and Sierra club and so forth. And I feel for them. Some places, every boulder in site of a trail is covered. I know colored chalk isn't invisible but at least it's less in your face and less likely to result in an all out ban. |
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Maybe some of you more chalk addicted folks could try just dabbing a bit on your tips and blow the excess off instead of dipping your hands in up to your wrists. |
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I've always found chalk stains to be an absolutely unnecessary eyesore. If you ever thought a climb was beautiful, it's pretty easy to help maintain it's beauty by chilling out on chalk. |
Franck Vee wrote: Anyways, as Cutler Jensen pointed out and anyone who's been to say Red River Gorge will know, chalk nevers stays on any wall more than a day or two, because of the rain: I've only been to the red a handful of times so maybe a local could chime in here, but I think it's actually the opposite for chalk marks on overhung routes there, ie lots of it is steep enough that rain never/rarely washes the chalk off. It seemed like every semi-travelled route there had everything that could conceivably be a hold covered in chalk. That's the way it also is with some spots in Tennessee. I've often fantasized about hauling a power washer out to the wall... Also it seems a little pompous to issues blanket statements about "I don't need to use any chalk so no one else should need it either!!" There's definitely a huge spectrum of how much people's hands sweat, the type of rock and type of climbing you're doing etc. Anyone that says they don't need chalk should come climb in the south in July lol |
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Chalk should be illegal for anything under 5.11a I’d even allow 10a. Maybe. But chalk on 5.9 and under is by people who see real climbers and wanna pretend to be one. Change my mind. |
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I have no problem with chalk on a wall and I think whining about it is infelicitous |
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Honestly this seems like a Colorado problem to me. CO is the new California, change my mind |
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I'm way ahead of you: I stopped using chalk altogether 10 years ago! |
Cutler Jensen wrote: Yeah unfortunately in the desert, it doesn't really rain and sandstone really loves to hold onto chalk. Check out Chuckawalla wall in Utah, Big Bend Boulders in Moab, or even little cottonwood canyon granite in Utah. People climb on the rocks out here so much that the chalk becomes part of the rock |
