How Kevin Jorgeson kept a grip during historic climb

For one week last month, Kevin Jorgeson had the most closely watched hands in America. They had stalled the rock climber from Santa Rosa in his effort to free climb what has been called the hardest route in the world on Yosemite’s El Capitan. Already chapped and cracked by the dry winter air, his hands and fingers also had been sliced during four falls on the crux section of the Dawn Wall route.

Jorgeson hunkered down in his hanging tent for days, “basically to rest my skin before trying Pitch 15 again,” he said in an email to The Press Democrat.

“Is crazy to think that the skin on our fingertips could be the limiting fact towards success or failure,” wrote his climbing partner, Tommy Caldwell. “I have resorted to setting my alarm to wake myself up every four hours to reapply @climbonproducts.”

Both completed the climb after 19 days on the rock, in the process drawing national attention to the salves and ointments rock climbers and other extreme athletes rely upon to help them heal quickly and keep their grip.

After completing the climb, Jorgeson spoke about the remedies he used to repair his hands on the fly while he continued to climb.

“Aside from the skin on my hands, body feels fine,” he said at a press conference at the base of El Capitan. “We used sanding blocks to file down the shavings of skin that would catch on the rock, certain moisturizers to try and heal the cuts on the skin, lots of Ibuprofen. That was clutch.”

Raw, shredded, “cheese grater hands” have long been the bane of rock climbers. To help them recover quickly and keep their grip, specialty balms and ointments have been developed.

Homeopathic remedies

Ointments with names like Climb On, All Good Goop, Climbers Hand Repair Balm and Giddy Organics Hand Balm can also be used by the 99.99 percent of people who do not hang by their fingertips high off the ground.

Doctors say that gardeners, mechanics, dish washers, or anyone who suffers from cracked skin in the dry air can benefit from these homeopathic remedies, which feature ingredients like hydrating butters, therapeutic herbs and vitamins.

“Comfrey has been well known for a long time and is used to heal and moisten the skin,” said Dr. David Field, a Santa Rosa naturopath. “You want to stay moisturized, not dry.”

For people who prefer to make their own therapeutic hand salves at home, he recommends the “Three C’s:” calendula, comfrey and coneflower or echinacea.

People who work in professions involving a lot of hand washing, like nursing and food preparation, are actually at higher risk of getting dry, cracked hands, said Dr. Marcus Porrino of Sonoma Naturopathic Medicine. This is because soap strips the hands of its naturally hydrating oils.

“First you have to figure out what’s drying out your hands,” he said. “If you can, try and curb that.”

For people who aren’t interested in curbing their activities, stores such as REI have plenty of options.

“There’s definitely plenty of uses for these products,” said Michelle Ross, a customer service specialist at REI, which sells several of the products. “Having dry hands is hard for climbers. There are certain things you can do if you want to help repair them.”

Among the best products is All Good Goop by Elemental Herbs ($7.95 for a 1-ounce jar). In addition to hands, the all-natural balm is good for fixing cuts, sunburns, insect bites, chapped lips, diaper rash and blisters, according to the company.

The ingredient list includes a bouquet of herbs to promote healing, including comfrey, which stimulates skin cell proliferation, and yarrow, which cleans wounds and encourages clotting.

“Just slather it on your hands, put rubber gloves over them and let it soak in as much as you can,” Ross said. Even just an hour like this can do wonders for sore hands.

Full of mosturizers

Oregon-based climbing company Metolius sells its Climber’s Hand Repair Balm at REI for $9.95 for a 1-ounce tin. The product contains a cornucopia of moisturizers such as shea butter, cocoa butter and mango butter as well as healing herbs such as comfrey, St. John’s wart, chamomile and lavender.

A 1-ounce bar of Intensive Skin Repair from Climb On is $10 and contains anti-inflammatory grape seed oil, vitamin E, an antioxidant and beeswax to moisturize.

Vertex Climbing Center in Santa Rosa carries Giddy Organics Hand Balm ($6.44 for a .5-ounce tin), with cocoa butter, sunflower oil and calendula oil among other ingredients.

Rachael Caldwell, who works and climbs at Vertex, said she uses these products on her hands and, surprisingly, her feet, which also get calloused from wearing tight-fitting sticky rubber climbing shoes.

“It feels nice and helps repair skin,” she said. “It’s kind of soothing for aching hands.”

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MattBrownPD.