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old_school
Oct 17, 2001, 4:57 AM
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i just want to know what other people think about having no chalk rules in certain areas, i know it makes the rock look bad, but eco balls suck, and I think its better to just use chailk when needed, not in excess, what do others think?
*edit: fixed the spelling of chalk for ya -fiend*
[ This Message was edited by: fiend on 2001-10-17 09:52 ]
[ This Message was edited by: cass on 2002-07-05 05:49 ]
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pianomahnn
Oct 17, 2001, 5:30 AM
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Who is to say what is excess and what is not?
Me personally, I chalk about one time for a climb. Don't touch the stuff until I'm done. But that's mainly because I don't like stopping when I climb. If I were to stop and rest, I'm sure I would chalk. But I don't. See?
Chalk is there. Deal with it. It's better than seeing a shopping mall on the rock.
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mountainmike
Oct 17, 2001, 3:32 PM
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I think that chalk on the rock does take away from the natural beauty. It seems to me that since rockclimbers put it there that we should have days when we clean the chalk off the rock. I know it would end right back up there. But something like that just seems right. I mean if you beleive in leave no trace then you can't think it is ok. But I still use chalk. And I sure don't try to clean it up.
[ This Message was edited by: mountainmike on 2001-10-19 20:53 ]
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froggy
Oct 17, 2001, 4:49 PM
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I think that chalk definitely takes away from the beauty of the rock. But, we do need chalk as climbers. So in order to fix the problem there should be days that people go to their local climbing area and clean up. I have climbed at Malibu Creek State Park (So Cal) a few times and it is so greesy from layers of chalk and it looks cruddy too. I have asked myself why people don't clean it up. - If it was not so over hanging I would go clean it, but I can't hang on long enough
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fiend
Oct 17, 2001, 4:56 PM
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All things in moderation. Chalking enough to keep your hands from sweating is different than chalking at every move and ticking holds all over the place.
At least chalk is environmentally friendly, it may be an eyesore to some but at least it washes away with the rain.
I actually think chalk on the rock can look cool sometimes, when you get a hard problem on that really dark rock and just a few patches of it are chalked up, itoutlines the sick sequence and makes for great contrast.
But that's just me.
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catga86
Oct 19, 2001, 5:30 PM
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Chalk is somethingwe have to have. I just got my first chalk bag, a week ago and it is something I needed. My hands were hurting and being skinned alive. It was not a very fun thing. I totally agree that chalk takes the beauty out of it. We should have a clean up day in climbing, so the chalk won't build up. What do you guys think about cleaning it?
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wigglestick
Oct 19, 2001, 7:00 PM
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I don't mean to be the one to piss in the fire but you don't really need chalk. Just like you don't need a car or a television. You may think you need these things but you don't. Haven't you ever forgot your chalk bag or gone without. Some really hard routes were done back in the day before chalk. I use chalk and I can see why some people may think it looks ugly. Because it does to the non-climber. But I also think that for every person who thinks it is ugly there are a thousand people who never notice it and could care less. I would much rather climb without chalk than have my crags closed.
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woodse
Oct 19, 2001, 7:03 PM
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Damn straight Wiggle!!
Lots to be learned from that. If no one had ever shown you chalk you never woulda used it to climb
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kriso9tails
Oct 19, 2001, 10:30 PM
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In all honesty, who cares if chalk is ugly. Some people think I'm ugly and I haven't been banned . If it were an ecological issue I wouldn't use it, but chalk is probably better than leaving the oils from your hands all over the rock. And maybe you don't think you need chalk, but the people climbing up after you might just disagree. I'm not to concerned about the issue, but the in areas that I climb, the tourists and hikers don't go (with the exception of one area where the chalk isn't all that visible anyways). Of all the things that people could take issue with, I would hope that this one isn't very high up on the list.
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rck_climber
Oct 19, 2001, 10:44 PM
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Well, where I climb, it IS a big issue. I'm usually at the Garden of the Gods (it's just so close) where 1.2 million people visit each year. There are so many Gapers that you can hardly walk to your crags to climb during the summer (height of Gaper season - wish we could shoot 'em like rabbits during rabbit season).
It DOES look terrible when the beautiful red sandstone anomalies in the Garden are coated in chalk. Therefore I am very concious about how much chalk I use.
While it may not apply to the backwoods where some of you climb, it's a big issue in other areas that see alot more tourists.
Mick
(BTW, chalk is banned in the Garden of the Gods, and I, for one, would never break that rule :yeah, right: ).
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metoliusmunchkin
Oct 20, 2001, 1:59 AM
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I know that this might not apply to all, though I must say, as a climber, I do not think that chalk takes away from the beauty of a rock climb, nor that it damages it. I am a bit like pianomahnn (sp?) I rarely chalk up on rock routes, since the rock doesn't produce much sweat in your palms as you climb.
I know that the most common rule in the gym is not to use open chalk, and that chalk balls would be prefered. For the gym, I have used chalk balls, and I think that they are okay, but I prefer to use loose chalk instead. (Just try not to spill the loose chalk in the gym, they don't like that very much! )
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rrrADAM
Oct 20, 2001, 3:39 AM
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I think since we share the land with other people who may not find chalk appealing, we need to respect their right to the land as we want our's respected.
Use chalk in moderation in high non-climber traffic areas. Use chalk colored to match the rock you're climbing on as they do in Arches National Park.
To just say "deal with it", is like the people banning bolts saying "deal with it". We must find a happy medium, with respect to all involved, all will be happy.
rrrADAM
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daisuke
Oct 20, 2001, 3:21 PM
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on a parallel subject, is there ANY reason why someone would want to use rosin over chalk? don't give me the "it's bad for the rock" lecture because I know it, I just wonder why anyone would want to use it knowing what it does
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drulints
Oct 20, 2001, 3:29 PM
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I like chalk. It keeps me baby fresh
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patman
Oct 20, 2001, 5:17 PM
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I dont know i use a lot of chalk. I mean not too much but i have natuarly swety hands so if it was baned or i couldent use it i would be in big troubal.
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