Climbers and Their Hands

For many things it’s an accomplishment, or at least special, to have your fingers bleed. If a pop-rock artist sings “I played my guitar till my fingers bled” he is seen as dedicated. If you hammer nails, rake leaves, or chop woods till your blisters bleed you’re hardworking and should invest in gloves. If you’re a small child you get a Band-Aid with Chewbacca on it if you get a mere paper cut. If you’re a climber you dig out your tape and keep climbing; it’s no big deal and certainly not an accomplishment.

Bleeding is an inherent to climbing. You tear flappers, rip off hangnails, wear through pads, and get chewed up by crystalline cracks. The only thing climbers are allowed to do about it find “softer” rock at the end of the day and invest in a lot of medical tape. And look at their hands quite often.

Climbers spend 897% more time looking at their hands than the average non-climbing America. They also baby their hands, clipping away hangnails, half-attached flappers, and any hint of white at the end of their nails, filing down callouses, and occasionally lotioning-up to rehydrate after a day of heavy chalk-use.

Here are a few signs that you or another climber you know has worn through their finger pads:

1. The most obvious: you have blood dripping—or running—from your fingertips.
2. The crux of every move is fighting the great pain touching the rock triggers every time you grip it (you are nearing number one above).
3. You have a heightened sense of touch, making the experience of grasping familiar objects quite interesting.
4. You can no longer pull your toast out of the toaster with your bare hands.
5. Your fingertips are sweatier than normal, and you aren’t nervous.

And for a bit of encouragement for those of us who seem to always be bleeding:

A seasoned local once told Tommy that you “have to give blood to receive.” So yes, the saying is a bit weird, but if it’s true one day I’m going to receive a lot for the amount of blood tick marks I’ve left on routes, or at least I’m really hoping so.