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Climbing Towards Confidence at Sacramento Pipeworks

By Jason Bove. Recently, Sacramento Pipeworks hosted a group that joined us from Lutheran Social Services (LSS). For many years now, LSS has been instrumental in providing assistance throughout Northern California for individuals and families that have previously experienced homelessness and are now on-track to rebuild their lives. According to the LSS website, “Every year, LSS […]

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Overcoming Walls: Taking Climbing to the Next Level with the OLAS Sanctuary Project

By Jessica Wan. Header photo by Saki Cake. This past June, Touchstone celebrated Pride all month long and Berkeley Ironworks partnered with the OLAS Sanctuary Project, to whom we donated all of our Pride proceeds; we also hosted their group earlier in June for a fun day of climbing (not to mention their first event […]

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A Youthful Reminder: Optimist Youth Homes at Verdigo Boulders

  By KJ de Jesus. “I think it’s important for us as a society to remember that the youth within juvenile justice systems are, most of the time, youths who simply haven’t had the right mentors and supporters around them—because of circumstances beyond their control.” –Q’orianka Kilcher We all climb for different reasons—some folks enjoy […]

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One Step at A Time: Life Lessons from Climbing with Life Academy

  Life Academy of Health and Bioscience is a small public high school in Oakland that prepares students in grades 6 through 12 to become our future health professionals. Life Academy has been coming to our San Francisco and East Bay gyms for several years, and it’s always an honor to be a part of […]

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New Challenges for Students with Special Needs at Diablo Rock Gym

  By Greg Reichardt. Greg Reichardt (A.K.A. Mr. Greg), special education teacher for the Contra Costa County Office of Education in Brentwood, has been bringing his special day class to Diablo Rock Gym in Concord, CA since the beginning of 2019. His students with special needs have a combination of learning disabilities and behavior and […]

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Covenant House Climbs at Hollywood Boulders

Photos by Fred Pompermeyer. Covenant House California is a nonprofit organization that provides sanctuary and support for youth ages 18–24 facing homelessness and human trafficking. They’ve been offering crucial services to address the holistic health of their beneficiaries since 1988, including meals, case management, education, medical care, internships, and clothing. Hollywood Boulders has been proud […]

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Seven Years Strong: Valley Children’s Hospital and MetalMark Adaptive Climbing Program

  Dr. Jennifer Crocker, the Medical Director of Valley Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Rehabilitation Department, has been bringing children with disabilities to MetalMark Climbing + Fitness since 2012. Adaptive sports are a powerful way to show the kids that their bodies are strong and capable. We believe that climbing is for everyone, and it is a […]

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Climbing through Recovery: Bay Area Rescue Mission at Great Western Power Co.

  Climbing may rank pretty low on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but we’ve found that it can play an integral role in helping people rebuild after their lives have been shattered. Bay Area Rescue Mission is an organization dedicated to helping people experiencing homelessness, addiction, or folks who are otherwise down and out get back […]

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The Boyle Heights Boys and Girls Club Partnership with LA Boulders

  By Holly Rock. All photos by Fred Pompermeyer unless otherwise attributed. Working with the kids and staff of the Boyle Heights Boys and Girls Club (VBGC) has been an amazing honor for the LA Boulders team and we are thrilled by the interest this partnership has generated from our members. Having the opportunity to empower […]

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Team Touchstone at Color the Crag 2018

This year’s Color the Crag at Horsepens 40 in Steele, Alabama was bigger than ever. Offering an incredible array of climbing clinics, panels, and breakout sessions ranging from how to project outside to positive masculinity (not to mention some truly powerful events like a keynote delivered by James Mills, a performance by Deqn Sue, and a […]

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