Big news out of Culver City, California!
We are currently in the design, permitting, and construction phase of two brand new world class gyms in Southern California. We are extremely excited to be moving forward on projects in Hollywood and Culver City.
In today’s news, we are ready to announce the exact location and name of our Culver City gym!
We have decided to name our new, 25,000 sq ft gym, the Cliffs of Id.
If you’re a patron of Touchstone Climbing gyms, you know that most of the time we pay homage to the original building by deriving the gym name from its history. Great Western Power Company in Oakland was once a power and electric plant, Berkeley Ironworks was an iron refinery and warehouse, etc… But for Culver City, we decided to do something a little different.
“The name is a slightly nerdy reference to Reyner Banham’s Four Ecologies of Los Angeles,” said Dogpatch Boulders manager Justin Alarcon. “It’s an interesting book and defense of LA architecture / urbanism / ecology. Culver City is in the region described by Banham as the Plains of Id.”
One quote really stood out, ‘The Plains of Id are where the crudest urban lusts and most fundamental aspirations are created, manipulated and, with luck, satisfied.’ “Changing ‘Plains’ to ‘Cliffs’ was kind of a no-brainer,” said Alarcon.
The Cliffs of Id is directly off the 10, on Fairfax Avenue near Venice Blvd and La Cienega and has ample parking. We are also right next to the Metro Station, hip hip hooray! We KNOW all you West Siders will be psyched on this location! “LA Boulders has changed the climbing gym market in Los Angeles,” said Sr. Manager Jeffery Bowling. “This new gym allows us to serve Culver City, Santa Monica, and beyond. We’re very excited about the location of the gym and thrilled by the warm welcome we have received from the L.A. climbing community.”
Cliffs of Id will be a HUGE rope climbing gym, which is great news for everyone who prefers to tie in. The gym will have about an even split between rope climbing and bouldering. “We will be building the gym in two phases,” said Jeffery. “Bouldering first, then our rope walls a few months later.”
This will also be a full service gym with designated areas for program rooms, fitness equipment and a training area. “Offering premier climbing, fitness and classes like yoga and kickboxing has become synonymous with the Touchstone Climbing brand,” said Director of Marketing Lauryn Claassen. “Bringing a full service gym to Culver City will be huge for both the climbing and fitness communities.” That’s right people, your climbing gym membership can also be your yoga studio membership, which will double as your home away from home! Additionally, ALL Touchstone Climbing memberships are created equal. If you are already a member at LA Boulders, you are also a member at Cliffs of Id and vice versa. Reciprocal memberships for the WIN!
We will once again be working with Walltopia, a leading climbing wall manufacturer and our BFFs, to build the gym.
“This is our 5th project together and our partnership with Walltopia becomes stronger with each gym,” said Bowling, who visited Walltopia headquarters in Bulgaria in June. “We are ready to bring something truly innovative to the greater Los Angeles area.”
We anticipate opening in late 2015. To stay tuned on the play by play, give our Cliffs of Id Facebook page a follow. We’ll be releasing our new logo, wall designs and construction updates in the following months. When it comes time to hire staff, we’ll post announcements there.
