Climbers Christmas Gift Guide

Struggling to think of that perfect gift or stocking filler for the climbing obsessed loved one in your life? We asked our team what they would want to find under their tree this year and these are the top 5 things that came up again and again.

• A Climbing Hold Brush

Probably the most under-rated tool to help you achieve that nagging project! A good brush of any hold removes excess chalk that may otherwise act as a lubricant rather than a drying agent. We always recommend brushing any rounder slopey holds before pulling onto them and this also gives you a chance to familarise yourself with the hold shape and texture before you pull onto a route! 

Our favourite brush is the Pongoose Crimper-Dimper (A medium sized brush, that covers a wide size of hold shapes and sizes) 

• Chalk - KletterKalk (Recommended by our instructor and coaching team)

The magical MgCO3. Most climbers use chalk to dry out their hands and improve friction on the holds, long viewed as an essential tool in any climbers arsenal and needless to say we go through heaps of it.

A lot of chalks out there are dug out of the ground (a finite resource) and some other brands when tested contain plastics, metals and even fungus. Made in Germany, and made from sea water this food grade chalk (We 100% don’t recommend actually eating it unless you loose a bet) KletterKalk is good for the environment and is completely pure.

When friction matters this chalk is seriously good almost anyone who trys it immediately buys a bag it's that good, we stock two varieties;

• Klassic- Fine textured flour like chalk coats hands evenly, meaning less chalking and more sending! It genuinely lasts forever.
• Krack- A coarser chunky texture for those that don’t like the feel of fine chalk, or for those with super wet hands it does have a (food grade) drying additive.

• A Chalk Bag

Well, you can't have chalk without a bag! But which one do you get? There's two main types; a chalk bag is a smaller bag that can be secured around your waist with a belt or piece of cord, meaning it can be worn whilst climbing a route, generally more useful for longer routes roped climbing. A chalk bucket or bouldering bucket is a larger bag that allows you to coat your hands with chalk easily. It's common to eat through your chalk supply when bouldering indoors, or if you're generous enough to share it with friends, so boulder buckets have a higher capacity than chalk bags too. They often have a variety of pockets and brush holders too.

You can go low key or we also stock 8b+ and their super funky monsters (all with they're own name and personality)

• Guidebooks

The Peak District has the highest concentration of climbing of anywhere in the UK and is home to some of the best crags in the world and many classic climbs, but how do you find them? Why not treat the climber in your life to some inspiration for when the rock warms up and it’s time to get back climbing outside! We really like RockFax and Wired guidebooks to whet one’s appetite for outdoor climbing adventures! 

The eagle eyed will spot one of our core team in one of the guides.

• Gift Cards

If you're looking for something that bit more personal and want to gift someone with their first outdoor climbing adventure, or if they already climb and want some input to take their climbing to the next level, we offer a range of gift cards for courses, specific amounts or to be used in our wall and shop.

Gift cards are available on our website or in store at our climbing wall and provide you with a digital PDF voucher for those last minute shoppers!