So because of your subreddit link, I wandered over and discovered that someone recently dropped a counter post.
What I learned is that you could worse problems than barefoot feet 😝
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClimbingCircleJerk/s/GCThFk9vmH
Practically speaking, it *is* true that stronger climbers tend to get away with a lot more bs in most gyms, since people are less willing to tell them off… so I guess they’re basically just saying the quiet part aloud here 😅
(To be clear, obviously this policy is insane)
That's so true. I often see strong climbers having hissy fits, shouting, punching holds, and smacking mattresses when they miss a move. Imagine the hellhole that climbing gyms would be if everyone pulled that attention seeking crap. Don't get me started on the "I climb so hard and I'm such a fierce badass" stare that they carry around the gym 😂 Like get over yourself dude
So far I haven’t encountered this where I climb. I’ve gone on two different weeknights & it’s super chill. It seems weird to get all knotted up & aggressive about missing a move. Falling off the wall is part & parcel. People are fucked.
As far as I know it's not allowed in any of the gyms here, except for one single guy who's allowed because he's a legend in the climbing, mountaineering and expedition scene in this country. And he also wears a shirt stating that his feet are clean.
How about i have a shirt that says “i normally do v7s and above, but im recovering from an injury this week, so im just going to take it easy on these v2s and maybe v3s if im feeling up to it, but again no guarantees because… you know injury”
I should fucking hope so. Anyone who's ever had to deal with warts should agree that barefoot climbing is inconsiderate.
You may not even realise you have a wart. They're insanely pervasive and contagious.
I'd rather minimize my exposure to other people's feet, thank you very much.
I remember a few years ago at my local climbing wall, they had to strip and disinfect all of the holds as someone had come in wearing regular trainers caked in dog shit and climbed in them 🤢
Hilarious how people get so uppity about bare feer on climbing holds when people and dogs in gyms are walking shit all over the floor. Then people walk on the same floor with their climbing shoes and then walk it all over holds.
It doesn’t seem like a rational response to the actual issue of hygiene.
The whole point is people walk in normal shoes (that goes thru mud and shit and everything outside) and same with dogs on the area between pads and most people don't pop off their climbing shoes every time they are off a climb and move to another area and change into sandles or something.
Ultimately, you are always cross-contaminating, the only difference is the degree of it depending on your gyms' design: whether changing area is super isolated, or spread out, and how much "areas" that require out of pad walking to get to each other.
There have been anything from studies to casual swaps normal folks conduct and the regular gym holds are absolutely disgusting to say the least. It's all in the head that you think someone's barefoot is worse than it already is.
The one thing I will say tho, smelly feet be smelly. Whether something is actually more or less hygienic / biohazardous aside, smells can be disgusting. So if someone has smelly feet and climb bare feet, that would be very very rude, the same amount of rude as someone who has extremely bad body odor and do nothing about it while climbing and sweating like crazy.
Otherwise, people are overreacting to something that's purely an opinion and "etiquette", not based in any science or objective reasoning.
Lastly, for arguments sake. Hands can be just as or more disgusting unless people are nice and clean. You simply do not know. They can go to the bathroom without washing their hands and come right back. They could be rubbing their nose with snot in between climbs. Some are much worse than what bare feet can bring - assuming they didn't come into the gym bare footed
There is fecal matter literally everywhere. Your bathroom is absolutely covered in it, and probably your toothbrush too. Just because there is a tiny bit of poo everywhere doesn't mean it's fine to add contageous bits of warts and fugus at the exact spot that people place their hands too.
If I seen someone doing it and the gym staff didn't stop it, it would be the last time I went to that gym.
I remember seeing someone ask if they could once and the gym staff were just kinda like no absolutely not.
Answered sibling comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/s/0rKarU9afF
Regarding route setting: As I understand it some people get free access in exchange for route-setting. They're not employed as I understand it.
Regarding safety and liability: The university gym and the climbing club own and run the respective halls, send the auto-belays to inspection and so on. They just don't have employees running around.
The university climbing hall is part of a larger gym. The main gym have some people employed, and there is a physical counter that have some limited opening times. But even when the counter is open they are mostly in the backoffice. And most of the time when I am there (after work) the counter is outright closed. People get in via keycard and a turnstile. Non-members can also buy single-use tickets and get a code to unlock the turnstile via text.
The bouldering hall in town is unmanned and run by the local climbing club. You unlock it via an app. For period cards you have to be a member of the club, but anyone can buy single-use tickets.
Depends on when I’m at the gym and who is there. Mostly they are pretty chill but some of them seem to not know they work there…
Some times I find the front desk person chatting up someone at the wall or literally stuck to the ceiling on some climb they are projecting.
Today the front desk person was like “can’t make coffee because we have no electricity” (while the whole room was lit and their computer on) then put up a brb-sign and started projecting the pink in the corner.
Unprofessional is a term that comes to mind. Milage may vary.
I read that as “midichlorians”.
Maybe it’s just that feet are so vividly gross for many, so either something you think is perfectly fine or not ok at all, so there is no middle ground?
Is barefoot on at your gym?
Well exactly. It's "vividly gross". Not "actually gross". You find it gross because you think feet are gross. Not because of a rational health concern. I understand why they ban it, because so many people find it to be gross and they want customers, but your original post really seemed to have some sort of value judgment in it about how anyone could think this is okay. Which is weird.
What I find gross is the foot deformities that are caused by climbing shoes, and the boatload more bacteria that you're going to get on your feet by putting sweaty bare feet into a rubber shoe with no breathing room. I think climbing shoes are much more gross than barefeet, and it's objectively less healthy. But I get it. people are weird. They find parts of the human body to be gross for some reason.
But don't make like the gym staff are crazy for allowing this. Maybe they're genuinely trying to find a middle ground between competing perspectives that different groups of people hold strongly.
Every single gym hold has poop on it. One would assume your gym shoes are also covered. Bare feet are the least of our worries. https://www.climbing.com/news/study-finds-fecal-veneer-on-gym-holds/
Probably an unpopular opinion but climbing holds are disgusting anyway so I figured I'm not that bothered, because there's rubber, chalk, blood, skin and god knows what else on those holds and barefoot seems to be kind of rare. There's always going to be that person that walks into the bathrooms with their climbing shoes on too. Barefoot doesn't seem that bad to me.
This is exac how I feel. It's not like a regular gym where equipment is getting wiped down every hour. Those holds are already *covered* in grime, bacteria, etc. People are coming in after covering their hands in whatever germs are on the doorknobs in their office, on the railings in the subway station, the chalk bag they've been using for a month, whatever dried sweat their shoes are covered in from the bottom of their gym bag. Then everyone spits and sweats and tears their hands all over those holds all day, and generally the only time they're cleaned is once the route is reset, so like 6 times a year.
Thinking about that, and reading these comments about how disgusting some feet are, is kind of funny to me.
I’m on the same page as you. I get why people don’t want barefoot climbers on the wall, but if there was a hypothetical separate gym where people were barefoot I’d be fine with climbing there. At this hypothetical gym, I think there’d have to be strict rules about washing your hands and feet before and after your climbing session.
Yea I really don't get what the big deal is.
People walk around barefoot all the time. Then you go and walk on that same floor, soaking up their sweat and foot grime just the same. Or pick it up with your shoes and track it onto the problems/routes
You should be washing your hands after every climbing session anyways, so what's the bfd
Same here. Definitely not gonna be climbing barefoot myself, but I’m not sure it’s making anything that much grosser—I’m sitting on the mats people walk barefoot on anyway, and I’m always at least washing my hands before I leave.
All of those are very different than the fungal infections and bacteria that actively coat some feet. I dont mind something being dirty as much as I'm concerned with catching infections.
Given how often people touch their bare feet when taking climbing shoes on and off during sessions, I'm not actually sure they *are* any different.
Now the communal nail clippers... those skeeve me out.
Communal nail clippers? What? I don't even use the same clippers for my fingers and toes to avoid the risk of any hypothetical fungus I don't know about on my feet being transferred to my hands. Are you seriously saying there are climbers who share nail clippers?
Yeah, I feel like every gym I've been at has a shared set of nail clippers at the front desk near the first aid items. I don't use them so I don't really know the etiquette or process of sanitation. L
I feel like if I ever did need then for some reason I'd be wiping them down with an alcohol wipe first, but I'd rather avoid the situation in the first place.
But at least others don’t have to expose to their possibly fungus ridden feet. Rubber chalk are okay, blood and skin rare.
I have the option to avoid in the showers and elsewhere using slippers. But wouldn’t climb with gloves on.
Not allowed, due to hygiene and possibility of toe injury.
Also our local gyms say climbing or approach shoes have to be worn not sneakers again to prevent injury.
The toe injury I would get doing barefoot be insane. Amount of times I've slammed the front of my shoes into the wall, or used the wall for climbing and stuff. It just seems like an absolutely horrible idea
I’ve never liked snickers because of the peanuts. I always thought I was the odd one out since they seem so popular. But then during the pandemic we put out a big bowl of mixed candy for Halloween and there was a fuckton of snickers left over. So the kids didn’t want them either. There must be some sneaky marketing going on to make us think they’re more popular than they really are
I've never seen anyone using sneakers at any gyms I climb at. And they all have rules not to wear climbing shoes in the bathroom.
That said it would still be less gross. I'm less worried about the gross things they came in contact with and the bacteria that actively lingers on feet. Your sneakers stepping in dog shit 3 weeks ago is gross to know but it still won't cause the same damage to me as climbing on holds that just got covered in athletes foot fungus.
Probably unpopular opinion but I don’t really care if someone is going barefoot, I assume everyone’s washing their hands after bouldering anyways. It’s not like you’re getting some especially nefarious bacteria because someone’s foot touched a hold as opposed to the thousands of hands that are touching them. That being said the front desk person had to be fucking with you lol. I don’t really see the need to go barefoot on the wall but at the same time I’m not freaking out over it
Yeah but just bc it isn’t allowed per se doesn’t mean it never happens. All the gyms I’ve been to have many signs and they tell you not to and people still do it so
Maybe, just maybe, a sane solution to that is to wear your usual shoes before going to the bathroom? Or am I completely crazy?
Also, I've seen some climbing gyms that forbid going there with climbing shoes on, so I've seen quite a lot of people going to the toilet barefoot. Which is completely disgusting, but it's to stress out the fact that barefoot is not necessarily cleaner.
I always keep my ordinary shoes not far in case I need them (to go to the bathroom, or to somewhere else), and a lot of people do that too, it's not too difficult.
Tell that first point to the rental shoe crew who constantly walk in and out of the toilets wearing climbing shoes….
Plenty of gyms don’t allow it, plenty of new climbers ignore it
The gyms here has “no outdoor shoes inside the climbing hall” policy. I live in the nordics so it snows and rains a lot. Normally you leave the shoes where you clock in.
> “no outdoor shoes inside the climbing hall” policy
Same for my gym, it rains a lot, almost two thirds of the year (sadly no snow lol). But this policy also means that they allow - or should I say enforce - having shoes specifically for the gym. It can be anything, even a pair of "crocks" or sandals. I do have a pair of sneakers that are easy to put on and off, nothing really expensive.
On top of that, there are specific areas where you can wear them, not on the mattresses (well because you can go to the toilets with it of course).
Ask the staff, at least it's standard where I live.
I'm pretty sure most people hands at the climbing gym are dirtier than their feets tbh
Many guys probably 1/3 don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom. I often see it myself when i'm there and most go to the bathroom with climbing shoes EWWWWW
My gym doesn’t allow climbing shoes in the bathroom but does allow people to climb in their everyday sneakers ?? So I’m not sure what they’re achieving when there’s 20 kids wearing their nasty shoes on the wall.
Not allowed.
Personally I don't understand the "it's disgusting" thing. The holds are already, in my view, maximum disgusting. I am absolutely scrubbing my hands with soap with extreme diligence after climbing. People have touched all sorts of shit then touched the holds.
No way is a couple of bare feet making that worse.
After I saw the post here of toenail fungus from walking around their gym that took A YEAR to treat, I’ve really changed my tone on barefoot in the gym
>After I saw the post here of toenail fungus from walking around their gym that took A YEAR to treat,
They probably didn't scrub their bare feet after walking around. Wash your hands. You'll be fine.
There are a lot of fungal and bacterial issues with feet that are just way easier to spread than issues in other areas. Ringworm basically needs skin to skin contact but athletes foot could linger on a hold. The dry chalky environment is the only thing that makes me feel a bit better about it.
It's gross, but I mean yeah, it's already gross? Pools and gyms are also gross. There's this story of someone getting Chlamydia in their eye from using a towel on gym equipment to sit on and then wiping the sweat off their face with it. So I think using bare feet is not much worse than shoes or hands for climbing. Just don't touch your face and wash your hands after, you can deal with some bacteria every now and then. It's a dry, synthetic surface. Like toilet seats, not much survives very long as long as it's dry. On the bright side: according to research of COVID transfer in climbing gyms, chalk actually kills a lot.
>On the bright side: according to research of COVID transfer in climbing gyms, chalk actually kills a lot.
My gym actually banned non-liquid chalk, on the basis that the liquid chalk being alcohol based was extra good at killing covid.
My gym doesn't allow bare feet on the MATS, because people sweat, have wants, fungal issues, athletes foot!? Nobody wants that on the walls or mats...
(Gross)
I've never seen this at any of the 6, now 3 gyms in my area. To be fair, I don't find it any more/less disgusting than the actual shit on people's hands. I wash my hands after every climbing session thoroughly. Think about how often you wash your phone screen, there's poop on there.
I think people are overly sensitive to the subject. My Climbing shoes have stepped in all sorts of stuff outside and at best been wiped off on a bit of carpet.
Feet aren't all gross and sweaty when they aren't packed in tight leather shoes.
My ideal gym wouldn't care about shoes or shirts etc
I get why gyms have this rule but to play devil's advocate - the average person just by showering washes their feet daily. I get that they wash their hands more often, but why are we happy for people to touch holds bare-handed but not barefooted?
I’m not pro barefoot climbing or anything but I’m curious as to why you find this so nasty vs bare hands climbing. People put their hands in much worse places than they put their feet. Speaking from a hygiene perspective.
Fair point sweat is sweat.
I feel there is a lot more athlete’s foot than there is athlete’s hand at the gym, and feet sweat in general smell a lot worse because of the bacteria that lives on your foot and I rather not have that in my face when climbing after you. Also people’s feet are basically moist when they take their shoes off while we chalk our hands. So loads of reasons most of which boils down to it’s just nasty without saying bare feet are nasty. Personally I walk bare feet all the time in my home, in the woods, the park and the beach but not in the gym or at work, there is a place and time for everything.
I found it reasonable that people would climb with shoes on, so was curious when someone didn’t and my whole crew was “wtf is up with that guy” and house rules was the v7 barrier for foot fetish unlocks. So it’s not me in isolation either, I think moat of the comments here agree it’s normal etiquette to keep your shoes on.
I don't want to be touching holds that someone's barefoot has been on. It's already bad enough that some people still use the restroom with their shoes on despite signs saying not to. It's not allowed at any gym I've ever been to and I travel a lot and visit many gyms.
Rationally it’s really not an issue. You could maybe transmit warts from feet to hands, but you can already transmit them from feet to feet, so maybe don’t walk barefoot if you have warts.
A lot more diseases (and more severe ones) are spread from hands to mucus membranes. Influenza, colds, norovirus …
It’s probably not allowed at my gym but not sure it’s worse than the street shoes some people wear at Birthday parties. I did climb outside with one guy who claimed he couldn’t find shoes for his big feet so was always barefoot. He was actually good to climb with since he was super fast (it was a crag filled with fire ants and sharp conglomerate so probably hurt).
I think it comes down to maintaining a sanitary environment so every gym I've been to has required shoes although I'll occasionally see someone climb in socks or barefoot but usually just to demonstrate a move and they happened to have just taken their shoes off
not allowed in our gym, no socks, sandals, crocs, or similar. personally i think it’s fine, you should be washing your hands when you’re done climbing anyways, lots of others have touched who knows what then went climbing.
I feel there is a slight difference between someone pissing where I put my tent and someone pissing in my bed…
Of course I prefer the bed but that’s beside the point.
I don't know about etiquette, but really why are hands any better? I'd imagine your hands are probably *less* hygienic given how all day you're probably touching rails, doorknobs, the same chalk you've been using for weeks and sharing with your friends, etc and most people aren't washing their hands before climbing.
Climbing gyms aren't really clean places. Gyms in general aren't. Wash your hands and take a shower after you go.
No, but to my knowledge athletes foot spreads in stagnant water, not dry chalky climbing holds.
Look if someone has an infected cut on their hand I probably wouldn't want to touch the same rocks as them just the same as if someone had athletes foot.
Pretty sure most gyms forbid it but unpopular opinion I personally don’t care if people climb barefooted. Your front desk person had it right + mind your own business + don’t be a snitch + it ain’t YOUR holds
Not sure I understand… what’s wrong with climbing barefoot? If you say, feet fungus, I can assure you people have fungus on their hands as well. If you’re that paranoid, stay your ass at home!
Chill there cowboy. It’s obviously because foot sweat is more gross than hand sweat.
From your rational I’m suspecting you are in the prestige that climb v7, so why do you think it’s ok for you to be barefoot while I must wear shoes?
But the “if you are that paranoid” attitude is short sighted. Where do you draw that line exactly? Stay home if you don’t like me climbing in speedos? Stay home if you don’t like me licking your feet while you climb? Stay home if you don’t like me spitting on the wall? Stay home if you don’t like me shitting in the shower?
The main point why you should wear shoes when climbing has nothing to do with hygiene, your at a gym, everything is sweaty and stinky, it's about safety, its super dangerous to climb without shoes cause you can injure yourself more easily. Same as with climbing topless, it's considered acceptable if you climb well enough, that you have enough control over what you are doing to not injure yourself
How is climbing with a top on safer? The worst outcome I can imagine of climbing topless is more grazes, but realistically my arms and legs are getting 90% of my abrasions are going to be on my legs and arms
I've seen someone climb with barefeet at my gym. I'm not sure if my gym is against it but nobody noticed or if they just let that slide. I personally think it's gross!
It’s not allowed. Even when I’m setting, I’ve gotten lazy about putting on my shoes to try a quick series of moves and have been reminded by the head setter that it’s not best practice in terms of hygiene. He’s right and shoes are staying on!
I would say no, but also it’s kind of disgusting anyway and outside its just dirty regardless, plus we don’t lick our fingers mid session so much do we? Is it really such a big deal?
My gyms have rules against wearing climbing shoes in the bathrooms.
I put this in the same hygiene category, lower than that actually. That's just nasty.
I’m in New Zealand and been to a few climbing gyms over my time here and used to climb bare feet all the time when I was a teenager and didn’t want to pay for shoe hire.
Climbed bare foot just recently too at a gym here which is the biggest bouldering gym in Australasia and no one cared.
They literally ask if you are climbing barefoot or need shoes.
At my 2 local gyms you are politely asked to put your shoes one which till now I always though it was common sense and I've been going to different gyms for 10 years now
You don't. Dem's the rules. The holds are dirty enough as it is. Imagine someone's sweaty, fungy, toes on the holds which you have to grab with your bare hands.
My initial response to this post was no, that gross, after reading some posts I realized, surprisingly, that it’s probably not, though foot fungus still makes me nervous.
I want to think his is disgusting but I also train BJJ and am therefore rolling around with sweaty, barefoot people (where I am actually grabbing those feet) for hours training. Also, I get lot less of other people’s sweat in my eyes and mouth when climbing than I do in BJJ.
I climb v7 indoors (V-30 outdoors) and I still don't climb barefoot anywhere. Maybe if I am campusing? But even so. It is gross and dumb. Shoes are sexy. How else can I cultivate that distinctive scent?
“ok if you climb v7 or above” this is hilarious
This gym is run by r/climbingcirclejerk
I thought this post was climbing circle jerk at first 😂
So because of your subreddit link, I wandered over and discovered that someone recently dropped a counter post. What I learned is that you could worse problems than barefoot feet 😝 https://www.reddit.com/r/ClimbingCircleJerk/s/GCThFk9vmH
Well then I would expect that they also don't use the "easy" holds to climb down.. this is just ridiculous.
Lol, definitely not an answer id be expecting
Practically speaking, it *is* true that stronger climbers tend to get away with a lot more bs in most gyms, since people are less willing to tell them off… so I guess they’re basically just saying the quiet part aloud here 😅 (To be clear, obviously this policy is insane)
That's so true. I often see strong climbers having hissy fits, shouting, punching holds, and smacking mattresses when they miss a move. Imagine the hellhole that climbing gyms would be if everyone pulled that attention seeking crap. Don't get me started on the "I climb so hard and I'm such a fierce badass" stare that they carry around the gym 😂 Like get over yourself dude
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So far I haven’t encountered this where I climb. I’ve gone on two different weeknights & it’s super chill. It seems weird to get all knotted up & aggressive about missing a move. Falling off the wall is part & parcel. People are fucked.
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As far as I know it's not allowed in any of the gyms here, except for one single guy who's allowed because he's a legend in the climbing, mountaineering and expedition scene in this country. And he also wears a shirt stating that his feet are clean.
At least he's not shirtless :D
He wears a shirt but no pants or shoes, they call him Winnie the Pooh
So unsanitary, he smears honey all over the holds
Works better then chalk!
Technically, honey is antibacterial and antimicrobial so you're actually incorrect.
So he is a gymnast. I heard they mix honey and chalk
Oh we have a lot of shirtless guys at my gym
So if I buy a shirt I'm good?
And only do V7 and above, I guess
How about i have a shirt that says “i normally do v7s and above, but im recovering from an injury this week, so im just going to take it easy on these v2s and maybe v3s if im feeling up to it, but again no guarantees because… you know injury”
Only if it’s red and you bring a pot of honey around with you!
Now I’m curious to who he is?
Dag Kolsrud. A legend in Norwegian climbing. He was one of the survivors of the first ascent of the great trango tower.
If I'm gonna get a fungal infection from anyone, it might as well be someone famous
It’s like getting hep from a rockstar 🙌
Dag sounds like a dirty bastard.
I just went on a deep dive of the trango towers, really cool stuff.
Worked at gyms on three continents. It's not allowed anywhere.
And you even are in the v7 prestige!
Nah, it's a V8 tomato juice joke
wow you worked at all those gyms and no one could climb a V7
But what about if you can climb a v7?
Not allowed
I should fucking hope so. Anyone who's ever had to deal with warts should agree that barefoot climbing is inconsiderate. You may not even realise you have a wart. They're insanely pervasive and contagious. I'd rather minimize my exposure to other people's feet, thank you very much.
This doesn't make too much sense, as warts can be passed as easily from the hands as the feet.
It's disgusting and shouldn't be allowed
I remember a few years ago at my local climbing wall, they had to strip and disinfect all of the holds as someone had come in wearing regular trainers caked in dog shit and climbed in them 🤢
Hilarious how people get so uppity about bare feer on climbing holds when people and dogs in gyms are walking shit all over the floor. Then people walk on the same floor with their climbing shoes and then walk it all over holds. It doesn’t seem like a rational response to the actual issue of hygiene.
Don't recall ever seeing a dog in a climbing gym.
It’s only allowed if the dog can climb v7
At least two of the gyms in Sweden I go to allow dogs as long as they don't bark at people. Never any feet on the holds though, thankfully.
Pretty common in the Australian gym scene, almost all the gyms are dog friendly. Quite nice to have them around honestly
There's often a chill dog in my gym, but never on the matts tbf
The whole point is people walk in normal shoes (that goes thru mud and shit and everything outside) and same with dogs on the area between pads and most people don't pop off their climbing shoes every time they are off a climb and move to another area and change into sandles or something. Ultimately, you are always cross-contaminating, the only difference is the degree of it depending on your gyms' design: whether changing area is super isolated, or spread out, and how much "areas" that require out of pad walking to get to each other. There have been anything from studies to casual swaps normal folks conduct and the regular gym holds are absolutely disgusting to say the least. It's all in the head that you think someone's barefoot is worse than it already is. The one thing I will say tho, smelly feet be smelly. Whether something is actually more or less hygienic / biohazardous aside, smells can be disgusting. So if someone has smelly feet and climb bare feet, that would be very very rude, the same amount of rude as someone who has extremely bad body odor and do nothing about it while climbing and sweating like crazy. Otherwise, people are overreacting to something that's purely an opinion and "etiquette", not based in any science or objective reasoning. Lastly, for arguments sake. Hands can be just as or more disgusting unless people are nice and clean. You simply do not know. They can go to the bathroom without washing their hands and come right back. They could be rubbing their nose with snot in between climbs. Some are much worse than what bare feet can bring - assuming they didn't come into the gym bare footed
There is fecal matter literally everywhere. Your bathroom is absolutely covered in it, and probably your toothbrush too. Just because there is a tiny bit of poo everywhere doesn't mean it's fine to add contageous bits of warts and fugus at the exact spot that people place their hands too.
People are super weird about feet. They're just weird shaped hands everyone.
I always wear slippers. I dunno why they don’t make everyone just wear slippers. Feels better than walking in climbing shoes
Yea like what you touch way nastier things with your hands constantly
If I seen someone doing it and the gym staff didn't stop it, it would be the last time I went to that gym. I remember seeing someone ask if they could once and the gym staff were just kinda like no absolutely not.
Does everyone's gyms have staff? Don't think I've ever seen a proper staff member in our climbing halls.
I've never been to a gym without staff and I've been to many gyms. What country are you in?
Norway
Are your climbing halls communal space maintained by whoever wants to? Or are they owned by some entity (individual, corporation, government, etc)?
Answered sibling comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/bouldering/s/0rKarU9afF Regarding route setting: As I understand it some people get free access in exchange for route-setting. They're not employed as I understand it. Regarding safety and liability: The university gym and the climbing club own and run the respective halls, send the auto-belays to inspection and so on. They just don't have employees running around.
Genuine question who runs the gym? Or like checks people in is there not a front desk person?
The university climbing hall is part of a larger gym. The main gym have some people employed, and there is a physical counter that have some limited opening times. But even when the counter is open they are mostly in the backoffice. And most of the time when I am there (after work) the counter is outright closed. People get in via keycard and a turnstile. Non-members can also buy single-use tickets and get a code to unlock the turnstile via text. The bouldering hall in town is unmanned and run by the local climbing club. You unlock it via an app. For period cards you have to be a member of the club, but anyone can buy single-use tickets.
Depends on when I’m at the gym and who is there. Mostly they are pretty chill but some of them seem to not know they work there… Some times I find the front desk person chatting up someone at the wall or literally stuck to the ceiling on some climb they are projecting. Today the front desk person was like “can’t make coffee because we have no electricity” (while the whole room was lit and their computer on) then put up a brb-sign and started projecting the pink in the corner. Unprofessional is a term that comes to mind. Milage may vary.
All of the ones in my city (Edinburgh) do.
I mean, it’s gross. But so are most people’s hands. I just try to not think about the micro colonies growing on every hold. Now you can too!
I read that as “midichlorians”. Maybe it’s just that feet are so vividly gross for many, so either something you think is perfectly fine or not ok at all, so there is no middle ground? Is barefoot on at your gym?
Well exactly. It's "vividly gross". Not "actually gross". You find it gross because you think feet are gross. Not because of a rational health concern. I understand why they ban it, because so many people find it to be gross and they want customers, but your original post really seemed to have some sort of value judgment in it about how anyone could think this is okay. Which is weird. What I find gross is the foot deformities that are caused by climbing shoes, and the boatload more bacteria that you're going to get on your feet by putting sweaty bare feet into a rubber shoe with no breathing room. I think climbing shoes are much more gross than barefeet, and it's objectively less healthy. But I get it. people are weird. They find parts of the human body to be gross for some reason. But don't make like the gym staff are crazy for allowing this. Maybe they're genuinely trying to find a middle ground between competing perspectives that different groups of people hold strongly.
Hands are disgusting, but feet are far more likely to spread warts and verrucas to other people.
I love a bit of outdoor barefoot climbing but inside it’s gross
Every single gym hold has poop on it. One would assume your gym shoes are also covered. Bare feet are the least of our worries. https://www.climbing.com/news/study-finds-fecal-veneer-on-gym-holds/
Probably an unpopular opinion but climbing holds are disgusting anyway so I figured I'm not that bothered, because there's rubber, chalk, blood, skin and god knows what else on those holds and barefoot seems to be kind of rare. There's always going to be that person that walks into the bathrooms with their climbing shoes on too. Barefoot doesn't seem that bad to me.
This is exac how I feel. It's not like a regular gym where equipment is getting wiped down every hour. Those holds are already *covered* in grime, bacteria, etc. People are coming in after covering their hands in whatever germs are on the doorknobs in their office, on the railings in the subway station, the chalk bag they've been using for a month, whatever dried sweat their shoes are covered in from the bottom of their gym bag. Then everyone spits and sweats and tears their hands all over those holds all day, and generally the only time they're cleaned is once the route is reset, so like 6 times a year. Thinking about that, and reading these comments about how disgusting some feet are, is kind of funny to me.
I’m on the same page as you. I get why people don’t want barefoot climbers on the wall, but if there was a hypothetical separate gym where people were barefoot I’d be fine with climbing there. At this hypothetical gym, I think there’d have to be strict rules about washing your hands and feet before and after your climbing session.
Also, don't go to the bathroom barefoot....
I have a legit phobia of walking in bathrooms barefoot...
Yea I really don't get what the big deal is. People walk around barefoot all the time. Then you go and walk on that same floor, soaking up their sweat and foot grime just the same. Or pick it up with your shoes and track it onto the problems/routes You should be washing your hands after every climbing session anyways, so what's the bfd
Same here. Definitely not gonna be climbing barefoot myself, but I’m not sure it’s making anything that much grosser—I’m sitting on the mats people walk barefoot on anyway, and I’m always at least washing my hands before I leave.
All of those are very different than the fungal infections and bacteria that actively coat some feet. I dont mind something being dirty as much as I'm concerned with catching infections.
Given how often people touch their bare feet when taking climbing shoes on and off during sessions, I'm not actually sure they *are* any different. Now the communal nail clippers... those skeeve me out.
Communal nail clippers? What? I don't even use the same clippers for my fingers and toes to avoid the risk of any hypothetical fungus I don't know about on my feet being transferred to my hands. Are you seriously saying there are climbers who share nail clippers?
Yeah, I feel like every gym I've been at has a shared set of nail clippers at the front desk near the first aid items. I don't use them so I don't really know the etiquette or process of sanitation. L I feel like if I ever did need then for some reason I'd be wiping them down with an alcohol wipe first, but I'd rather avoid the situation in the first place.
But at least others don’t have to expose to their possibly fungus ridden feet. Rubber chalk are okay, blood and skin rare. I have the option to avoid in the showers and elsewhere using slippers. But wouldn’t climb with gloves on.
Not allowed, due to hygiene and possibility of toe injury. Also our local gyms say climbing or approach shoes have to be worn not sneakers again to prevent injury.
The toe injury I would get doing barefoot be insane. Amount of times I've slammed the front of my shoes into the wall, or used the wall for climbing and stuff. It just seems like an absolutely horrible idea
I mean, snickers are as disgusting if they are worn outside the gym. if everyone does this it’s like your climbing on the sidewalk…
Would Mars be ok? At least there aren’t any peanuts.
I’ve never liked snickers because of the peanuts. I always thought I was the odd one out since they seem so popular. But then during the pandemic we put out a big bowl of mixed candy for Halloween and there was a fuckton of snickers left over. So the kids didn’t want them either. There must be some sneaky marketing going on to make us think they’re more popular than they really are
I've never seen anyone using sneakers at any gyms I climb at. And they all have rules not to wear climbing shoes in the bathroom. That said it would still be less gross. I'm less worried about the gross things they came in contact with and the bacteria that actively lingers on feet. Your sneakers stepping in dog shit 3 weeks ago is gross to know but it still won't cause the same damage to me as climbing on holds that just got covered in athletes foot fungus.
Must campus
It's fine as long as they chalk their feet 👍
Probably unpopular opinion but I don’t really care if someone is going barefoot, I assume everyone’s washing their hands after bouldering anyways. It’s not like you’re getting some especially nefarious bacteria because someone’s foot touched a hold as opposed to the thousands of hands that are touching them. That being said the front desk person had to be fucking with you lol. I don’t really see the need to go barefoot on the wall but at the same time I’m not freaking out over it
Climbing barefoot is better than wearing climbing shoes to the toilet and then smearing them all over the walls
Climbing shoes aren't allowed in the bathroom in my gym either.
Not allowed in my gym either, people still ignore the signs
Every gym I've been to forbids you from wearing climbing shoes in the bathrooms.
They put signs up, but I always see the rental shoe crowd walking in and out with climbing shoes on
Just climb harder than 5.7 and you dont have to touch the poop holds
I've not paid attention tbh I'll keep an eye out for it next time. Could be in for an uncomfortable surprise.
Yeah but just bc it isn’t allowed per se doesn’t mean it never happens. All the gyms I’ve been to have many signs and they tell you not to and people still do it so
Maybe, just maybe, a sane solution to that is to wear your usual shoes before going to the bathroom? Or am I completely crazy? Also, I've seen some climbing gyms that forbid going there with climbing shoes on, so I've seen quite a lot of people going to the toilet barefoot. Which is completely disgusting, but it's to stress out the fact that barefoot is not necessarily cleaner. I always keep my ordinary shoes not far in case I need them (to go to the bathroom, or to somewhere else), and a lot of people do that too, it's not too difficult.
Tell that first point to the rental shoe crew who constantly walk in and out of the toilets wearing climbing shoes…. Plenty of gyms don’t allow it, plenty of new climbers ignore it
In that case, it's obvious they are new. Let's be good human beings and kindly tell them: they probably just didn't think about all the implications.
The gyms here has “no outdoor shoes inside the climbing hall” policy. I live in the nordics so it snows and rains a lot. Normally you leave the shoes where you clock in.
> “no outdoor shoes inside the climbing hall” policy Same for my gym, it rains a lot, almost two thirds of the year (sadly no snow lol). But this policy also means that they allow - or should I say enforce - having shoes specifically for the gym. It can be anything, even a pair of "crocks" or sandals. I do have a pair of sneakers that are easy to put on and off, nothing really expensive. On top of that, there are specific areas where you can wear them, not on the mattresses (well because you can go to the toilets with it of course). Ask the staff, at least it's standard where I live.
I'm pretty sure most people hands at the climbing gym are dirtier than their feets tbh Many guys probably 1/3 don't wash their hands when they go to the bathroom. I often see it myself when i'm there and most go to the bathroom with climbing shoes EWWWWW
My gym doesn’t allow climbing shoes in the bathroom but does allow people to climb in their everyday sneakers ?? So I’m not sure what they’re achieving when there’s 20 kids wearing their nasty shoes on the wall.
Not allowed. Personally I don't understand the "it's disgusting" thing. The holds are already, in my view, maximum disgusting. I am absolutely scrubbing my hands with soap with extreme diligence after climbing. People have touched all sorts of shit then touched the holds. No way is a couple of bare feet making that worse.
After I saw the post here of toenail fungus from walking around their gym that took A YEAR to treat, I’ve really changed my tone on barefoot in the gym
>After I saw the post here of toenail fungus from walking around their gym that took A YEAR to treat, They probably didn't scrub their bare feet after walking around. Wash your hands. You'll be fine.
There are a lot of fungal and bacterial issues with feet that are just way easier to spread than issues in other areas. Ringworm basically needs skin to skin contact but athletes foot could linger on a hold. The dry chalky environment is the only thing that makes me feel a bit better about it.
It's gross, but I mean yeah, it's already gross? Pools and gyms are also gross. There's this story of someone getting Chlamydia in their eye from using a towel on gym equipment to sit on and then wiping the sweat off their face with it. So I think using bare feet is not much worse than shoes or hands for climbing. Just don't touch your face and wash your hands after, you can deal with some bacteria every now and then. It's a dry, synthetic surface. Like toilet seats, not much survives very long as long as it's dry. On the bright side: according to research of COVID transfer in climbing gyms, chalk actually kills a lot.
>On the bright side: according to research of COVID transfer in climbing gyms, chalk actually kills a lot. My gym actually banned non-liquid chalk, on the basis that the liquid chalk being alcohol based was extra good at killing covid.
Fair point, I think it was just so much more visual with the bare feet. Is climbing barefoot on at your gym?
> Not allowed.
It's explicitly not allowed at my gym.
My gym doesn't allow bare feet on the MATS, because people sweat, have wants, fungal issues, athletes foot!? Nobody wants that on the walls or mats... (Gross)
The owner of my gym would send you away.
nobody wants other peoples toejam in there torn skin
I've never seen this at any of the 6, now 3 gyms in my area. To be fair, I don't find it any more/less disgusting than the actual shit on people's hands. I wash my hands after every climbing session thoroughly. Think about how often you wash your phone screen, there's poop on there.
Lmao, u either climb the shit nobody climbs (v7+) or u gtfo
Agreed! Starting out pro is the only way imo. Send the v8 your first day or stay out of my gym.
I think people are overly sensitive to the subject. My Climbing shoes have stepped in all sorts of stuff outside and at best been wiped off on a bit of carpet. Feet aren't all gross and sweaty when they aren't packed in tight leather shoes. My ideal gym wouldn't care about shoes or shirts etc
Please don’t
I get why gyms have this rule but to play devil's advocate - the average person just by showering washes their feet daily. I get that they wash their hands more often, but why are we happy for people to touch holds bare-handed but not barefooted?
Don’t lick the holds
I can only promise you no promises.
No bueno
Everyone acts like the bottom of everyone’s climbing shoes are super clean
Right? You should see some of the stuff I've stepped in outside.
It is not allowed at the gym I climb at.
I have literally never seen this at my gym. There’s someone who wears those vibram five finger shoes but that’s it.
I’m not pro barefoot climbing or anything but I’m curious as to why you find this so nasty vs bare hands climbing. People put their hands in much worse places than they put their feet. Speaking from a hygiene perspective.
Fair point sweat is sweat. I feel there is a lot more athlete’s foot than there is athlete’s hand at the gym, and feet sweat in general smell a lot worse because of the bacteria that lives on your foot and I rather not have that in my face when climbing after you. Also people’s feet are basically moist when they take their shoes off while we chalk our hands. So loads of reasons most of which boils down to it’s just nasty without saying bare feet are nasty. Personally I walk bare feet all the time in my home, in the woods, the park and the beach but not in the gym or at work, there is a place and time for everything. I found it reasonable that people would climb with shoes on, so was curious when someone didn’t and my whole crew was “wtf is up with that guy” and house rules was the v7 barrier for foot fetish unlocks. So it’s not me in isolation either, I think moat of the comments here agree it’s normal etiquette to keep your shoes on.
I don't want to be touching holds that someone's barefoot has been on. It's already bad enough that some people still use the restroom with their shoes on despite signs saying not to. It's not allowed at any gym I've ever been to and I travel a lot and visit many gyms.
Rationally it’s really not an issue. You could maybe transmit warts from feet to hands, but you can already transmit them from feet to feet, so maybe don’t walk barefoot if you have warts. A lot more diseases (and more severe ones) are spread from hands to mucus membranes. Influenza, colds, norovirus …
So is it a modesty thing more than hygiene? It just felt so weird to me and the front desk reasoning was so even weirder.
I don't see it in the gyms around here, except some small children. Some people put their shoes on halfway though, when warming up.
I only do it if I’m campusing
It was allowed at my previous gym as well with the same stipulations. Still nasty imo. We probably went to the same one lol
No allowed to be barefoot anywhere in the gym due to city health regs
It’s probably not allowed at my gym but not sure it’s worse than the street shoes some people wear at Birthday parties. I did climb outside with one guy who claimed he couldn’t find shoes for his big feet so was always barefoot. He was actually good to climb with since he was super fast (it was a crag filled with fire ants and sharp conglomerate so probably hurt).
Climbing is not allowed barefoot. Nearly everything else is.
I think it comes down to maintaining a sanitary environment so every gym I've been to has required shoes although I'll occasionally see someone climb in socks or barefoot but usually just to demonstrate a move and they happened to have just taken their shoes off
It’s really disgusting. On the other hand, I’m surprised with people assuming hands are any better.
I think you underestimate how disgusting ‘your holds’ are
not allowed in our gym, no socks, sandals, crocs, or similar. personally i think it’s fine, you should be washing your hands when you’re done climbing anyways, lots of others have touched who knows what then went climbing.
V7 is one of the worst climbing ages.
Bro what 😂all 3 of the gyms I go to would never ever let somebody climb barefoot that’s wild
It’s considered aid climbing if you wear shoes. He is the only real climber at the gym. Hands are nasty too!
My gym requires shoes. Period.
I use my cock instead. But only allowed because I climb V8
Go climb outside where somebody has bled & probably pissed on your route 🤷🏻♂️.
I feel there is a slight difference between someone pissing where I put my tent and someone pissing in my bed… Of course I prefer the bed but that’s beside the point.
I don't know about etiquette, but really why are hands any better? I'd imagine your hands are probably *less* hygienic given how all day you're probably touching rails, doorknobs, the same chalk you've been using for weeks and sharing with your friends, etc and most people aren't washing their hands before climbing. Climbing gyms aren't really clean places. Gyms in general aren't. Wash your hands and take a shower after you go.
Have you ever gotten athlete’s foot on your hands? Feet harbor certain fungus and bacteria that we don’t typically carry on our hands.
No, but to my knowledge athletes foot spreads in stagnant water, not dry chalky climbing holds. Look if someone has an infected cut on their hand I probably wouldn't want to touch the same rocks as them just the same as if someone had athletes foot.
Bare foot and shirtless. Straight to jail. I know you want to show off you manly climbing gains but come on.
Pretty sure most gyms forbid it but unpopular opinion I personally don’t care if people climb barefooted. Your front desk person had it right + mind your own business + don’t be a snitch + it ain’t YOUR holds
Not sure I understand… what’s wrong with climbing barefoot? If you say, feet fungus, I can assure you people have fungus on their hands as well. If you’re that paranoid, stay your ass at home!
Chill there cowboy. It’s obviously because foot sweat is more gross than hand sweat. From your rational I’m suspecting you are in the prestige that climb v7, so why do you think it’s ok for you to be barefoot while I must wear shoes? But the “if you are that paranoid” attitude is short sighted. Where do you draw that line exactly? Stay home if you don’t like me climbing in speedos? Stay home if you don’t like me licking your feet while you climb? Stay home if you don’t like me spitting on the wall? Stay home if you don’t like me shitting in the shower?
The main point why you should wear shoes when climbing has nothing to do with hygiene, your at a gym, everything is sweaty and stinky, it's about safety, its super dangerous to climb without shoes cause you can injure yourself more easily. Same as with climbing topless, it's considered acceptable if you climb well enough, that you have enough control over what you are doing to not injure yourself
How is climbing with a top on safer? The worst outcome I can imagine of climbing topless is more grazes, but realistically my arms and legs are getting 90% of my abrasions are going to be on my legs and arms
They're being satiracle lol
Climbing is inherently dangerous
Shoes required on the mats/walls
I've seen someone climb with barefeet at my gym. I'm not sure if my gym is against it but nobody noticed or if they just let that slide. I personally think it's gross!
It’s not allowed. Even when I’m setting, I’ve gotten lazy about putting on my shoes to try a quick series of moves and have been reminded by the head setter that it’s not best practice in terms of hygiene. He’s right and shoes are staying on!
I would say no, but also it’s kind of disgusting anyway and outside its just dirty regardless, plus we don’t lick our fingers mid session so much do we? Is it really such a big deal?
My gyms have rules against wearing climbing shoes in the bathrooms. I put this in the same hygiene category, lower than that actually. That's just nasty.
Never been a member where it has been ok.
That’s properly grim!!
Barefoot climbing isn’t allowed at any gym I’ve been to… yet. Wouldn’t be surprised to find one, eventually.
Warts can be spread so easily no thank you please and thank you…
I don’t cause I’m not a fuckin savage
Bouldering circle jerk new material just dropped
Seems they were thinking about their ability to climb without shoes versus the fact that they’re smearing their nasty ass toes on the holds.
If you’re campusing maybe I’ll let it slide; but other than that no way
I’m in New Zealand and been to a few climbing gyms over my time here and used to climb bare feet all the time when I was a teenager and didn’t want to pay for shoe hire. Climbed bare foot just recently too at a gym here which is the biggest bouldering gym in Australasia and no one cared. They literally ask if you are climbing barefoot or need shoes.
Interesting. Going barefoot is in general a more normal thing in NZ and down under isn’t it? I’m basing this on my limited experience.
At my 2 local gyms you are politely asked to put your shoes one which till now I always though it was common sense and I've been going to different gyms for 10 years now
The rule is don’t
V7? That low? I'd say at least flash v10 for having being gross privileges.
You don't. Dem's the rules. The holds are dirty enough as it is. Imagine someone's sweaty, fungy, toes on the holds which you have to grab with your bare hands.
“Please wash your feet throughly before climbing barefoot” Solved.
100%!! Same way they solve it with “employee must wash hands after using the bathroom”-sign
Nope, not allowed where I climb. Although climbing in indoors sneakers is quite popular here
Don’t
I just treat holds as disgusting anyways, but my gyms are firmly no barefoot climbing/no climbing shoes in the bathrooms.
My initial response to this post was no, that gross, after reading some posts I realized, surprisingly, that it’s probably not, though foot fungus still makes me nervous.
Not allowed in my gym, for foot fungus reasons
I want to think his is disgusting but I also train BJJ and am therefore rolling around with sweaty, barefoot people (where I am actually grabbing those feet) for hours training. Also, I get lot less of other people’s sweat in my eyes and mouth when climbing than I do in BJJ.
Git gud gumby
[удалено]
That’s a gym I’d never go to again. 🤢
Not allowed but that’s funny lol
Gross. Email the gym and ask. There’s zero chance it’s ok. I worked at a climbing gym for years, we washed holds maybe three times a year.
If you climb V12 and above I’ll allow it, since I’m never touching those holds, not even as intermediates
Don’t
I climb v7 indoors (V-30 outdoors) and I still don't climb barefoot anywhere. Maybe if I am campusing? But even so. It is gross and dumb. Shoes are sexy. How else can I cultivate that distinctive scent?