Climbers are known to have rough skin and calluses. But when I shake people’s hands, they’re often surprised at how relatively soft they are.

This is partly because I take my hand skin care very seriously but also due to chemotherapy which has made it more difficult to make calluses and also more difficult to grow my skin back after climbing. My soft skin is still tough skin; I can climb outside five days a week with no pain and no flappers! I can even manage three days in a row at Hueco Tanks—some of the sharpest rock out there!

Here are some tips I’ve picked up over the years to maintain my tough skin.

1. Carry a hand balm with you everywhere!

There are a bunch brands out there targeted at climbers…climbon, rhinoskin, climbskin, joshua tree, and others. I suggest you try the different brands to see which ones absorb best into your skin. For a while, I used climbon as my first layer and joshua tree as a second layer. I keep a hand balm in my car, my climbing bag, my office, my home, and extras in a drawer so I am never without my balm!

2. Moisturize your hands every time they get wet

After every time I wash my hands or get my hands wet, I mositurize. I apply the balm with my hands slightly wet, so that my skin can absorb all the water! No exceptions.

3. Avoid getting hands wet as much as possible

If it’s possible to use hand sanitizer instead of washing my hands, then I choose hand sanitizer every time. An important note though- after you go #2, always choose soap and water! When I wash dishes, I wear gloves. If I’m going use cleaning supplies, I wear gloves. When cooking, I don’t touch the meat, but pick it up with a fork so I can avoid having to wash my hands.

4. Use facial tissue to dry skin

When in public bathrooms, I never use a hand dryer. Those dry out my hands so much that even a hand balm can’t fix. If facial tissues (Kleenex) are available, I will use those to dry hands before I apply my hand balm.

5. Keep the calluses to a minimum

Keep a skin file and nail clippers in your climbing bag, so that you can keep the calluses as small as possible. If they grow too big, they can catch on holds- leaving you with a huge, painful flapper.

6. Moisturize before you climb

I had a friend who tried all of the above tips and his hands still were cracking. He found that if he moisturized slightly before applying chalk, his skin was much healthier!

The downfall to constantly moisturizing my hands is that it’s extremely difficult to open doors and lift weights. Make sure you have completed your exercises and have all the doors with a round knob open before you moisturize.