Early Climbing In The Needles

Here's an excerpt from Bouldering History that mentions gear, technique and an early version of chalk for climbing in the Needles. The Conns have first ascents on over 200 routes in the Black Hills.

"In the Needles of South Dakota, starting in 1949, Jan and Herb Conn practiced long ground-level traverses when not making first ascents of spires. They wore cheap, low-top tennis shoes, tightly fitted and with the smooth rubber soles scored with a knife, and dried their hands with dry forest duff and pinecone powder. Herb and Jan usually climbed on a 60' rope, prefering the shorter length since it encouraged down-climbing, an important facet of the climbing experience as they saw it."