[mark s]

Tomtom's just clocked this crap on the Pebble....

saw that on wed.didnt have camera with me.a lad who was talking about it with me said brass monkey was plastered but i couldnt be arsed walk that way.

[Tris]

Texas being known as a place where rock is in profusion (with some exceptions) and name chisseling is commonplace?

No, Texas being a place full of freakin weirdos with hammers, you obviously haven't seen the cult classic (sorry for going  )

[SA Chris]

Ah yes, recall there being a hammer occasionally involved in a film better known for the title tool.

[The Sausage]

very thickly caked on tick mark on sit down arete on the Tanks boulder at Burbage South yesterday.

I've not particularly got much against tick marks per se when used proportionately as they can be useful sometimes but I don't understand why people can't BRUSH THE MARKS OFF afterwards. Or otherwise why not try to remembering where the holds are??????

I disagree, tick marks should never be more than a very light SPOT. Tick marks do not completely brush off. Whether this is worse with 'superchalk' type stuff I don't know, but there is always some mark left behind. A line is NOT acceptable. It is grafitti. It looks awful, and detracts from subsequent ascents. It is also easy to forget to brush them off, or leave them as someone else is trying the problem, and then they're there to stay.

That's my take on it anyway.

[jon bassindale]

It's not just the grit. For a while now i've been warming up at the Langdale boulders by vigorously brushing tick marks ( the sausage is right, they don't disappear easily), somebody round our way is combining being blind as a bat with the memory of a goldfish. I turned one evening to find literally every conceivable foothold on the overhang face marked up. Has anybody got any theories as to why it's becoming more prevalent? Indoor walls? trips abroad?

[nodder]

I quite liked the idea of using bits of tape to mark holds apart from the fact that most people would just chuck them on the floor or leave them stuck on, so chalk maybe the lesser of two evils?

Has anybody got any theories as to why it's becoming more prevalent?

Its a jug now?
 

[jon bassindale]

"Its a jug now?"

you've lost me,what's a jug now?  anyway, why is irrelevant i guess, stopping it is the issue.

[nodder]

Stone love.  Jerry tick marks the hold on Le Proue and exclaimes "its a jug now".  In every dvd and at every crag problems are covered in tick marks so people copy that behaviour.   

[jon bassindale]

Ah,with you now.Sounds about right. Same reason we've got folks headpointing HVS. That's a bit of a bugger.

[nodder]

A bugger indeed.  But I tick holds, as I am sure most of you do/have done.  Bit like blow torching and wire brushing, in theory doesn't matter if you are careful and don't go over the top. Then you get to the point where you can see the holds on the minimum from the roadside, cos somebody didn't think they were clean enough.  This is the sort of issue that will become more and more difficult to manage because of more people starting to climb.  We all just have to point out the error of their ways as and when we see people doing these things.

[nodder]

Wasnt the Troll chalk bag called the 6a because you weren't supposed to need chalk on anythig easier?  How about a nationally approved V12 tickmark? 

[Adi Gill]

Some one out there has been trying the statesman and seems to have a problem remembering where the holds are. With a bit of luck todays wind and rain will have tidied it up.

[mrjonathanr]

FWIW someone has been leaving me more than a bit frustrated whenever I pop into Pex with holds utterly caked in chalk, makes the photo of the Pebble chalking look discreet. As many are jugs, and quite a few below knee-level it's a bit baffling. The work of a retard. I did wonder if it might be an over-zealous parent identifying holds for a child... Whatever, still a retard, and an eyesore.

[Houdini]

What's wrong w/ making chalk a dark shade? 

Grey would work much better.

[tomtom]

What's wrong w/ making chalk a dark shade? 

Grey would work much better.

That is a very good idea...

[slackline]

I'm sure I've read mention of this idea in one of the Intro sections to a guide, possibly the Purple Font circuits guide (but then it also mentions inflatable air-pads that you wear and will inflate when falling!).

You'd also need a wider range of colours too, e.g. grey would stand out just as starkly at St Bees/Hueco as white would.

[SA Chris]

grey would stand out just as starkly at St Bees/Hueco as white would.

I don't think it would. A generic 18% grey would blend in much better than white on most rocks, except maybe some very pale granites.

[dave]

what would be the point in tickmarking in an colour that blends in? you wouldn't be able to see it, whihc is the whole point of tickmarking. The issue is not with the colour of chalk, the issue is with people not brushing them off afterwards. And given even the most well-meaning human being's capacity for forgetfullness this means since people are prone to forgetting, people should be trying very hard to not tickmark in the first place, and if they do, do it in a very subtle and easy-to-remove way.

I'm sure I've read mention of this idea in one of the Intro sections to a guide, possibly the Purple Font circuits guide (but then it also mentions inflatable air-pads that you wear and will inflate when falling!).

The font guides/sites are a bit useless/hypocritical when it comes to tickmarks. They all espose minimal use of chalk and not donkeylining, but then you flick through the blue off-piste guide and bleau.info and you see some of the worst examples of tickmarking you're likely to see - no wonder font is covered in them. People in a position of influence need to lead by example. I'd certainly like to see mags/guides/news-sites/sponsors having a blackout on publishing photos of shit with heavy-duty tickmarks. Sounds harsh but something has got to change, or we'll have more french idiots painting "stop magnesie" with paint on every boulder in font.

[Jim]

what would be the point in tickmarking in an colour that blends in? you wouldn't be able to see it

BOOM

[Andy B]

You used to be able to get chalk in a range of yellows to greys. Although I can't ever remember seeing it in British shops, the american mags used to advertise it.

I think mags and websites refusing to use pictures with tick marks is a good idea.

[Krank]

Name and shame. 13secs GUILTY

[Fiend]

people should be trying very hard to not tickmark in the first place, and if they do, do it in a very subtle and easy-to-remove way.

Exactly. A tick mark is a helpful little indication of an obscure to see hold, it doesn't have to be a massive glaring stripe to a well chalked jug. I sometimes use a tickmark - a fingertip smudge of chalk, invariably less chalk than what's on the main body of the hold anyway.

Also correct about Font - the spiritual home of the tickmark from what I've seen!

[Jim]

you want to get yourself to ticino

[Tris]

you want to get yourself to ticino

Is that a pun? 

[Bonjoy]

You used to be able to get chalk in a range of yellows to greys. Although I can't ever remember seeing it in British shops, the american mags used to advertise it.

I think mags and websites refusing to use pictures with tick marks is a good idea.

If taken to the letter this would preclude the use of modest tickmarks by those who will always remove then, on occasions where the climber feels them necessary, perhaps on a hard FA. And/or having to pose a shot after the real ascent when the tick has been removed. The fact you could easily get round it with photoshop may be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. I do agree that perhaps mags/books could veto pics with excessive tick marking on local crags, but censoring a pics of the latest 9b from Outer Mongolia because it has a tick mark on it…?






I agree with Dave that even the most well intentioned climber may occasionally forget to remove a tickmark, but the balance can easily be rectified if conscientious climbers made a concerted effort to rub off other people’s tick marks when they see them. Much like the occasional bit of litter which falls out of your pocket and gets taken by the wind can be offset by picking up a few bits of other people’s litter.