Talk about Father-Son bonding… This spring Robert and Michael Ryan visited each Touchstone Climbing Gym as part of the Berkeley Ironworks Challenge! Robert has been climbing for 43 years, picking it up along the Potomac River George near Washington DC when he was 40 years old. “Maybe it was a mid-life crisis,” he said with a […]
It’s important to us to open our doors to our community and to share our love of climbing with underprivileged groups and organizations. In April, The Spinsters of San Francisco, a community-oriented social and philanthropic organization of young professional Bay Area women used our facilities to host one of their charity partners for a day of rock […]
We work hard to bring underprivileged groups and individuals to our gyms to introduce the wonderful world of climbing to those who might not have otherwise found it. Erin Johnson, a family therapist at Coyote Coast Youth and Family Therapy Center, brings his young clients to several Touchstone gyms to build trust and connection through climbing. Coyote […]
We’re happy to announce that after months of preparation, we’re ready to go tapeless at Berkeley Ironworks. “After making a hugely successful switch to tapeless routesetting at Great Western Power Company in August, and opening LA Boulders and Cliffs of Id without tape, we’re ready to make the move at BIW,” said head Routesetter Jeremy Ho. […]
Looking for a fun excuse to climb in your Halloween costume on Saturday and raise money for cancer support and research?! … that’s a pretty specific request… but we’ve got you covered! Berkeley Ironworks will be hosting a Halloween Climb-a-thon, which will raise money for the Women’s Cancer Resource Center. This amazing organization helps women with […]
For the past twenty years, Touchstone has been at the forefront of the climbing gym industry. Berkeley Ironworks, one of the original gyms, had major advancements in the building, in the technology and most significantly in how people are taught to climb. One of the original Touchstone employees, Scott Frye has been working in the […]
Last week, Team Touchstone held its first ever team tryouts at Berkeley Ironworks. The event drew climbers of all ages and ability levels, testing their strength, technique, and ability to work as a team. Climbers who participated in tryouts were vying for spots on every level of the Berkeley Ironworks team, from the recreational level all the way […]
If you attended the Touchstone Climbing Series bouldering competition at Berkeley Ironworks and thought to yourself, ‘Jeeze, this had got to be the biggest comp I’ve ever been to…’ You were right! The TCS2015 competition had over 750 competitors! We’re especially psyched that we were also able to help raise over $3,500 for the Bay Area Climbers Coalition through […]
The Touchstone Climbing Series, known among friends as TCS2015, is the largest climbing competition in the country. The series visits all 9 Touchstone Climbing gyms, bringing with it brand new climbs, pizza, beer, prizes, t-shirts, and memories that will last a lifetime. Rope Finale at Mission Cliffs Last month marked the half way point in […]
The second day of the Bay Area AF Rock Project Tour started out with a hearty breakfast at Berkeley Ironworks to fuel folks up for the morning of crag clean-up ahead. Shout out to the providers of the grub! Local and amazing coffee was provided by Artis Coffee whose owner, Alex Lowe (nephew of the THAT […]
