Imagine climbing with wet hands!
John Gill started putting chalk onto his hands in the mid 1950s but only for bouldering. It dried his skin out, giving him better grip on the rock when climbing. This made me wonder, who was the first to stuff it into their pockets? Who was first to take it up the ropes with them?
Can you imagine how difficult it would be to chalk up if we had to stick our hands into our pockets 😂 Or how little chalk we could carry up patted on to the outside of our pants. That’s why chalk bags evolved.
However, climbers still waist enormous amounts of time and effort chalking up! This time is spent hanging on, feeling the pump and sweat levels rise. Use your bag well
Do have it
Make sure it is easy to access the tied around your waist with an adjustable light, thin and flat fabric belt. Holding the bag flat and snug against your back. Get a stiff topped bag that stays open, ready for your hand at short notice.
Don’t dangle it.
Don’t attach with a carabiner! It will twist and turn while hanging behind you, making it harder for you to get you increasingly sweatier hand into it. If you do find it hard to reach just keep climbing!
Bottom line : Chalk can make us better climbers…if we can reach it 🚀
