Why we are doing this

Chalk dust gets everywhere in a climbing gym. It settles on every surface and hangs in the air even when you can’t see it. Climbers might breathe it for a few hours a week. Our staff breathe it for whole shifts, as much as 30 to 40 hours a week. Nobody knows for sure what breathing chalk over many years does to your health, and we don’t want to wait to find out.

Uprising and Boulder Co. have invested heavily in HVAC systems that filter chalk from the air. They work (we empty a huge volume from the filters every week), but they can’t solve the problem on their own.

Independent testing and ongoing monitoring show our airborne particle levels are within WorkSafe’s limits, but we don't believe that's good enough. Levels are still far higher than we want for our customers and staff.

We’ve tried incentives to encourage liquid chalk, but airborne dust didn’t drop meaningfully. So this time we’re making a clear change and measuring the results.

Most dust comes from two habits we all share: clapping chalk off our hands, and spills. Take away open bags and tubs of loose chalk, and both become much less of a problem.

Indoor bouldering gym with a woman climbing a wall while four people watch from the padded floor

Our New Year’s resolution

This year our resolution is to make a significant improvement to the air quality in our gyms.

From 1 January 2027, we are starting a 3-month trial of removing loose chalk from our facilities. We will monitor the impact on airborne chalk levels and if we see a real improvement we will make these changes permanent. If not, we’ll look at other options.

  • Before 1 January, each gym will help climbers prepare. This may include using up loose chalk and switching to a chalk ball or liquid chalk.

  • From 1 January, for three months, gyms in the initiative allow liquid chalk and chalk balls only.

  • Gyms will provide free or low-cost refillable chalk balls to make the change easy.

  • We will monitor air quality through the trial and compare it with previous years. We plan to share what we learn on this site.

We chose January to March because it gives a clean comparison with past years, without the variable attendance patterns of December.

Not sure what to use instead of loose chalk? See info about alternatives.

Woman bouldering on an indoor climbing wall while friends watch from below

Participating gyms

  • The Adventure Centre, Christchurch

  • Uprising, Christchurch

  • Boulder Co. Christchurch

  • Boulder Co. Auckland

  • Boulder Co. Hamilton

Run a gym and interested in joining? See information for gyms.