Blog
Dogpatch Boulders on Mommy Nearest
“Dogpatch Boulders, in case you don’t know already, is by the same people who brought us Mission Cliffs (and we all know how much kids love that place!). Here, you’ll find kids classes (for the five and up set), parties and camps. There is a short climbing wall and a play structure just for smaller…
Jailhouse Projecting
Picture one of the United State’s best climbing crags just a few hours from San Francisco with perfect winter temps and a long season. Jailhouse is the ideal place for projecting. The regular climbers hit the crag every weekend, on breaks from work and on the occasional sick day. They obsess over the steep basalt.…
Getting Your Gym Psyche
The gym intimidates me. Tons of shirtless dudes and waif girls run about crushing the plastic problems, bench pressing huge weights, pounding out miles on the treadmill and pretzeling into a million yoga poses. Still, I want to get in shape for an upcoming trip to Spain. I took a tip from body builder Ronnie…
Yoga for Climbers
I picked up my medieval torture devices, a foam block and a strap, and flopped into the corner of the Berkeley Ironworks yoga room. The next 75 minutes could kill me. “Do you think yoga helps with climbing?” I asked a few of my friends. In the past week, I attended five different yoga classes in…
East Betas in Bishop
Taking advantage of the Thanksgiving break from school and the comforting feeling of being done with the very last college application, GWPC’s own Teen Team, The East Betas ventured out to Bishop, CA for an extended weekend of bouldering. The list of crushers included some seasoned team veterans (Grace Gibbon, Elise Buser, Thalia Barr-Malec), new-to-climbing…
Gift Cards at Touchstone Climbing
Whether you’re hanging stockings above your yule log, flippin’ latkes and lighting your menorah, or dancin’ round your festivus pole, TIS the season. And while sure, you’ve been dropping subtle hints to your significant other about how much you’d both benefit from a jetboil, the best part of the season is seeing look on someones…
Commuting by bike with Cuong Phu Trinh
Cuong Phu Trinh submitted this write up to the Touchstone Blog. Awesome story! I received a Tweet from friends asking if I wanted to climb at the non-Touchstone climbing gym closest to my Southern California home. I declined as I was packing up for a trip up north and mentioned my plans to climb at…
About First Ascents: Climbing the New Lines
“This is so exciting,” Randy Puro said. A half dozen climbers threw themselves at an undone boulder problem near the Merced River. They could barely get off the ground until someone discovered a match and wild hamhock maneuver. They climbed higher until a hold broke. They stayed with it despite the setback. They all wanted…
Big Kid Comp at Dogpatch Boulders
Come test your strength against the future of climbing! We will be hosting ABS Regionals on Saturday, December 6th. This is a youth climbing competition and young guns from all over the state at coming out to compete for a chance at Divisionals. We repeat: The gym will be overrun with youth climbers and their…
The AAC and Mountain Hardwear present Ueli Steck: The Swiss Machine
The American Alpine Club (AAC) is pleased to announce a speaking tour by legendary speed climber Ueli Steck. Presented by Mountain Hardwear, with proceeds to benefit the AAC, the highly acclaimed “Swiss Machine” will present a visually stunning and interactive slideshow about his experiences climbing the world’s largest mountains, setting speed records without oxygen, training…
Member of the Month: Phillip Czabot
You can’t find someone more stoked on life than this dude! If you have trouble locating our newest member of the month, you may not be alone. He could either be in the rafters at your favorite concert, topping out your next boulder problem, rappelling down a Yosemite classic route, flying down the slopes of…