The Touchstone gyms have a lot of pysched members, climbers who climb non-stop. Christina Freschl, a 29 year old Berkeley resident, climbs non-stop. Freschl teaches at Hillcrest, an Oakland public school. “This year I have 21 3rd graders who are excited to read stories and learn about thousands of places.” Between her work weeks and after classes […]
The California Bay Area has an immense amount of amazing climbing. Finding all of it can prove difficult as the climbing, though great, is fairly spread out. Thankfully there’s a new guide to help with that. Local climber, photographer, and guidebook author Jim Thornburg just released the 7th edition of Bay Area Rock. The 328 […]
Climbing. Climbing. Climbing. One of the best things about rock climbing is to climb more. Unfortunately, climbing too much can also make you tired and decrease your performance. Taking rest days is vital to improving. Allowing your body to recover from the abuse you place on it will make your performance stronger. In this […]
The Touchstone gyms are always looking to make improvements on their facilities. As part of the company’s dedication to making a better climbing environment, the walls over at Great Western Power Company are a new shade. The formerly orange walls are now white. Russel Olsen, Touchstone’s pooh-bah, explained the change. “We are stuccoing the walls […]
It’s that time of year again. Time to clean up one of the world’s greatest national parks. Yosemite Valley sees significant impact through the year from visitors and park users. For the past nine years, Ken Yaeger and the Yosemite Climbing Assosciation have organized the Yosemite Facelift, a great opportunity for climbers to come and […]
Imagine setting up for one of the hardest rock climbs of your life. That’s what’s going through this man’s mind as he tackles a grit style route in the South East. He places a few careful nuts close to the ground so as not to deck and then he enters the crux. Watch this captivating […]
Long belay sessions at the climbing gym can take their toll. Sitting in your harness for long periods can become uncomfortable, straining your neck to watch your partner dog up a route can be painful, and often your patience can be taxed. To help with one of those problems, companies have manufactured belay glasses, specially […]
Since October of 2007, Tom “Ansel” Evans has stood at the bridge of El Capitan and watched thousands of climbers scale Yosemite’s largest granite monolith. Evans focuses his many large camera lens on the climbers tackling The Nose, Zodiac, and other classic routes on El Cap and than reports the teams progresses on his website […]
On September 1st, nearly 50 adventure racers headed to Diablo Rock Gym for a day filled with slacklining, swimming, climbing, and intense obstacles and adventure racing. Paul Hara made a great video of the day’s adventures. Check it out!
Interested in taking part in an amazing ride for a great cause with the Touchstone Cycling community? Here is your chance! The BORP Revolution Ride, on October 6, is not to be missed. Touchstone Climbing has been a sponsor and supporter of the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program for several years. This non-profit organization […]
