California has produced some of the best climbers in the world. Alex Honnold, known internationally for his soloing, hails out of Sacramento. Another up and coming rock star also comes from the Central Valley. For the past four years, Joe Diaz, an 18 year old student at Bay High School and climber of eight years, […]
In early February, The Studio hosted the Bay Area chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters. Twenty-two people, eleven Bigs and eleven Littles came to the San Jose gym to experience rock climbing for the first time. “The event at The Studio was great because staff members were on hand to help belay some of our […]
Picture being run-out on desperate coastal climbing. When you look down, the only thing between you and a dip in the Pacific is a rusty bolt. Swimming back to the belay after a bolt failure sounds quite grim. Luckily, there are people out there to save you from the drink. Recently, Jim Thornburg along with […]
“He told me there were three very important bases to progress in climbing or just to enjoy it,” Eline Le Menestrel and I sat on a small ledge below Pren Nota, a technical 8a in Siurana. The 16 year old had an impressive resume of climbs including Montserrat’s Sprint Final (8a+) and La Joia de La […]
In the mid-1970s, Kurt Albert painted a red X on the Frankenjura’s fixed pins. Once he was able to climb past the red pins without using them, he would put a red dot at the base of the route. The birth of the Rotpunkt, the red point began nearly forty years ago. Since Albert’s early […]
“The first step is realizing that it’s possible,” Ethan Pringle advised me. While climbing in Siurana, a crimpy limestone area in Catalonia, Spain, I wanted to onsight 7b+ (5.12c). I’d managed to tick off a number of 7a+ (.5.12a) routes and had built a solid base. The past few days, I’d been trying more 7bs […]
