Some landowners ban chalk thinking that it's the chalk that makes routes white. It isn't. In most rock the hardest stuff is the quartz crystals. As all the s

Some landowners ban chalk thinking that it's the chalk that makes routes white. It isn't. In most rock the hardest stuff is the quartz crystals. As all the soft stuff is eroded away by foot traffic (mica and such) the white quartz is left exposed. You can always spot a climbing route by the polished-white toeholds. Chalk or not, climbing makes marks.