Blog
Elise Gets Her Psych Back: Tufas, 8b’s, and Bread in Granada
Elise Buser is a Touchstone athlete, part time Touchstone routesetter, and full time crusher. She has sent V9 and 5.13 outside, podiumed multiple times in ABS Regionals and Divisionals, and participated in Nationals three times. She is currently pursuing a Neuroscience major at UC Davis. When not climbing, she is likely studying redox reactions, drawing geometric cats, or…
Meet the Manager: KJ de Jesus of Verdigo Boulders
With the Grand Opening Party right around the corner, we thought it was time to introduce the world to Verdigo Boulders‘ incredible manager, KJ! She is smart, silly, and perma-stoked, and we couldn’t have asked for a better person to run our newest bouldering gym. Read on to get the answers to your most pressing questions about…
Fear and Self-Loathing in Las Vegas: Ethan Pringle’s Send of The Nest (V15)
By Ethan Pringle. 2014: The Quest for the Nest The Nest is tucked deep in First Creek Canyon, in Red Rock, NV, about an hour hike west of HWY 159. Local developers Kenny Barker and Andy Rather, who were searching for FAs in the canyon in the winter of 2013/14, discovered the line and…
Ruth Asawa at Dogpatch Boulders
Climbers often insist that, in addition to being a great workout and a fun way to interact with the outdoors, rock climbing is a creative activity. Boulder problems are puzzles to be solved using your body, oftentimes in configurations that are pretty specific to your strengths and dimensions. It’s no wonder then that students from…
Gym to Crag Bishop Clean Up
Photos by Paulina Dao. Our favorite climbing places in the world are getting loved to death, and we have to be their active stewards if we want to continue climbing in them. Touchstone is passionate about outdoor access and stewardship, which is why we regularly host Gym to Crag events to talk about best practices…
The Tortoise and the Hare: Six Days on The Nose
By Miles Fullman. All photos by Miles Fullman and Eli Spitulnic. I first started climbing with Touchstone during a summer camp in 2010 at Diablo Rock Gym. Loving everything about the sport, I checked out the teen climbing teams at Diablo, Berkeley Ironworks, and Great Western Power Co. I decided to join Ryan Moon’s team…
Mission Cliffs Fosters World Peace
By Ting Chin. No seriously, we totally do! And not just with Jordan’s random, prolonged hugs to strangers and Dan’s sporadic calls of encouragement to struggling climbers from the desk. Not just with treating our employees and members with respect and compassion and rising to the daily toil of folding many dozens of towels in…
Member of the Month: Joe Simmons
By Jason Bove. It’s a normal weekday at the gym. You look over toward the fish tank to see what’s going on “under the sea.” Instead, what draws your attention is the older gentleman, pen in hand, sipping his Java Monster. Stationed at his usual spot, Joe diligently writes and draws page after page of…
Bouldering Gym to Base Camp: LAB Member Kai Zinn Treks Kangchenjunga
By Kai Zinn. Nepal is an amazing place to visit, whether one goes just to see the country or to climb and trek in the Himalaya. Due to media coverage, many people have been under the impression that much of the country was destroyed by the 2015 earthquake, and tourism has dropped precipitously as…
Dogpatch Boulders Expansion FAQ
If you’ve been to Dogpatch Boulders in the past year or so, you’ve no doubt noticed that there’s been some construction going on. While we know it’s been a bit of a hassle, we appreciate everyone’s patience and can assure you that it will all be worth it! We have all sorts of amazing improvements…
Thank You Touchstone Community for an Amazing 2017!
We are well past the holiday hangovers and into our #NewYearNewYou resolutions, but we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the incredible things that happened in the Touchstone community in 2017. We use the word “community” a lot because it fully encompasses the things we care about most—the people and places that are…
Team Kids at Castle Rock
By Eric Nakano. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting up at Castle Rock State Park with a group of young climbers from the Recreational Team at Dogpatch Boulders. This was the first time any of the climbers or parents had been on an outdoor bouldering outing, and I believe everyone in…