Shortly after the sun crested Half Dome this morning (October 28th), two of the Valley’s fastest women began the Yosemite Grand Prix- The Nose of El Capitan. Libby Sauter and Mayan Smith-Gobat hit the stop watch at 7:18 am and charged up the big wall. Tom Evans photo of Mayan Smith-Gobat leading while Libby follows […]
The Touchstone Climbing Series Rope Finale is this Saturday at Mission Cliffs! Read on to find out 10 fun facts about our comp series! 10. The logo was created by our Graphic Designer. Heather Campbell, who is the bees knees, created the baller logo and t-shirt design that can be seen on the backs of […]
The best way to push your climbing to your absolute limits is to redpoint, to practice a route and then climb it without falling. The tactics involved in redpointing are numerous and deciphering them all can be quite difficult. Luckily there’s help. On November 13th, Berkeley Ironworks will be offering a free clinic for members […]
Adventure comes in hundreds of ways in Yosemite. Most of the time, the fun starts when something essential is forgotten. Leaving the head lamp, the water, or the topo can all lead to more adventure than planned. This fall taught me the importance of bringing and following the directions on a route. Stoner’s Highway climbs […]
We’ve got exciting news for our members involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters! Touchstone Climbing and Big Brothers Big Sisters Bay Area are happy to announce a partnership that will make it easier for volunteers to bring kids climbing. Active Littles are now FREE on their Big Brother or Sisters Touchstone Climbing membership. This means […]
The temperatures in Yosemite Valley have been slowly dropping. The fall storms have been light and sporadic. Conditions have been slowly improving in America’s best granite bouldering destination. One of the best parts of bouldering in Yosemite this fall has been climbing on all of the newer boulder problems around the Valley. Since the last […]
By Hans Florine This weekend I headed out at 5:45 am Sunday morning from the stables parking lot with the goal of climbing The South Face of Mt Watkins with friends Will and Naomi. Between ‘reading’ descriptions from The Super Topo guide and Yosemite Bigwalls guide by Erik and Roger, we figured that we would be […]
By Hans Florine This weekend I headed out at 5:45 am Sunday morning from the stables parking lot with the goal of climbing The South Face of Mt Watkins with friends Will and Naomi. Between ‘reading’ descriptions from The Super Topo guide and Yosemite Bigwalls guide by Erik and Roger, we figured that we would be […]
Recently, Alice Ng trained with the Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit. She wrote a bit about it for the Touchstone Blog. Thump thump thump thump thump thump… The Blackhawk was just over the tree line, a mere 75 feet above us. The wind generated from its propellers forced me to the ground and blew my […]
World renowned for its immense glacial polished granite, Yosemite is the mecca for rock climbers. For nearly two centuries, from the days of scrambling peaks in the Sierra to the cutting edge free climbing on El Capitan, the cliffs of Yosemite National Park have set the standards for climbing. Warren Harding topping out on the […]
