Last week, Brian “Cuz” Hedrick, a 24-year-old route setter at Touchstone Climbing, made the second ascent of the Impossible Wall Traverse at Berkeley’s Mortar Rock. First established by Chris Sharma seven years ago, the V13 problem has bouted many of the strongest local climbers. The hardest boulder problem within 100 miles of the Bay Area starts […]
If you’ve been to Ironworks, chanches are you’ve seen climbers busting out pull-ups. A lot of the tougher rock jocks will attempt one armed pull-ups with marginal degrees of success. Catch Cisco at the gym though and you’ll see some impressive feats. As a young kid in california, Cisco was no stranger to the […]
MetalMark, the new Touchstone Gym in Fresno, was named after a California butterfly with distinctive, metallic markings. The name was inspired by the simple idea of metamorphosis, by the physical and mental changes we experience as rock climbers. The form of the Touchstone butterfly is transformed as well; it is modeled on the engineering of […]
Wolter Byron, a 27 year old Marin resident, put together this awesome video of some bay area crushers climbing out in Bishop. Check out Spencer Tang-Smith sending Iron Fly, Wolter Byron sticking it on High Plains Drifter, and Touchstone route setter Brian “Cuz” Hedrick killing it on the Vhard problems out there. The Fall from […]
Last weekend, 16 Cub scouts and parents from San Ramon spent the night at Diablo Rock Gym. The 6 to 10 year-olds started the night off with pizza, climbing, and then some sleep that night in the gym. Climbing fits in perfectly with the Cub Scouts theme. The cubs often go hiking, camping, and on […]
For the past two weeks, hardcore rock jock and Touchstone climber Ethan Pringle has been climbing on the amazing limestone of Spain. “The mode here has been muy tranquillo,” said Pringle. Pringle flew over to Spain, where he met with hardcore sport climber and ex-pat Chris Sharma. The pair settled into Sharma’s crag side home […]
The forests around the French town of Fontainebleau are home to arguably some of the best boulders in Europe, if not the world. Thousands of sandstone blocks with mostly sandy landings litter the forest, making it a prime spot for traveling boulderers. The spring and fall season, read right now, are the best times to […]
