New River Gorge · Skin is gear

Bullet-hard sandstone, little crimps, and summer air you could wring out.

The New is a long, deep gorge lined with hard, fine-grained Nuttall sandstone: crimps, horizontal breaks and roofs for miles. It's friendly to skin until the humidity shows up and the crimps start biting. Here is how to keep your tips and your grip through a trip to the New.

Pack for the New Find your way in
Skin is gear
The place

A gorge full of sandstone in southern West Virginia.

The New River runs north across the Appalachian Plateau and has cut a long, steep gorge through it, with cliffs of Nuttall sandstone along both rims. The rock is hard and quartz-rich, featured with crimps, horizontal breaks and steep roofs, and it holds both trad lines and sport routes. Climbers have been developing it since the 1970s, Fayetteville became the climbing town, and in 2020 the gorge became a national park and preserve.

The rock is kind to skin. The air isn't. Spring and fall bring the good temps; summer brings humidity that greases the tips and turns every crimp into a fight. Dry hands before you get there, thin chalk while you climb, and a night routine for the tips the crimps did get. We pledge 1% of sales to nonprofits, and the New River Alliance of Climbers is one of them.

A New River trip, day by day

From two weeks out to the drive home.

Where skin goes wrong on a trip to the gorge, and what goes on at each stop.

Two weeks out · PrepToughen for the crimps.

Tip Juice every other night. File any lifted edge flat before you go.

Tip Juice80/100 Skin File
The night before · 9 PMDry hands for humid air.

Performance on the palms and fingers before bed. Tips stay drier on the steep stuff tomorrow.

PerformanceDry Spray
At the crag · AfternoonGrip in the humidity.

Thin chalk, brush the holds, shake out at the rests. Massage Cream on the forearms between burns.

Impact ChalkMassage Cream
After the send · EveningThe tips the crimps took.

Split stick on any crack in the pads. Tape a tip that's getting raw.

SplitRhinos' Own Adhesive tape
Camp · NightGrow it back.

Repair on the pads, Split+ whipped balm on anything torn. Skeeter Scatter for summer evenings.

RepairSplit+Skeeter Scatter
Find your way in

Tell us what happens. We'll point.

No score and no wrong answers. Pick what sounds like you, and every answer opens another door: a fix, a page, a longer read.

The pack

What we take to the New.

Travel sizes in the chalk bag. Full sizes in the car. Bring more chalk than you think.

Power Company Performance Kit
All of it, one boxPower Company Performance Kit

Toughen, grip, close, recover. One box for a gorge trip.

The whole routinePower Company Performance Kit$66.75$56.95
10 items · pick a size, hit Add
Two weeks outTip Juice$12.95
The night beforePerformance$8.95
Spray versionDry Spray$8.95
Thin and evenImpact Chalk$19.95
Forearms between burnsMassage Cream$8.95
Cracks in the padsSplit$4.95
Whipped balm, torn tipsSplit+$8.95
Every nightRepair$8.95
Summer eveningsSkeeter Scatter$7.95
At the belayAcupressure Massage Ring$5.00
The crew

The people who climb here.

Gorge regulars and traveling climbers. They tell us what the crimps did to their tips.

Climb at the New, use Rhino, want in? Tap to apply.

Seen at the New

Show us the gorge.

The bridge, the roofs, the Endless Wall at sunset. This wall is yours.

Bouldering@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin abuse@rhinoskinsolutionsSkin after a hard day@rhinoskinsolutionsChalked climber's hands — skin care tips from the Rhino Skin Solutions blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Anak pulling through a roof section — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber Selena bouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions athlete community.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Chacal — sport climbing action photo from the Rhino blog.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber caring for worn skin at the crag — Rhino blog skin tips.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimbing in the Lofoten Islands, Norway — granite walls above the sea.@rhinoskinsolutionsBouldering in Hueco Tanks — Rhino Skin Solutions blog photo.@rhinoskinsolutionsClimber on Kachoong, the classic roof route at Mount Arapiles, Australia.@rhinoskinsolutionsTag us
#SkinIsGear

Post it, tag @rhinoskinsolutions and #SkinIsGear. We pull the best ones onto this wall every week.

Field reports

From the comments.

Reviews land here as climbers leave them.
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Made in
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Oregon

We make everything in our own facility in Redmond, Oregon, on 100% on-site solar. Fayetteville shops, ask us about wholesale.

Made in Redmond

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How Rhino started
Made in Redmond
Want to climb with us?

Join the Rhino crew.

Gorge regulars, sport climbers, trad leaders. If you are putting in the days, apply.

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