On Sunday July 13th, Diablo Rock Gym manager, Hans Florine raced the summer sun on El Capitan climbing the Triple Direct route in a blindingly fast 17 hours and 29 minutes solo. “I had to have the correct speed on the route to make use of that turning of the earth.” Florine said in regards […]
Touchstone Climbing began its partnership with Walltopia in 2012 with the construction of Dogpatch Boulders. Since then, we’ve worked together to expand Mission Cliffs, build our first bouldering gym in Southern California, and expand Sacramento Pipeworks… and we have a feeling that’s still just the beginning! In May, Touchstone’s Jeffery Bowling visited Walltopia headquarters in […]
Member of the Month: John F. Davis By: Jason Bove When someone truly cares about themselves and their daily practices, it shines through onto the people that encounter them daily. An interesting human that we see very frequently, because of his practices, is member John F. Davis. He is a gentleman who sees things through […]
While many find the Climber’s Book of Etiquette to be thin and flimsy, the actual nuances of proper climber behavior are plentiful and important. A faux pas at the crag can mean the difference between getting helpful beta from locals or having them throw rocks at your head. The majority of climbing etiquette comes down […]
In May, MetalMark staffer Riley Kane helped Boy Scout Troop 125 work to earn their Rock Climbing Merit Badges. Riley submitted this report to the Touchstone Climbing blog chronically the days adventures. Sean, Tiberius, Sunny, Cooper, Liam, Matin, Alex, Christian, Matthew, Darius, Garrett and Cory lined up to take a group photo. Some were […]
Consumnes River Gorge is just outside of Placerville, about two hours away from the East Bay. Itching for some more experience trad leading, I ventured out for a climb with my friends Sarann and Kotaro on a sunny Sunday in May. The approach is a fairly gentle 15-25 minute stroll from the car. “I just […]
Taking good climbing photos can be quite difficult. Most professional photographers snap around 100 pictures for every 1 decent shot. They spend days scoping lines they want to shoot, finding climbers and aligning everything. For most of us, taking a good picture of our weekend adventure can be fun enough. A few pro climbers offered […]
Touchstone member and Bay area resident, Gulnur Tumbat spent much of the spring 2014 season on Everest this year. She wrote a bit about her experience for the Touchstone blog. Getting ready for an 8000-meter expedition is a big deal. It is even bigger for someone like me who has a day job and doesn’t […]
Recently a group of elementary school students from Richmond headed to Berkeley Ironworks as part of a summer school program that supports at-risk and under-served youth. The kids had a great time climbing at the gym. Katherine Bruce, the program coordinator spoke to the Touchstone Blog about the trip. We were given an opportunity to […]
