A chalk bag is a great place to carry emergency essentials when you're climbing. It’s always there, rarely forgotten, and often has room to stash some critical gear. Here’s what I put in mine.
All tagged climbing gear
La Sportiva TX Guide — Initial Impressions
A crossover between a trail runner and an approach shoe, I lusted over La Sportiva’s TX Guides for months. But the initial reviews I read were mixed—some said the sizing was funky, while others just raved about them. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me and I got a pair. After two months of lapping the Blue Hill Slab and some climbing sessions at Quincy Quarries, it was a great decision, as Sportiva’s latest approach shoe is perfect for the slabby terrain that I frequent. Here are my initial impressions:
Beginner's Guide to Personal Climbing Kit
So you finally have a weekend to join your friends on a trip to Rumney and you’re excited to climb outside for the first time. All that time learning to climb in the gym has prepared you for the physical aspects of the upcoming climbs, but not necessarily the personal gear you need to send the transition from gym to crag. Here’s my recommendation for a streamlined and highly versatile kit.
My Go-To Climbing Gear
Between multiple trips to the Gunks, days clipping bolts at Rumney, and many outings to crag at various cliffs in New Hampshire (Whitehorse, Longstack Precipice, Square Ledge, Echo Crag, and Artists Bluff), Greater Boston (Quincy Quarries, Rattlesnake Rocks, Hammond Pond, and Crow Hill), and Connecticut (Chatfield Hollow), I’ve been climbing a lot this season. Here’s some of the gear that keeps finding its way into my kit no matter the outing.
How to Wash a Climbing Rope
The last several weeks at Tuesday Night Climbing, I’ve gotten an earful about how “dirty” my climbing ropes are. Of course, the earfuls were well-deserved as my ropes were, to put it mildly, dirty. The key word there, though, is were, as earlier this week I decided to solve the problem. I washed the ropes. In case you’ve never done it, here’s how to wash a climbing rope in 7 easy steps.