This year, Touchstone Climbing Gyms partnered with the American Alpine Club’s for the Live Your Dream Grant, which funds unforgettable experiences that give ordinary climbers the skills and confidence to realize their climbing ambitions and allow them to dream even bigger next time. This spring, two Touchstone Climbing staff members, Maura La Riviere and Stephanie […]
Here at Touchstone, we are lucky to be surrounded by such a diverse and talented group of climbers and fitness enthusiasts. Every once and a while we love to sit down and profile a member who’s got a great story to tell. Up this month… Hannah Donnelly, a 16 year old Zero Gravity climber. Donnelly, […]
Fresh from raising $700 in a bake sale, GWPC teen team, The East Betas, trudged up the Berkeley Hills to test their plastic beast strength on the polished boulders of Indian Rock and Mortar Rock. All the typical gromits were in full attendance led by the good looking, super talented coaches Ryan Moon, Sam Schwartz, […]
On May 24th, 45 students from San Francisco International High School, a public school for recent immigrants, headed over to Dogpatch Boulders to check out the new gym. The students, who are adjusting to a new life in the United States, had never been climbing before! We caught up with them to see what they […]
For the past two years, Touchstone has been hard at work planning the expansion of San Francisco’s Mission Cliffs. After dealing with the hurdles of building permits and securing the location next to the current gym, the Mission Cliffs expansion is set to dramatically change the face to Touchstone’s original gym. The Mission Cliffs expansion […]
This spring, from March 26th until May 14th, Touchstone climber Ethan Pringle headed to the Spanish of Oliana for some of the incredible climbing. Pringle crushed the sport routes on the steep rock and wrote a bit about his trip for the blog. So… Oliana! First off, I was supposed to leave Spain on April […]
Touchstone Climbing is always eager to support local organizations in our community. This year, we are proud to sponsor Team Specialized Racing, a Junior development team based in the Bay Area. Larry Nolan, the Team Specialized Junior Director, profiled three riders because of their ‘Patience and Persistence.’ “Development, confidence and humility are values that we […]
If you’re a California climber, you’ve heard about falcon closures. We caught up with a raptor monitor at Yosemite National Park to find what goes into these closures. Yosemite National Park has been able to foster one of the most symbiotic relationships between peregrine falcons and climbers in the world. Sarah Stock, the wildlife biologist […]
Working at the front desk at the gym means you hear this question a lot. ‘How do I find a belay partner?’ While bouldering is easy to jump into, finding a belay partner to rope up with can be more of a challenge. “It’s such a shame when people cancel their membership because their belay partner […]
Want to go climbing and help save lives? (The correct answer is ‘YES!’) On Saturday, May 25 Berkeley Ironworks is hosting a Climb-A-Thon to raise funds for the Women’s Cancer Resource Center and the HERA Foundation. This amazing event is all thanks to the hard work of long time desk staffer Clari. “I’ve lost three sisters […]
