*PrimCon1 is super prime conditions for climbing, usually meant in terms of weather I BELIEVE but I've taken to using climbing terms wherever I see fit, and you should too, because it makes you sound like a pro climber and also very cool.
If you can't live without your manicure and you love having baby soft hands, climbing may not be the sport for you. Wearing gloves is not an option.
However if you can handle your hands looking a bit like the above - rough and callously, and any nail varnish you put on being almost instantly chipped, then climbing is definitely an option for you. Read on my friend.
Once you've dealt with your hands never looking the same again, here's some tips on how to keep them in peak climbing condition:
Keep your nails short. No one wants to hear your nails scraping against the wall/rock, and claws aren't going to help your grip.
Get yourself some chalk (and a bag). Without chalk you'll end up cutting your climbing session short, because you'll be in AGONY and your skins will be peeling off your hands and your grip will be non existent. I bought the cheapest chalk bag on offer, which happened to be this one, and a chalk ball - which is a lot less messy than loose chalk.
Sand your callouses. I did not realise this was a thing until a callous on my little finger got so callousy that as I swung onto a lovely jug hold on a friendly looking V1, the callous fully came away from my finger and then came the blood. I had no finger tape on me and so it was home time a lot earlier than planned. If I had sand papered my callouses this would not have happened.
Invest in finger tape. If you do get a little cut, or one of your callouses does happen to rip off your finger, using finger tape instead of regular plasters means you can still climb without a plaster getting in the way or hindering your grip. I tried the cheapest one in Go Outdoors but I have now bought the one they sell in the ballroom (Psychi Finger Tape), which is £5 and much easier to tear off, and sticks around really well.
Stay away from the hand cream. When your hands start getting a bit rough, your instincts may lead you to reach for the hand cream, but this is not the way forward. It is, in fact, the way backwards. You're losing any grip you've built up on your hands and making them more susceptible to damage.