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In response to Stock’s investigation and seeing the rockfall himself, Yosemite climbing ranger Jesse Mcgahey issued a temporary closure. “Although there is always a possibility of rock fall on Yosemite’s crags, domes, and walls. We feel there is an elevated level of risk for rock fall over Bishop’s Terrace over the next week or so. Therefore we have temporarily closed all routes at Church Bowl East of, but not icluding, “Church Bowl Tree”.”

Though the closure is only temporary, it is est to stay away from areas where there is potential rockfall.  Climbing in areas where such hazards exists can be very dangerous.

Further information can be found at the Supertopo website.

Dustin Dustin White grew up outside Philadelphia and in rural western New York State, but has been living in SF since 2002 after graduating from Bucknell University in PA with a B.S. degree in civil engineering. I work for the City of San Francisco as a transportation planner with a focus on making San Francisco’s…

Since beginning her Touchstone membership, Knee has traveled across the globe climbing in Bishop, Smith Rocks, Thailand, Squamish, Red Rocks, the Sierra, and Lover’s Leap.

Knee remains modest about her forays into hard climbing. “Indoor climbing is cushy, for the most part. The biggest danger is that someone will flirt too aggressively with your belayer and he/she will not hear the warbled cry of your “taaaake!” bird.”  The yellow 5.12a at the Ironworks lead cave fit her style of climbing well. “It’s got a lot of strange moves, and that happens to be my thing. Give me contortions over pure power any day! I’d much rather solve it with my brain then my biceps, only because my biceps is really not up to the task.”

“After years of climbing a lot, regularly, in the gym and outdoors, I had pretty much accepted that I am a big lanky noodle who would never climb very hard. It seemed like a physical limitation that could not be overcome. I’ve never had much strength in my upper body.”  Knee busted through her plateau through a few different methods.  “I learned that a lot of my weakness also came from anemia. So I worked with a naturopathic doctor, Elizabeth Korza, to build up my blood and vitamin D levels (most people are low in Vitamin D, and it affects your ability to recover from strenuous workouts). Right after that I started noticing big improvements in my overall fitness. Then I started taking yoga more regularly, doing tons of abdominal work with the aerial dancer Isabel Von Rittenburg, and joined a master’s swim team.”

The most significant part of Knee’s ascent was the mental aspects. “There’s a huge component of climbing that’s purely mental. That’s been the hardest thing to change. I’ve had to face it that I need take falls, and learn to trust my body. That’s way of thinking that translates into big life changes, as you start to realize other areas of your life where fear has kept you from realizing your full potential”.

Knee plans on heading outside soon for her next project, a route called Hidden Treasure (5.11d) at the Gold Wall in Sonora. She also hopes to climb more at Red Rocks, the Red River Gorge and to see Maple Canyon in Utah and visit Lander Wyoming. 

North Face climber and pro athlete, Heidi Wirtz is coming to the bay area to give a slide show and provide some invaluable clinic time at Berkeley Ironworks. Heidi Wirtz began climbing over twenty years ago and has traveled to Nepal, Morocco, Jordan, Siberia, Tasmania, the Czech Republic and more.  From pioneering new big wall…