Chalk Ain’t Chalk.

Ever wondered about the different kinds of chalk sold at the Rockhouse?
Herein we briefly unravel some of the mysteries of the King Of All White Powders and talk briefly about hand care in general.

There are basically two type of chalk – pure (more or less) Magnesium Carbonate (Wild Country Chalk Shots and the new Edelrid Tubs) and Mag Carb with a drying agent added (Metolious Super Chalk) which arguably has a stronger or longer-lasting anti-sweaty-greasy-muck properties. Chalk in an alcohol solution (liquid chalk) is also available but is VERY bad for skin and is only really applicable to hard, sustained boulder problems where chalking-up mid-ascent is not possible.

Most people with chronically dry skin would be well advised to stick with the “pure” varieties of chalk while those lucky enough not to obsess over the n’th degree of friction can choose from the different textures – “pure” chalks tend to be lighter and softer while Super Chalk has a heavier, gritty feel to it.

Regardless of what sort of chalk you are using, be sure to wash your hands as soon as you finish climbing. Pay special attention to the creases under your finger joints and don’t be afraid of moisturiser (in the old days the common wisdom was to avoid all forms of liquid – shower with gloves taped on, no washing dishes, nothing except a desert for the hands but thankfully time has tempered such nonsense and climbers are now expected to do their share of the washing-up even at the most dirt-bag of campsites).

If you are doing a lot of climbing keep an eye on the calluses that form between the finger pads (near the joints) – this thick, callused skin tends to get compressed into a band which then has a tendency to snag on holds and cause Flappers (the callus is ripped off leaving only a flap of skin) or Splits (the callus snags and literally opens a tear in the skin across the inside of the finger). Many dedicated climbers use a small piece of coarse sand paper to remove some (especially the edges) of the callus – a little bit gross and sort of hard to explain to non-climbers but then, lots of things are hard to explain to non-climbers.

Finally, as far as this relatively uneducated correspondent has heard there is no evidence that moderate amounts of chalk dust is particularly bad for people. Chalk itself is extremely soluble and relatively inert however the jury is well-and-truly out when it comes to the impact drying agent additives.