Some Hot Takes on Chalk

1) It ruins the aesthetic of a climb.
Take the headwall of armatron. Who in their right mind thinks the chalk marks on that glorious patina does anything but take away from the beauty?

 Or that ugly streak of chalk on yak crack that you can see all the way from the loop road?

I propose that for select classics that have some consensus aesthetic, and arent just for the sport of pulling hard, that they should be protected with ethical taboos on using chalk on so and so pitches of so and so climbs. Chalk up manufactured limestone all you want, but leave the likes of Yin and Yang alone! That thing is a work of art!

2) If the chalk on a climb tells you where the holds are, its not a true onsight.

I recently fell on a 5.10 climb that had a dearth of chalk at the crux. I missed a good crimp and went the wrong way to a shitty sloper gaston. I haven't fallen on a 5.10 sport climb in years, should I be salty? Should i cry to everyone that it’s a sandbag? No, the climb won fair and square. I deserved to fall. I could easily have flashed that climb if there was chalk on that crimp. You see? Thats beta. Whats the difference between that and someone illuminating all the viable holds on a climb with an ensemble of laser pointers. Is that still an onsight?

Bias: i dont use chalk because my hands dont sweat.

Chalk feels good. Its a great way to procrastinate and pump out before you even commit to the move ;)  Just hang there and dip five times.... 

Chalk is aid

Move to the area south of Dresden, Germany. "Saxon Switzerland" has a strict no-chalk ethic, if I remember correctly. Enjoy your true onsights there. 

My sweaty, amateur hands will continue to enjoy chalk over here :-D

I left the chalk bag home once and didn't miss it. So I just stopped. I don't even think, "gee t I might be able to grip this better, with chalk" anymore. Its gratifying to kick a habit, I'm here to testify. YMMV.

Nick Goldsmithwrote:

Chalk feels good. Its a great way to procrastinate and pump out before you even commit to the move ;)  Just hang there and dip five times.... 

Don't forget to add the "French blow" for effect.

What about camo coloroed chalk?

I find myself using less and less chalk these days.

Low humidity here.

I don't even bring chalk to the gym. The holds are chalked up more than enough as is.

There is a mental component. If your hands sweat while thinking about doing climbing moves... think about the moves, let your hands sweat, then think about something else and look away from your climb for a while, let a fan blow at your palms, then just get on with it when your hands have dried and execute.

With enough self-reflection you will likely find that a majority of your chalking up is just habitual during rests and often not needed.

I have not purchased chalk in over 4 years, but I'll gladly sell friction labs weekly to the same hyper-chalkers only doing V4-V5 at the gym.

***YMMV. If you have high humidity and/or slimestone, you do what you must. I got 99 problems son, but slimestone ain't one.

Sometimes I wipe my hands off on my shirt or pants.

An amazing, constructive post that has never, ever, been written before. 10/10

I'm convinced!

You know, some say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. I wonder what that says about me?

Not Not MP Adminwrote:

What about camo coloroed chalk?

We tried that in the 80s. Many shades were needed to match the rock and the needed shades varied from hold to hold. On top of that, the chalk sucked.

Steve McGeewrote:

Sometimes I wipe my hands off on my shirt or pants.

I snap my fingers, sorta same thing.

Wow! The last confirmed sighting of the chalk controversy was in a Mountain Magazine editorial, 1972, and it had been concluded that this issue was extinct.   

Not Not MP Adminwrote:

What about camo coloroed chalk?

The perfect accessory to an AR-15. 

Not Not MP Adminwrote:

What about camo coloroed chalk?

Do you notice its on the rock?

Redacted Redactbergwrote:

Do you notice its on the rock?

Its on the rock? Your right, its is

I have the sweatiest hands of anyone I know (I drop about 2 full YDS numbers climbing in warm weather, even with chalk), but I do understand and in some cases appreciate when land managers ban chalk at particularly beautiful climbing areas. I'm glad it's not the norm and I can still use it when I want to try hard, but I don't mind dropping a few grades on occasion so my sweaty mitts aren't degrading the aesthetic of a beautiful place. 

Arches and Garden of the Gods are a couple good examples, but I can think of several more that should ban it (eg: Hueco Tanks is kind of embarrassing to experience alongside non-climbers). I'd guess that the lion's share of caked-on chalk is from people trying too hard in bad conditions, so maybe my modest proposal is to ban chalk in the middle 6 months of the year when it's most overused.

I couldn’t tell you the last time I used chalk. I still Cary the bag out of habit but never use it. It can be 90f on an exposed face I just suck it up. I don’t care that other people use it, though I agree that it is ugly. It just feels wrong using chalk.  Do whatever you want but I will be keeping my hands sweaty.

Liquid chalk is pretty sweet though

I feel like non-chalk users probably have very dry hands in general or live in dry areas. Most humid areas are unclimbable for me without chalk as I have water that beads up on my fingers and palms.

Also to the people that say there is enough chalk on the holds, that means you need to brush the holds not that it will actually dry your hands. 

Also OP the spray about purity is hilarious when you are the one effectively choosing to climb these climbs with chalk on them. BD cave is hardly an aesthetic cliff to be that concerned about chalk either ffs.

living in the NE the chalk is a nice thing to have. Most of the places i climb are not busy enough to get horribly chalked up and then it rains sideways and does a decen job cleaning iot up. I can see that in the desert it's a real eyesore. 

What about camo coloroed chalk?

Victor Creazzi wrote:  "We tried that in the 80s. Many shades were needed to match the rock and the needed shades varied from hold to hold. On top of that, the chalk sucked."

It still seems like a better mix mix would work.  It doesn't have to match that well, only greyish and rustyish color would cover most needs.  People often pay more for "premium" chalk these days.

Also, even if you don't use chalk, you are generally benefiting from previous chalkers who keep the holds from being as greasy.