In January, Saint Matthew Lutheran Church visited Diablo Rock Gym in Concord. We received this write up in a thank you letter from Melinda, the youth director. I have taken both our high school youth group and middle school youth group to Diablo Rock Gym multiple times. It is a great event that my students […]
Have you ever wanted to be able to hold a handstand long enough to have your friends snap a picture, or nail that elusive arm balance you saw in class? This February is your chance to work on your handstand, whether it be against a wall or in the middle of the room. Four Fridays […]
I lowered into a herd of goats and sheep. A few minutes before I flaked my rope in a corral below Conde Dracula, a steep 8a limestone sport climb in Otinar, Spain. My partner, Blake wanted to climb the route as well. The land surrounding the cliff remains pasture for many animals. Their bells rang […]
After history was made this January when Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson completed the Dawn Wall in Yosemite, the mainstream media went into a frenzy. SF Gate visited Diablo Rock Gym to see if the attention that climbing was getting was causing more interested in the climbing in the gym. Speed climber Hans Florine, the […]
The Sacramento Pipeworks bouldering expansion, which was completed in early 2015, added over 5,000 sq ft of bouldering terrain to the gym. We worked with Walltopia to design and build world class terrain, and Flashed Climbing to construct our flooring system. Check out this video to see the gym while it was half way completed.
Our route setters are at Sacramento Pipeworks day in and day out setting new routes and boulder problems so there is always something new to climb. Check out this video to meet the crew and see what it takes to be a Touchstone setter.
Rock climbing brings a huge array of challenges. One of the biggest is getting to the crag. This past weekend, Mary-kate Meyerhoffer and I took on the daunting challenge of finding one of the most popular limestone cliffs in Spain. We managed to get lost but we did discover a few lessons while looking for […]
Ever wonder what happens to all of our retired top-ropes? While a small amount is reserved and repurposed by our gyms for things like belay practice/testing ropes & mock leading ropes; the majority of our retired ropes are donated to local non-profits, artists, and community organizations. Recently, Great Western Power Company donated several hundred feet of […]
You know that feeling you get when you walk into the gym and BAM! It’s chalk full of brand new routes and boulder problems for you climb, crush and curse? We owe it all to our route setting crew. Route setters are, by nature, a different breed. The job is 3/4 manual labor, 1/8 creativity, […]
