BURSTIt should come as no surprise to rock climbers that the use of chalk has been banned in Yosemite National Park. The reasons for this are threefold:
Firstly, chalk-scrubbing staff reductions. Yosemite employs a dozen highly trained scrubbers to remove excess chalk from rock climbs every year. Unfortunately, there will be no chalk-scrubbing team in 2025 due to the federal government’s efforts to reduce staff numbers in National Parks. No chalk-scrubbers leads to the next problem – tick-marks.
Secondly, unsightly tick-marks. Excessive chalk on popular routes results in a patchwork of white marks that distracts tourists. And distracted tourists make up 50% of clumsy accidents – just a bunch of poisson d’avril. So, no tick-marks means less clumsy accidents.
And thirdly, not enough climbers have embraced synthesised liquid chalk. While far from perfect and often annoying to apply, synthesised liquid chalk offers a sustainable alternative to mined powder chalk. And with Yosemite National Park’s 2025 mission statement including their goal to reduce global mining operations, there’s no room for mined chalk on El Capitan.
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