Two days ago, Touchstone Athlete Ethan Pringle made the first free ascent of Blackbeard’s Tears, a 5.14c crack on the Northern California Coast that is as gorgeous as it is difficult. Previously only climbed using a mixture of trad climbing and aid gear, Ethan’s send makes Blackbeard’s Tears the second 5.14c traditionally-protected crack in the world, […]
California’s Highway 108 winds steadily through the Stanislaus National Forest until it ascends steeply to the 9,623-foot summit of Sonora Pass. Just below the steepest part, charming log cabins sit at the edge of a surreal sub-alpine meadow that makes up the small town of Dardanelle. Here, the banks of the Middle Fork Stanislaus River […]
Every summer, Mission Cliffs opens its doors to hundreds of new climbers. Through our own summer camp programs as well as through the field trips of other summer camps in San Francisco, kids arrive to try rock climbing for the first time with the assistance of our enthusiastic belay staff. Some organizations return year after year, […]
By Mailee Hung. I find myself continually fascinated by how many cool people I meet through climbing. I’ve met surgeons, artists, accountants, rope access workers, welders, baristas, and, yes, of course, fun-employed dirtbags. It’s amazing to me that, despite the wide variety of backgrounds and range of experiences climbers come from, they always feel like […]
It’s that time again! The Touchstone Competition Series, aka #TCS2016, comes to Great Western Power Co in Oakland this Friday! TCS has visited a Touchstone gym every month this year, and this week’s TCS2016 at GWPC will be a bouldering comp and climbers of all levels and all ages are welcome to come out and […]
We are happy to introduce our newest Commander in Chief of LA Boulders, Ms. Hooooollllyyyy ROCK! Holly is a familiar face around Great Western Power Company in Oakland, and she has recently made the move down to Los Angeles to manage our original Southern California bouldering gym! We caught up with Holly to find out what […]
Want to get on real rock next weekend but can’t shake the competition climbing bug? Good news: You CAN have it all! Former Bay Area residents and Touchstone employees Jen and Chris Bloch are heading up this year’s Tahoe Bouldering Competition on Saturday! The comp formerly known as The Meyers Climbing Festival is now bigger […]
