I’d crossed the border into Shenzhen the night before using some semi-vague directions of how to get to the bus station. After purchasing a ticket to what I hoped was my destination, I boarded the overnight bus to Yangshuo. The bus was set up with three rows of pod-beds, kind of like what you’d imagine the […]
Indoor climbing is awesome. And while we support exclusive plastic crushing, we know that some of our gym climbers will want to climb outside on real rock. We believe that it’s up to us to provide information and education to our members and guests who are interested in climbing outside. We have begun offering free Outdoor Education classes […]
Talk about Father-Son bonding… This spring Robert and Michael Ryan visited each Touchstone Climbing Gym as part of the Berkeley Ironworks Challenge! Robert has been climbing for 43 years, picking it up along the Potomac River George near Washington DC when he was 40 years old. “Maybe it was a mid-life crisis,” he said with a […]
We’re excited to announce that we have begun work on Touchstone Brewing Company, a microbrewery in Sacramento, California. The brewery will be next to Sacramento Pipeworks, and will include a taproom on-site to give our members and guests a place to hang out after a good climbing session or work out. “We’ve been talking about […]
Below the southern reaches of Crowley Lake, between Highway 395 and the northernmost portion of the Owen’s River Gorge, a series of well-kept forest service roads lead into the remarkable landscape of the Sherwin Plateau. Almost all of the profoundly featured volcanic rock on the plateau appears to be climbable, and much of it has […]
It’s important to us to open our doors to our community and to share our love of climbing with underprivileged groups and organizations. In April, The Spinsters of San Francisco, a community-oriented social and philanthropic organization of young professional Bay Area women used our facilities to host one of their charity partners for a day of rock […]
We’re pleased to announce that Pipeworks, our gym in Sacramento, is the proud recipient of a new logo! We worked with long time Touchstone Climbing members Mark and Angie of Design Is Play to develop a new identity for Pipeworks. Previous projects with them have included Dogpatch Boulders, Mission Cliffs, MetalMark Climbing and The Studio. “We […]
Touchstone Athlete Ethan Pringle warms up to take down Gateway Canyon test piece Meadowlark Lemon, (V14) and try his luck on the über proj, The Nest (v15) in First Creek Canyon. Check out the full video on Epic TV. Video by Tara Reynvaan
The great thing about having 11 gym siblings, (and we’re expecting!) is that there is ALWAYS something going on in the Touchstone Climbing family. Next week it’s The Studio‘s turn to host a party, and we can’t wait! The Touchstone Climbing Series, or #TSC206 if you speak hashtag, is wrapping up with one last ropes […]
So you’ve been climbing for a while… You’re in the gym a couple of times a week. You’ve managed to wrangle a handful of reliable climbing partners. You’ve downsized your shoes, and a photo of you crushing your project has become your profile pic. Everything is going great.. and then suddenly you hit… a plateau. […]
