UKC

Hi
I have a friend who would like to start climbing having been climbing with me a couple of times. However, he has increadibly sweaty hands: after using chalk thoroughly on his hands, three or four holds up the wall his hands are completely wet... He would really like to somehow solve this problem. Does somebody know how he could improve this problem, even if it is a little bit (e.g. food).
Thanks!

In reply to joljols: Is this indoor? I have the same problem when climbing inside - doesn't seem to be an issue outside.

I think its something to do with the plastic.

Best suggestion I can offer is a bar towel or small hand towel clipped to the harness - works better for me than chalking up. I think the chalk seems to encourage my hands to sweat more.

In reply to joljols: You can get some liquid chalk for his hands, I have a similar problem with very sweaty hands (though it seems to be calming down) and it worked wonders for me, it really dries out your hands and you only need chalk then to top up.

In reply to joljols:
Liquid chalk for hands, more chalk over that, and a rag on his harness.
Make sure to get a chalk bag aswell...

In reply to joljols:

I seem to get this indoors as well, I sometimes use a product called mighty grip powder which im not how welcome it is in climbing however it keeps my hands dry for the entire session.

In reply to joljols:
It's possible to get a hand deodorant. I believe you apply it once a day for a number of days then less regularly than that as time progresses. It's possible to buy it from boots and superdrug I believe. Not sure on the product name, but such a thing does exist.

In reply to joljols:

If it's really bad he should talk to his GP, there are medical options.

That said, it's probably more manageable with a bar towel and a well stocked chalk bag than you/he thinks. I sweat a lot, especially indoors but I've learned to cope with it.

If he's just starting out it's likely to feel like a much more overwhelming problem than it actually is since it'll be stacked on top of all the other things he's having to learn to cope with. Once things like tying in, planning moves, placing feet, staying in balance etc etc are more comfortable and habitual he'll probably feel more able to take a hand off to dry and chalk it when needed.

In a hot wall I'm chalking my tips pretty much every move, drying my palms as and when I can hang about a bit longer. In some ways smaller holds are a blessing since you only need to dry your tips!

jk

In reply to Anonymous: Liquid Chalk works fine.

In reply to joljols:

I climb with a sports scientist boffin. He advises that the only sweat cause in hands relates to fear - part of the fight or flight response. Might it be worth him taking a look at antiperspirants earlier in the day to try to keep this to a manageable level?

In reply to joljols:

driclor might work

In reply to joljols: My mate used to suffer from this problem. I think part of it was fear but another part of it was the fact that he drank excessive amounts of coffee at work before going climbing. It seemed the more caffeine he had in his system the more he would sweat! He may have been a special case though!

In reply to AlisonSmiles: Perhaps your sports scientist might like to choose a different career, as I sit here at work with sweaty hands despite being bored stupid waiting for the friday afternoon clock to tick down to zero.

Maybe I subconsciously am afraid of my boss or want to pick a fight with one of my colleagues

Thanks for all your comments. I think it is more than just excessive sweat my friend has. He went to a GP but his treatments didn't really help (don't recall what they were). Nevertheless, I think he should definitely try:
1) to reduce his coffee drinking habits
2) Use liquid chalk
3) Climb with a chalk bag and a climbing towel
4) Understand sweat might decrease the more 'normal' it will be for him as all is quite new for him.
THanks again and any further suggestions are always welcome!