Red Rock Canyon · Skin is gear

Aztec sandstone, desert air, and one rule about rain everybody has to learn.

Half an hour from the Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock has long multi-pitch, sport walls and bouldering on red and white Aztec sandstone. The desert air dries skin out fast, and wet sandstone breaks. Here is how to keep your hands, and the holds, in one piece.

Pack for Red Rock Find your way in
Skin is gear
The place

A sandstone escarpment outside Las Vegas.

Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area sits just west of Las Vegas, where a wall of Aztec sandstone rises out of the Mojave. The canyons cut into it hold some of the best long sandstone routes in the country, and Calico Basin and the Kraft Boulders give sport climbers and boulderers plenty to do. The season runs fall through spring, when the desert is cool enough to climb all day.

Sandstone has one rule. It soaks up water and gets weak, and holds snap off. After rain, wait until the rock is fully dry: at least a day, longer in the shade and the cold. When it's dry, the desert takes over. Low humidity pulls the water out of skin, tips go glassy, and the backs of the hands crack. Keep the water in your skin and out of the rock.

A Red Rock trip, day by day

From two weeks out to the drive home.

Where skin goes wrong on a desert sandstone trip, and what goes on at each stop.

Two weeks out · PrepToughen the tips.

Tip Juice every other night. Sandstone edges wear the pads down on long routes.

Tip Juice80/100 Skin File
Approach · MorningSun and water.

Sun hoodie for the approach and the exposed belays. Zinc on the lips. Pocket Water in the pack.

Sun Hoodie - Bamboo - SPF 50Reef Safe SPF 15 Zinc Lip Balm – Gentle Vanilla ScentPocket Water
On the wall · MiddayGlassy tips.

Hydrate on the pads at the belay. Thin chalk, brush the holds.

HydrateImpact Chalk
After rain · Rest dayLeave the rock alone.

Wet sandstone breaks. Spend the day on recovery: Massage Cream on the forearms and calves, the roller on the back.

Massage CreamRAD Roller - Helix
Camp · NightPut the water back.

Repair on the hands, Split stick on cracked fingertips, Split+ whipped balm on anything raw.

RepairSplitSplit+
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 Red Rock.

Travel sizes in the chalk bag. Full sizes in the car. Bring water for the skin and for you.

Pro Pack
All of it, one boxPro Pack

The full system in full sizes. Enough for a season of desert trips.

The whole routinePro Pack$125.99$99.95
11 items · pick a size, hit Add
Two weeks outTip Juice$12.95
Every morning80/100 Skin File$2.00
At the belayHydrate$8.95
Thin and evenImpact Chalk$19.95
Every nightRepair$8.95
Cracked tipsSplit$4.95
Whipped balm, raw skinSplit+$8.95
Desert sunSun Hoodie - Bamboo - SPF 50$19.95
LipsReef Safe SPF 15 Zinc Lip Balm – Gentle Vanilla Scent$4.95
On the approachPocket Water$12.95
Rest daysMassage Cream$8.95
The crew

The people who climb here.

Desert regulars and winter road-trippers. They tell us what the dry air did to their hands.

Climb at Red Rock, use Rhino, want in? Tap to apply.

Seen at Red Rock

Show us the canyon.

The red walls, the long routes, the desert 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
Redmond
Oregon

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

Made in Redmond

Where it comes from.

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

Join the Rhino crew.

Desert climbers, multi-pitch leaders, sandstone connoisseurs. If you are putting in the days, apply.

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The Rhino Deep Dive

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What is in each bottle, what it does, and when to reach for it. Ingredient by ingredient, sport by sport, in one book you can flip through.

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