Climbing at your limit is a significantly mental game. Performing well has as much to do with staying relaxed in the moment as it does with training hard before the route or boulder problem. In this video by Prana, pro climber and high end athlete Chris Sharma talks about the balance needed to perform your best.

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Need something to get pysched? Check out this cool video of The Touchstone Bouldering Comp at Mission Cliffs.

TBS7 at Mission Cliffs from Touchstone Climbing on Vimeo.

Touchstone athlete Ethan Pringle loves ice cream. “I don’t like Reese cup ice cream. It tastes too artificial to me. There’s too many emulsifiers or something I really like peanut butter and I really like marshmallows,” he said of the Ben & Jerry’s Clusterfluff Ice cream. “It’s kind of hurting my teeth though.”

Pringle fueled a two week sending spray in Bishop California on a few pints of Ben & Jerry’s.  The ice cream certainly helped him send the Mandala Sit, The Swarm, and Mordecai. Pringle also attributes his crushing ability to a few other things.   “I have confidence. That’s why I climb so well. And also because I drink lots of water,” Pringle said.  “Also climbing for 17 years helps too... Being tall and lanky doesn't hurt either."

Pringle headed to Bishop for a few days with his friend Randy Lee to check out some of his projects over the last weekend of January.  Pringle found the lines he wanted to climb and then stuck to a rigorous training schedule.  “I’m gonna eat a pint of ice cream every night,” he said of his preparation for his longer two week trip to Bishop. “I’m gonna train a little bit in the gym, do some campus board, and  train crimps. I don’t consider crimping my strong suit.”
Pringle managed to put down the sit start to the Manadala, a long term project for him.  A few years prior, Pringle made it to the relatively easy v7 finish and fell.  The pad placement was less than ideal and when he fell he smashed his ankle, which caused a hair line fracture.   Pringle returned to the problem over the years, making it back to his high point 8 times in 5 days worth of effots.  Pringle had found excellent beta for the problem and a number of climbers sent the route using the techniques that he figured out.  The problem remained elusive though.  This winter, after a season bouldering in Font, Pringle stuck the razor blade crimps at the bottom of the climb, reached his highpoint, and fought through to the summit.
Next on Pringle’s tick list was Mordecai, a highball V11 on the back side of the High Plains Drifter boulder.  Pringle nabbed the second ascent of this monster line after a few efforts.  Heading to the Happy boulders, Pringle made the first ascent of the V10 Don't Forget the Lube. 

Finally, Pringle put away the mega crimp fest, The Swarm, a v13/14 near the- Secrets of the Beehive.  This problem was far from easy for Pringle as it tested his crimping.  He tried the problem for the first time in 06 and managed to stick the crux second move.  Unfortunately, he let go because the shoulder dyno fourth move seemed impossible.  Pringle tried it again on that trip but didn't near his highpoint.  This year, when he finally stuck the second move he took it to the summit.

After his Bishop trip, Pringle headed to the ABS Nationals in Colorado where he placed 2^nd.  


Not only did he climb well on plastic but he would also like it to be noted that prior to his crushing in Bishop, he visited the Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream factory in Vermont with fellow V14 boulderer and rock stud Matt Wilder. Pringle plans on continuing his crushing spree though he claims it will be difficult. "It's gonna be real hard to quit sugar now that it's part of the training Regimen."

Climbing ropes are the biggest safety between you and the ground. Choosing the right one is not an easy task.  Rock and Ice editor and Evening Sends web Master Andrew Bisharat put together a great article about how to choose the best climbing rope out there: Check out the beginning of his article below ore click here to read the full piece.

The climbing rope is responsible for saving thousands of climbers’ lives every single day. No piece of gear more important than the rope. It’s not only your lifeline, but a link to your partner—and your ticket to a wild, high place. It’s a metaphor for everything that is truly meaningful in this vertical sport. It’s also a pretty cool piece of gear.


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"It's not about being blonde, it's about having more fun." - That's the motto that Steve Schneider has lived by since he began his guide service- Blonde Ambition Guiding. Naming his guide service after Madonna's hugely successful 1990 tour of America, Steve and his blonde haired partner, Hans Florine, began to guide clients across the globe. As one of the few guides in the Bay area with American Guide Association status, Steve has a vast amount of experience in teaching the nuances of rock climbing. He has made over a hundred ascents of El Capitan and has spent as many nights on Yosemite's colossal granite wall.


Steve climbing Lurking Fear with Touchstone setters Cuz and Jim
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Has your climbing hit a plateau? Are you looking for new ways to improve? Touchstone climbing is offering a new workshop taught by one of the companies best climbers.

Justin Alarcon, a 31 year old climber from Berkeley, has climbed the extremely difficult double digit Yosemite boulder problems Pine Box, Yabo Roof, and Narcissus, the latter of which he climbed at 1:20 am on a July morning without spotters.  Besides having climbed 8a on three different continents, a number of long Yosemite routes,  5.13 sport routes, and having coached climbing since the early 2000s, Alarcon is finishing up his NASM personal training certification.  Most notably, Justin’s climbing has continuously improved over his 12+ years on rock.   Part of Justin’s success stems from his training.

 

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