Tokyo Powder does not use rosin (rosin) in any of its products.
When an athlete who used BOOST performed well in the World Cup in the past, the IFSC asked for a list of ingredients. Recently, however, it seems that there are some competitions that prohibit the use of chalk containing rosin, and we have received inquiries about the ingredients from athletes overseas.
Due to this background, we have noted in this article that it is not being used.
-
By the way, do you know what the problem is with rosin?
Rosin is a natural resource, and has an extremely low negative impact on the environment, making it an excellent material. However, it may not be suitable for climbing, because the adhesive substance in rosin is difficult to wash away with water, and so at famous rock formations with many climbers, the rosin and dirt on the holds can stain them, making them look dirty and affecting tourism.
Rosin does not have the frictional force that is often rumored to wear down the hold. If you brush your club, it should have almost no effect, but if you neglect to brush your club or overuse your club to the point where brushing cannot keep up, the chalk on the rosin will harden and the feel of the club will change more than the hold.
So, rather than a problem with rosin, it's more a problem with brushing and overuse. Also, depending on the brush and rock type you use, there's a risk of chipping the rock with excessive brushing. Either way, overuse will change the hold.
We have only confirmed this through simple experiments, but we believe that rosin is completely fine if it is used with the assumption that it will be brushed, as long as it is not an overused rock. However, Tokyo Powder does not use it in its products.
If anything, these days it seems to be more of a problem on artificial walls than on rock faces.
On artificial walls, there are fewer opportunities to brush than on rock, and the holds tend to get overused, so the color of the holds changes and they get dirty. Furthermore, rosin cannot be washed off with water, so once a thick layer of rosin has built up, it is very difficult to clean. The negative effects of this may be more pronounced on artificial walls than on rock.
Just as with powdered chalk, be sure to check the rules of the facility before using rosin-containing chalk on artificial walls. You should be especially careful when using it at gyms overseas, as you can avoid unnecessary trouble if you are in a foreign country.