Blog
Adjustable Apparatus for the Movement of Indoor Climbing Cracks
As part of the climbing wall build for MetalMark in Fresno, Touchstone wanted to create our first adjustable crack. To do this, Touchstone needed a solution for the movement of a set of interior wall pieces within a larger cutout of the walls. We observed the idea at Planet Granite in San Francisco, and whether…
Francerland- Climbing Over the Pond with Ethan Pringle
Touchstone athlete, Ethan Pringle headed over to Europe to do some rock climbing a few months ago. His travels have taken him to France, Switzerland, and now Spain. He's been trying to get after some rock climbing but the weather isn't always perfect across the pond. Matt Wilder and Ethan put together a video of…
East Betas Bake Sale
On Tuesday, April 26, there will be a bake sale for Great Western Power Company's teen team- the East Betas. The bake sale will be showcasing the baking talents of Berkeley Ironworks manager Lyn Verinsky, hardman sport climber and pastry chef Tony Calvert, and teen team coach and notorious water burner Ryan Moon. There will…
DRG Outreach
On Tuesday, April 26, there will be a bake sale for Great Western Power Company's teen team- the East Betas. The bake sale will be showcasing the baking talents of Berkeley Ironworks manager Lyn Verinsky, hardman sport climber and pastry chef Tony Calvert, and teen team coach and notorious water burner Ryan Moon. There will…
Yosemite Featured in National Geographic
The newest issue of National Geographic has a great article about the climbing culture of Yosemite National Park. The article features pictures of climbers on El Cap, people base-jumping off of Half Dome, and other great stories about climbers in Yosemite. Below is a bit of the article as well as a link to the…
Jailhouse Awarded Conservation Grant
Last week, Jailhouse received a grant from the Conservation Alliance. Check out the details of the grant from the Access Fund. April 6, 2011. Boulder, CO – The Access Fund, the national advocacy organization that keeps climbing areas open and conserves the climbing environment, is excited to announce that it has been awarded a grant…
Denise Miller: The Tenacious Teacher
Denise Miller, a 36 year old school teacher in Forest Hill outside of Auburn, has been climbing for the past 9 years. A long time Sacramento Pipeworks climber, Miller’s tenacity is well known in the climbing community. With a strong work ethic, Miller has successfully climbed many difficult rock climbs in California. “Friends of mine…
MetalMark Climbing Wall Design Complete
Metalmark’s climbing wall design is now complete. Mark Melvin, Touchstone’s CEO says, “Our walls in Fresno are the best we’ve ever built -there’s not a bad line in the gym.” In a unique collaborative effort, Mark worked on-site full time with a brilliant design team: Mark Benkert- a 20 year veteran wall builder, artist, and…
Touchstone Climber Crushes Mortar
Last week, Brian “Cuz” Hedrick, a 24-year-old route setter at Touchstone Climbing, made the second ascent of the Impossible Wall Traverse at Berkeley’s Mortar Rock. First established by Chris Sharma seven years ago, the V13 problem has bouted many of the strongest local climbers. The hardest boulder problem within 100 miles of the Bay Area starts…
A Gymnast in The Climbing Gym: Cisco Gonzalez
If you’ve been to Ironworks, chanches are you’ve seen climbers busting out pull-ups. A lot of the tougher rock jocks will attempt one armed pull-ups with marginal degrees of success. Catch Cisco at the gym though and you’ll see some impressive feats. As a young kid in california, Cisco was no stranger to the…
Metal Mark Construction Continues
MetalMark, the new Touchstone Gym in Fresno, was named after a California butterfly with distinctive, metallic markings. The name was inspired by the simple idea of metamorphosis, by the physical and mental changes we experience as rock climbers. The form of the Touchstone butterfly is transformed as well; it is modeled on the engineering of…
Bishop Bouldering Video: Wolter Byron’s Videos
Wolter Byron, a 27 year old Marin resident, put together this awesome video of some bay area crushers climbing out in Bishop. Check out Spencer Tang-Smith sending Iron Fly, Wolter Byron sticking it on High Plains Drifter, and Touchstone route setter Brian “Cuz” Hedrick killing it on the Vhard problems out there. The Fall from…