By Janet Wells. Pioneering climber and Berkeley Ironworks strength guru Dave Altman, 68, died early Tuesday morning on November 10, 2020 when the van he called home caught fire. Part of the Touchstone family for more than two decades, Dave—whose legendary feats of strength included a one-finger pull-up with 50 pounds in the other hand—helped […]
By Jeffrey Kosoff. Header photo courtesy of the Sarah Wikander collection. Hello to Berkeley Ironworks and our greater Touchstone Climbing communities! Given the fact that we are all stuck here at home patiently biding our time waiting for this pandemic to subside, what better opportunity to dive in and reflect on our roots as climbers; […]
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 […]
It’s always a pleasure seeing our student athletes getting a chance to share their love of climbing. Samantha Fanger of the local school newspaper The Piedmont Highlander recently featured two of our intermediate team athletes from Berkeley Ironworks, Faith Zirkelbach-Ngai and Aviv Ratinski. “You’re only really competing against yourself,” Ratinski said. “There’s no having to […]
At Touchstone Climbing we believe that climbing is for EVERYONE. We’re stoked to offer an adaptive program at Berkeley Ironworks in collaboration with Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program. If you know anyone with an impairment who has always wanted to try climbing but wasn’t sure if they could, send them our way! If you’re […]
Are you ready to take your fitness to the next level? Looking for the fastest way to get the greatest cardiovascular and muscular endurance gains? Or maybe you’re just looking for a strong, tight-knit community? Then look no further than spin classes at Berkeley Ironworks! Why Spin at Berkeley Ironworks? The indoor cycling program at […]
When Berkeley Ironworks partnered with the Life Academy of Health and Bioscience, we were excited not only to introduce a potential new generation of climbers to the sport, but perhaps also a new generation of healthcare professionals! Life Academy is a small Oakland public school that serves children in grades 6-12 and gives its students a rigorous academic […]
We started the new year off right at Berkeley Ironworks by hosting The Reset Foundation. Nearly 90% of a child’s academic attainment can be predicted by that of their parents’, and the cycle of poverty, incarceration, and unemployment can plague entire generations. The Reset Foundation aims to break that cycle by giving promising low-income young people the […]
Are you the climber who converts ground-dwelling friends into chimps and crushers? We know the feeling. At Touchstone, we think that everyone should climb. And by everyone, we mean everyone! This is why Berkeley Ironworks has teamed up with Adaptive Adventures and the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) to create a monthly adaptive […]
At Touchstone Climbing gyms, we’ve worked hard to build a network of climbing clinics that help our beloved members and guests reach their climbing goals. Each clinic falls into one of three tracks: Bouldering, Rope Climbing, and Outdoor Climbing. They can either be taken in order to build a solid progression of knowledge, or sporadically […]
