On March 19, 2010, over a hundred and fifty people showed up for the latest Touchstone Rope Series comp. Noted Yosemite Speedster, Hans Florine stopped by to compete as did Touchstone's own, Mark Melvin.



Berkeley Staff member Ellis Au snapped photos of the comp and did a little write up of his experience photographing the comp. Check out his blog, and his photo gallery of the event.



Get ready for the next of the Touchstone Rope Series coming to Berkeley Ironworks!

Labels: Ellis Au, Sacramento Pipeworks, Touchstone Roped Series

On March 19, the Touchstone Rope Series will be heading to Sacramento's Pipeworks. This rope series comp will be an awesome opportunity to check out a ton of new routes in the enormous lead cave at Pipeworks, get some free pizza, free beer, and t-shirts from the comp. There will also be a limbo contest!

The last comp at Diablo Rock saw more than 190 score cards turned in, there was an amazing limbo contest at the Concord gym as well, but by far the highlight of the comp was watching hardcore boulderer/mediocre sport climber Brian "Cuz" Hedrick z-clip on one of the lead routes.



Craig McClenahan spoke a little about the setting saying, "We had a 13 man crew and we set 13 routes; we always set from hardest to easiest (5.13b/c - 5.10d), so now we have 9 routes left to set (5.10c - 5.8). There is a set of 5 new jugs and some new crimps and footholds." Craig and the crew will be hard at work establishing rad routes for the comp.

Check out the comp page for information about the results from the past few comps.

For directions see the map page.

Labels: limbo contests, Sacramento Pipeworks, Touchstone Roped Series

Becky Trafecanty along with John Vallejo and other members of the Touchstone staff made a great video of the Touchstone Rope Series Comp in Oakland's Great Western Power Company. Check out Her awesome video.

TRS GWPC 2010 from Becky Trafecanty on Vimeo.

Labels: Becky Trafecanty, Great Western Power Co., Touchstone Roped Series

The crowd chanted. Phil Heron shot for the hold on the sustained climb His body started to fall from the wall. Screams of "Fight!" and "You can do it!" echoed through the lead area at Great Western Power Company on Friday, January 26. Phil pulled his body back tight to the wall, and headed to the anchors, making an impressive first try redpoint of the 5.13 route. The excitement of the crowd, and their positive energy was palpable as regular Touchstone members and visitors stepped up to do some of their hardest climbing ever.

At the entrance Andrew Descalo, the manager of Diablo Rock Gym, registered and handed out scorecards to the 220 climbers who competed. The turnout was the largest for an adult roped climb comp at any of the Touchstone gyms.



Scores were based on how well the climber did on each route. Three boxes were on each route- one mid way, one two thirds, and one at the top. Climbers scored points based on how high they reached, and whether it was their first, second, or third try on the route. Every route was climbed at the comp, and at the upcoming comps, the setters will be adding additional routes to help disperse the crowds and to allow for a greater variety.

Paul Legan dropped his knee hard on the wall and surfed out left. He climbed solidly through the climbing. Kyle, one of the Touchstone route setters, had set a difficult and highly technical climb through a long sweep in the lead cave. It must have been the chanting of the crowd that invigorated Paul, because he flashed the route, making one of his most impressive sends to date.


Paul Legan flashing the hardest route at the comp

Phil Heron stepped up to the 5.13b/c route, and fought his way up it. Tired from flashing the previous route, he was unable to clip the second to last draw. Unsatisfied with his ascent, he attempted the route a second time, making the difficult clip but falling shortly after. Some impressive climbing to say the least.

Phil on his second try, this time doing the drop knee maneuever and making the difficult clip.

After the comp started winding down, the pizza showed up and so did the beer. Lyn Verinsky, the manager at GWPC, and Patti Phillips, the Touchstone retail guru, served up slices and poured beer to the long line of hungry and thirsty climbers. After the huge stack of pizzas were devoured and the beer was drank, the competitors all got t-shirts.

The next of the Touchstone Rope series comps will be at Diablo Rock Gym on February 19.

For a list of results check out the comp page.

Ellis, one of the front desk staff at Berkeley Ironworks, took all the photos for this blog.
Check out more of Ellis's comp photos and images at his blog site- the SignalElement

Check out the rest of the photos from the comp at the Touchstone Gallery

Labels: Paul Legan, Phil Heron, Signal Element, Touchstone Roped Series

Three years ago, Maria Ly began climbing at Mission Cliffs. Since she first started wrestling with the plastic holds, Maria has been an active member of the Touchstone community, competing in many of the comps, and recently ranking second in Advanced Women's at the TBS 5.

Feb 8 2008- Maria's First TBS(3) competition where she bouldered a chair and won a chalk bag!

Maria works with a partner on a two person start-up company in San Francisco. Skimble focuses on socially tracking rock climbing, yoga, and gym fitness. The company has launched a website, a blog, and an iPhone application.

Describing Skimble Maria said, "Skimble helps you track your active life! I began creating the tool with my boyfriend Gabriel Vanrenen as we wanted to track all of our rock climbs and trips. Not only that, we're really active and enjoy hiking, yoga, gym fitness, and skiing. With the mission to inspire active lifestyles, Skimble positions itself at the intersection of active sports and travel. Current fitness sites focus on weight loss whereas Skimble offers social activity tracking, comparisons and a leaderboard to motivate people to be active and have fun!

Last summer, we participated in the Founder Institute while running a private alpha among our rock climbing friends. Not long after, we released Skimble's beta website in the fall and Skimble iPhone app (http://itunes.com/app/skimble) on New Years helping you track over 15 sports activities, with GPS-enabled tracking and geo-tagged 'action shots'. Will have another version supporting over 30 activities in Feb."

Maria will be at the upcoming Touchstone Rope Series 4 competition at Great Western Power Company Friday night, January 22nd. She will be tossing out free Skimble t-shirts.

Maria Ly sends French Press, V6 at the Sads in Bishop, CA from Maria Ly on Vimeo.

Come check out the Comp. There will be free pizza from Lanesplitter's, free beer, a great community of climbers, and a lot of fun at the first of the Touchstone Rope series comps.

Check out the skimble blog, which includes updates from the ongoing Outdoor Retailer Show.

Labels: Skimble, Touchstone Roped Series, TRS 4

The winter comp season means the start of the rope climbing series. For those that want to get a little ahead of the game, below are the dates and locations of the comps.

Check out the comp page as well.



G.W.P.C.
January 22nd, 2010

D.R.G.
February 19th, 2010

Pipeworks
March 19th, 2010

Ironworks
April 9th, 2010

Mission Cliffs
May 14th, 2010

Labels: Climbing Competitions, Touchstone Roped Series

Good news for any of you that missed it, any of you that loved it, or any of you that were hoping that there would be more of it...The TBS Series WILL be returning in July. That's right, it was so fun, and so successful the last time around, some changes have been made.

Here is some more information that just came down the grapevine into my ear. Check it out:

Due to the unbelievable success of both the Touchstone Bouldering Series and the Touchstone Roped Series, Touchstone has decided to shift the schedule of these two series. The TBS series will now run during the fall and the TRS will run during the spring. By shifting the TRS to the spring, this will allow Touchstone to use these comp routes to host USA Climbing event for local kids.

Thus the TBS will return in July and run through November and the TRS will start up in January and run through May. We look forward to another exciting comp season and we hope to see all of you in July.

So, start getting ready, training and practicing...we'll see you all in a few months!

Labels: Competition, Events, How To Fall, p, TBS, Touchstone Bouldering, Touchstone Climbing, Touchstone Roped Series

Labels: comps, mission cliffs, Touchstone Roped Series

The Touchstone Rope Series visited Diablo Rock Gym last Friday with just under one hundred competitors joining in the fun. Not all 18 routes were sent but the tricky beta of the night goes to the 11.D with a finger crack that thwarted most. Climbing movies and guitar hero entertained spectators and those who turned in their scorecards early. The usual pizza and beer ended the night well and according to most people the night received two thumbs up.

Labels: climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Touchstone Roped Series

Friday may be the 13th but yours won't be unlucky if you come by the Diablo Rock Gym for a fun filled night of friendly competition. There is no need to cower at home in fear of black cats or broken mirrors when you think of all the great things you'll be missing. When you combine great climbing, free pizza, beer, & T-shirts any superstitious thought should be a fleeting memory. There will be 18 stellar new routes ready to be sent. This will be the second of five rope climbing competitions in the third season of the TRS. To learn more click here. Registration opens at 5:30pm. Climbing starts at 6:00pm and ends at 10:00pm. This is a FREE event for members and $10 for non-members.

Labels: climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Touchstone Roped Series

Even though (or because?) there were the fewest competitors in the history of the TRS, Friday night's kickoff was a blast. Competitors came from all the gyms, except Sacramento, and every gym had a winner in at least one category. Great Western climbers represented, with Tony Calvert taking first in Men's Advanced and Erin Goodling crushing the Women's Beginner field. For full results, check the competitions page on the Touchstone website and more photos are in the gallery.

The fun just kept going with the SCS Regional Competition on Saturday, where the best of Northern California junior competition climbers showed off their stuff. Touchstone members led in almost every category with familiar names like Scott Cory, Cicada Jenerik, Gabie Masse and Sera Busse in the first place slot for each of their categories. See photos of the competition on flickr as well as results here.

For those of you who missed the competition, come check out all the new routes at GWPC!

Labels: Cicada Jenerik, climbing, comps, Great Western Power Co., oakland, Scott Cory, Touchstone Roped Series

Don't you remember how fun the TRS2 was last year? Well, expect an even better time as the TRS3 kicks off at the Great Western Power Company TODAY at 6PM. Series T-shirts make a comeback, so don't miss out on getting one of the coveted "I Climbed" tees. Of course there's beer, soda and pizza as well as 18 NEW routes for climbers of all abilities. Come to climb, socialize and do stupid human tricks. Registration starts at 5:30PM and all climbing ceases at 10PM sharp. FREE to members, 10 well spent dollars for non-members. See you there!

Labels: climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

It is once again time to get out your rope, tie in and climb. Touchstone Climbing is pleased to bring back the Touchstone Roped Series for its third year. This will be a series of five Roped Climbing comps that will be held on Friday evenings, one at all five of the Touchstone locations. All events will include a red point roped comp as well as refreshments, games and prizes. Points will be awarded for each comp with overall winners being announced after the final comp. The first event will be held Touchstone's newest gym, the Great Western Power Co. in Oakland on May 16th. There will be a comp each month for the following five months, with the finale coming in September at Mission Cliffs in San Francisco.

Labels: Berkeley Ironworks, climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Great Western Power Co., mission cliffs, oakland, Sacramento Pipeworks, Touchstone Roped Series

The second annual Touchstone Rope Series came to a raucous end at the Great Western Power Company last Friday evening. With more beer and pizza than the many competitors and spectators could consume and 14 amazing climbs courtesy of Ben Polanco and the awesome Touchstone route setters, everyone headed home full, tired and with smiles on their faces. Just the fun of getting to climb in the new Oakland facility created a buzz of excitement and good cheer. One of the evening's highlights was the post-comp pull-up competition that determined the winner of the Men's Advanced category. Doug Boethling eked out a victory over Dustin Park by completing 21 pull-ups. The rest of the results can be seen on our comps page and photos of the competition can be found both here and here. Thanks to all those who participated and made the roped series such a successful Touchstone Community event!

Labels: climbing, comps, Great Western Power Co., oakland, Touchstone Roped Series

The TRS Season 2 has been a huge success. A whopping 389 individual competitors have partied it up at the last five comps: eating pizza, drinking beer and soda and climbing some of the best routes indoor climbing has to offer. But all good things must come to an end, at least until next year's TRS.

Yep, it's Finale time. And the TRS2 Finale, scheduled for Friday, October 5, looks to be the most exciting comp yet. First, the series finale will be held at Touchstone's newest gym, the Great Western Power Company. Add to that a neck-in-neck battle for the Men's Advance first place spot and you have the makings of an action-packed competition.

If you have been eagerly awaiting the opening of the GWPC, you won't want to miss this comp! The finale will be a special sneak preview of the gym, which will not be open for regular business prior to or immediately following the comp. Doors will open for registration at 5:15 PM and the comp will start promptly at 6 PM.

This event is FREE to Touchstone members and for this comp only, FREE to non-members as well. Take a look at the GWPC web pages for more information about the gym and to get directions. Take this opportunity to discover how convenient it is to ride BART - GWPC is only one block away from the 19th and Broadway station!

Labels: comps, Great Western Power Co., oakland, Touchstone Roped Series

TRS season 2 continues at Mission Cliffs this Friday, August 10 from 6-10pm. This red point roped comp will be the fourth comp in the series where points will be awarded. Overall winners of the series will be announced at the final comp in October at the Great Western Power Company in Oakland. Join us for this festive, friendly and relaxed member comp! This is an event not to be missed. Free for members and only $10 for non-members.

Labels: comps, mission cliffs, Touchstone Roped Series

This past weekend was full of competitions for Touchstone Climbing.

On Friday night, Berkeley Ironworks hosted the 3rd stage in the Touchstone Roped Series. This was the biggest turnout yet for a TRS event with over 128 climbers turning in scorecards. You can check out the complete results here. The next TRS event will be on August 10th at Mission Cliffs.

On Saturday, the Touchstone Cycling teams took to the hills. Well, one very large hill to be exact. Eleven Touchstone team members competed in the 3rd annual Mount Diablo Hill Climb. Touchstone Climbing was a co-sponsor of this event and our Director of Operations, Markham Connolly, built a very impressive start ramp for the event. The Touchstone Women's Elite team had a strong showing by placing 3 riders in the top 10.

And finally as noted last week, Mark Melvin, founder and CEO of Touchstone Climbing, competed in the Hardrock 100 Endurance Run in Colorado. Mark finished the 100 mile run in 37 hours 56 minutes, an hour or two before nightfall the second night. He placed 44th out of 98 finishers and 134 starters.

Labels: Berkeley Ironworks, climbing, comps, cycling, Mark Melvin, Markham Connolly, touchstone, Touchstone Roped Series

Class 5 is gearing up to host the Touchstone Roped Series Competition this Friday, June 22nd. Routes are going up Wednesday and Thursday, beer from Broken Drum and food are being ordered along with lemonade, soda and other snacks.

Come out and have a great time climbing! Get a free T-shirt, have some food and have fun! These member competitions are for fun, but if you are serious and go to them all, you can win big.

A note to Teen Teamers from the other gyms – Class 5 just wants to say our team is going to CRUSH! (just a friendly challenge)




• Free to members
• $10 for non-members
• The competition runs from 6- 10pm
• Raffle at the end of the evening
• Food! Drink!

Labels: class 5, climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

Touchstone Concord kicks off TRS season 2 this Friday, May 11th. All Touchstone members are invited to attend this fun rope competition. As usual, there will be all new routes, free food and beverages. Folks will also have the opportunity of getting 5 minute chair massages for free or paying $10 for a 15-minute full massage from certified massage therapist, Brian Cork.

There will be a raffle with lucky winners walking away with a Stone Age hang board, a
pair of Evolv shoes or an Organic chalk bag. The TRS is community-building event that is a great opportunity for members to try competing in a relaxed, supportive environment. The comp will begin at 6pm with climbing wrapping up at 10pm.

Labels: climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Touchstone Roped Series

Here we go again!! Touchstone Climbing is excited to announce that the Touchstone Roped Series has returned. This will be a series of six Roped Climbing comps that will be held on Friday evenings, one at six of the Touchstone locations. All events will include a red point roped comp as well as refreshments, games and prizes. Points will be awarded for each comp with overall winners being announced after the final comp. The first event will be held at Touchstone Concord on May 11th. There will be a comp each month for the following six months, with the finale coming in October held at what will be the newly opened Great Western Power Company in Oakland. For more info visit the TRS page.

Labels: climbing, comps, event, Touchstone Roped Series

The TRS finale held at Touchstone Concord on Friday, September 15th delivered all that it had promised: 14 excellent routes, free beer and pizza, lots of great prizes, exciting lead falls and a nail-biting finish in the Men's Advanced category. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners, Scott Cory (16), Simon Benkert (16) and Dustin Park (19), were separated by a mere 300 points, with Scott Cory flashing the 3 most difficult routes to take the win. Dustin Park, the homegym favorite, still handily won the Advanced Men's category for the series and heard a lot of cheers when he finished the 13c route third try.

To say that the young Touchstone members had a strong showing would be a bit of an understatement. Cicada Jenerik (12) cruised the 12a and 12c to clinch the Advanced Women's title for both the comp and series. Concord member, Jacob Phillips (12), won the Intermediate Men's category by sending the 12a second try and making it to the first box of the 12c. Dakota Schwartz (12), also a Concord member, had a great night and took first in the Women's Intermediate category.

It's a miracle that anyone over 20 had a chance, but Berkeley Ironworks members, Mike King and Ngoc Nguyen who placed first in the Beginning Men's and Women's categories respectively, showed us that climbing isn't just for the kids. All in all, it was a fun night and not only for the comp winners - everyone had a great time.

Labels: Cicada Jenerik, climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Scott Cory, Touchstone Roped Series

The last installment of the Touchstone Rope Series is taking place at Touchstone Concord on September 15th from 6-10pm. Touchstone member comps are open to climbers of ALL levels and are a great way to build up our local climbing community. With lots of pizza, beer and prizes as well as excellent routes, it is impossible NOT to have a great time.

To add to the excitement, Touchstone Concord staff member, Dustin Park (shown above cranking at the BIW comp) is heading up the Advanced Men's category and could win the whole series at this comp. Even if you aren't planning to climb yourself, come out and cheer Dustin to a win!

Labels: climbing, comps, concord, Diablo Rock Gym, Touchstone Roped Series

A hundred competitors came to climb at the Touchstone Roped Series competition at Berkeley Ironworks on August 25th. A good time was had by all. Local microbrewery Bison Brewing provided us with tasty organic beer and the gym bought pizza for all the competitors. Climbing vendors such as Mountain Hardware, Black Diamond, Five Ten, La Sportiva (and many more) donated tons of prizes. In fact, everybody who turned in a scorecard got a prize!

Dustin Park won the Men's advanced category by flashing a 5.12c, getting to the second box of the 5.13a on his first try, and doing the 5.13c second try. Cicada Jenerik won the Women's advanced category by flashing the 5.13c, 5.12c and getting to the second box of the 5.13a on her second try! She showed the boys a thing or two about climbing and garnered enough points to tie with the Men's advanced winner Dustin Park.

Labels: Berkeley Ironworks, Cicada Jenerik, climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

For those of you who made it to the Class 5 rope comp, you know it was a great comp. There was a nail biting ending on the 13c, two ties, LOTS of pizza and beer, plenty of cheering and obscene amounts of booty. We had climbers of all levels, from people climbing for their first time to seasoned veterans encouraging their friends, giving beta and belays.

All the 60+ competitors got called up to the raffle table at least once, and while not everyone got the rope, everyone got something to go home with. Some even caught flying chalk or beer cozies! Competition scores are listed on the competitions page. Go look how well you did and plan for the Berkeley Ironworks TRS Competition in August.

Labels: class 5, climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

Come to the next phase of the Touchstone Roped Series! Class 5 will be hosting the third of the five comp series this Friday, with great food, drink, prizes and amazing climbing. There are different levels of competition so if you started climbing a month ago, you wont be competing against, say, Ben “The Flea” Polanco. Come have fun with your friends, climb and win prizes. (Prizes are based on best scores AND a raffle). We are expecting a large turn out so get here early to make sure you get all the climbing time you want!

The comp is a self scoring, bring your own belayer comp. Your score will be the total of your three best completed routes. There will be two intermediate holds that will be scored on each route. Your highest score per route will be used to calculate your final score.

Labels: class 5, climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

Over 60 competitors showed up in Sacramento on Friday June 9th for the second of our roped climbing competition series. Touchstone members from as far away as San Francisco braved the heavy traffic and 3+ hour driving time to compete in this low-key event. Many competitors remarked that the routes were exceptionally good, and everyone enjoyed the pizza, beer and soda that were served afterward. The prize table was especially heavy and everyone went home with a prize in hand. You can see the complete results here. Check our photo gallery for more photos from this contest. The next installment of the Touchstone Roped Series will be at Class 5 on Friday July 14th.

Labels: climbing, comps, Sacramento Pipeworks, Touchstone Roped Series

We are excited to announce the dates to the remaining four upcoming Touchstone Roped Series Comps.

Pipeworks-June 9th, 2006 in Sacramento
Class 5-July 14th, 2006 in San Rafael
Ironworks-August 25th, 2006 in Berkeley
Touchstone Concord-September 15th, 2006 in Concord

The Touchstone Roped Series is a set of five Roped Climbing comps that will be held on Friday evenings. All events will include a red point roped comp as well as refreshments, games and prizes. Points will be awarded for each comp with overall winners being announced after the final comp. We are excited to continue our long tradition of supporting roped climbing competitions.

For more information check out the Touchstone Roped Series Page.

Labels: climbing, comps, Touchstone Roped Series

Following the success of the Touchstone Bouldering Series, Touchstone launched a potential Roped Series for their members at Mission Cliffs on April 28th, where the participation would determine a continuation of a Touchstone Rope Series for their other four gyms.

An impressive large number of members turned out for this event with over 150 competitors that signed-up and just over 100 turning in their scorecards. The event consisted of three categories –beginner, intermediate and advanced.

This was the first time that Touchstone hosted a member roped climbing event for their members. “It was fantastic to see members from so many of our other gyms participate in this event”, recalls Donna Dunlap, Mission Cliffs manager.

One of the many highlights of the night was when Mission Cliffs’ member, Simon Benkert, 15, flashed the hardest route in the comp, a 5.13c on lead. The phenom pulled a no-hands knee bar rest after clipping the third draw. The crowd went wild. For complete results, check out the comps page.

With the amazing success of this event, we are proud to announce the inaugural TRS (Touchstone Roped Series). Stay tuned for upcoming TRS dates.

Labels: climbing, comps, touchstone, Touchstone Roped Series