This is a list of all the latest news and happenings at all six Touchstone Facilities. This blog also contains general information about Rock Climbing, Cycling and other items that Touchstone members may find interesting.
Monday, April 13, 2009
TBS4 Finale @ Berkeley Ironworks Video
In case any of you were unfortunate enough to actually miss the TBS4 Finale at Berkeley Ironworks, I have some great news this Monday morning: I have an official write-up, a photo gallery you can check out, AND a video of the contest that you missed out on.
Here we go, straight from Paul, the General Manager at Berkeley Ironworks:
On March 20th, Berkeley Ironworks hosted the TBS4 series finale. A record turnout of 343 competitors came out to test their mettle against 67 brand new boulder problems ranging from v0 to v11! It wasn't just the climbing challenges that drew climbers from all over the Bay Area, we had free pizza, beer and a prize raffle.
Brett Ashton won the Men's Advanced and Gabbi Masse won the Women's advanced. For the intermediate category we had Morgan Laney (women's) and Ethan Goldblatt (men's). The beginning category champions were Chris Hutchins (men's) and Grace Fernandez (women's).
The series titles were also up for grabs that Friday night and the competitor who had the best 3 scores out of the 5 competitions would take home the crown. Even though Brett Ashton beat Troy Gibb at Ironworks, Troy's previous comp results let him squeak out the victory in the Men's Advanced category. Halley Tollner's consistent performances enabled her to edge out Gabby Masse for the Women's Advanced title.
In the Intermediate category, Karen Benitez won the Women's over Julie Spiker by the smallest of margins (260 points) and John Ricco dominated Men's, winning by 2920 points. For the beginner division, Grace Fernandez's hard work paid off, she attended all 5 comps and won the Women's division handily while Joseph Markette one the Men's.
The next Touchstone Bouldering Series (season 5) will start this July so keep checking the website for when the dates will be announced.
Bottom line, when TBS5 rolls around, this is NOT something you're going to want to miss. Thanks Paul.
TBS4 has officially come to an end and while we have to wait until July to see it return, we wanted to give all of you a bit of a wrap up to let you know just how fun, and how successful it really was. Without a doubt, this was our most successful Touchstone Bouldering Series ever, and after the way it went, we're looking forward to the next round!
Here's a bit of a wrap up, in case you missed anything, or if you just wanted a little bit of information as to exactly how it all went down:
The last competition was at Ironworks on Friday. We had 345 competitors at this one and that officially made it our largest ever competition. Over the 5 different competitions that made up TBS4 we had even more people, 758 total climbers came together over 5 different events to make this our largest series Ever.
If you want to see the full results, feel free to head over here and dive right in. For now, here are the winners of each different category, but congratulations to each and every one of you that participated.
Women's Beginner Division - Tobie Chan-Kalin
Women's Intermediate Division - Karen Benitez
Women's Advanced Division - Hally Tollner
Men's Beginner Division -Joseph Markette
Men's Intermediate Division - John Ricco
Men's Advanced Division - Troy Gibb
Thank everyone who came out and made this such a great season. If you have not had a chance to come to these competitions, they have free pizza, free Beer, free T-shirt, Raffle Prizes, tons of new climbing and lots of great people. Now is the time to join up and start putting your skills to the test and having a lot of fun.
Here's a quick update about the TBS4 event we held at Diablo Rock Gym at the end of February. First and foremost, it was a HUGE success! We want to take a moment to thank everyone for competing, for showing up, for taking part in what was a great day.
This event at DRG was part 4 of the TBS4, and our grand finale will be March 20th, at Berkeley Ironworks. We were lucky enough to have Ben Molale, one of our members as the DJ for the event and saw a record breaking number of competitors for DRG as 196 of you showed up to compete.
One of our members, Paul Hara took a bunch of photos that you can browse in case you were unlucky enough to miss the event, or if you want to try to spot yourself in action. Finally, check out the video below to get a full flavor of what went on.
Thanks again to everyone that made TBS4 such an amazing success!
All you bouldering fans we have some good news. We're having a huge bouldering competition this Friday night from 6-10pm at the Diablo Rock Gym. That's right, TBS4 is coming to Diablo Rock Gym and this is one you're not going to want to miss.
Registration for this TBS4 starts at 5:30pm. Here's a bit more about what to expect at this competition:
"Registration starts at 5:30 pm. This is a friendly non-competitive competition. Beginners are welcome, if not encouraged to come have fun and climb some great problems. The event is free for members or $10 for non-members. We will be serving free pizza. Also we will have beer from Pyramid Brewery, in Walnut Creek, we will have a keg of their seasonal amber, Rollick. Also we will be having one of our members spin some beats on a speaker system compliments of the Guitar Center in Concord. "
All Diablo Rock Gym members, please take note that ALL bouldering will be closed from Wednesday til Friday at 6:00pm when the competition starts. Be aware that some route climbing areas will also be closed on Thursday but will reopen Saturday morning. Finally, most of our route climbing will also be closed Friday night for the competition.
Get registered and we hope to see you there, should be a great time for all.
In case you missed the comp last Friday in Sacramento, here is a brief recap of all the in's and out's of what occurred at this year's TBS4 held at Sacramento Pipeworks. By all accounts it was a very successful competition and it makes us even more excited for our next event, to be held at Diablo Rock Gym on Friday, February 20th, so start planning now!
Here's a bit of what you missed:
Held Friday January 23rd from 6-10pm. The 64 climbing problems ranged in difficulty from V0 to V11. 165 competitors from Sacramento, Davis and all over the bay area turned in score cards and were treated to pizza and beer. Prizes raffled at the end included t-shirts, climbing chalk, bouldering brushes, magazines, bouldering guides, chalk bags, coffee mugs and Touchstone water bottles. While scores were being tallied, the crowd was entertained by a slackline competition and a ro-sham-bo (rock, paper and scissors) championship.
Thanks for everyone who participated, competed and enjoyed. It's always a great time.
If you are looking for our old newsletters, check out the newsletter archive. Here you will find Touchstone newsletters dating back to May 2004.
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