Bouldering
2019 Tahoe Bouldering Competition
Former Bay Area resident and Touchstone employee Chris Bloch is organizing this year’s 8th annual Tahoe Bouldering Competition on Saturday September 21, 2019! It’s got great sponsors, vendor booths, $8,000-worth of amazing prizes, and a $2,000 cash purse, so don’t miss out on the fun! “This competition is for all ages and abilities and will…
2018 Tahoe Bouldering Competition and Festival
Former Bay Area resident and Touchstone employee Chris Bloch is organizing this year’s 7th annual Tahoe Bouldering Competition on Saturday September 15, 2018! Formerly known as The Meyers Climbing Festival, this comp is now bigger and better than ever before. It’s got great sponsors, vendor booths, amazing prizes, and a cash purse—so don’t miss out on the fun!…
TCS 2016 Bouldering North Finale at Sacramento Pipeworks
It’s that time folks: the Bouldering Comp Finale of TCS 2016 North—and the last of the Touchstone Climbing Series comps for the year—is happening tomorrow, November 19, at Sacramento Pipeworks! We know you had a great time earlier this year at the bouldering comps held at Berkeley Ironworks, Great Western Power Company, and Dogpatch Boulders, and…
Want Some Beta? How to Build a Climbing Community
By Mailee Hung. I find myself continually fascinated by how many cool people I meet through climbing. I’ve met surgeons, artists, accountants, rope access workers, welders, baristas, and, yes, of course, fun-employed dirtbags. It’s amazing to me that, despite the wide variety of backgrounds and range of experiences climbers come from, they always feel like…
Tahoe Bouldering Competition
Want to get on real rock next weekend but can’t shake the competition climbing bug? Good news: You CAN have it all! Former Bay Area residents and Touchstone employees Jen and Chris Bloch are heading up this year’s Tahoe Bouldering Competition on Saturday! The comp formerly known as The Meyers Climbing Festival is now bigger…
Name our Newest Gym!
We are pleased to announce that we have secured a location for a new bouldering gym in Burbank, California. “We have continued to search for a location to cater to climbers on the east side,” said Touchstone Climbing owner Mark Melvin. “While on the hunt for a rope climbing gym location in Pasadena, we stumbled…
Bouldering in the Land of Fear and Loathing
“I’m a man of constant progress. My life only moves forward, never in reverse. Oh, wait…” I thought as I struggled to back up my mini-van in the Las Vegas parking lot, “that’s just my broken transmission.” The taciturn mechanic needed a week and all my money to make the repairs, so with a bit of…
Moe’s Valley: A Bouldering Trip Report
A pair of semi’s thundered along I-15 on the bridge below the crag. I lowered from my project, defeated. I wasn’t strong enough for the VRC. I wanted to boulder and enjoy easy low commitment climbing… Winter can be difficult for climbing. El Niñ0 arrived in California, drenching Yosemite National Park in rain and snow and socking…
A History of Early Yosemite Bouldering
In the past few years, Yosemite has become a mecca, not for the enormous walls, but for the immaculate granite boulders. Midnight Lighting, Thriller, and Dominator are names thrown around any crashpad-filled campfire in the world. And while these classics were established in the late seventies to early nineties, the history of Yosemite bouldering extends…
Better Know a Setter: Giovanni Traversi
Ambrosia, Evilution, King Air. These boulder problems are synonymous with difficult highball climbing. The first two, located on the Grandpa Peabody boulder in Bishop, California clock in at forty and fifty-five feet respectively. Yosemite’s King Air hits forty feet at the lip of the boulder. Climbing these double-digit boulder problems requires massive commitment and confidence.…
Summer Bouldering in Tuolumne
Summer temps can be hard for climbing. The Bay area can be foggy and balmy. Yosemite Valley can hit the upper 90s. The gym tends to be a little too much during the nice summer days. Thankfully, there are other options. One of the best is the bouldering in the Sierra, in Tuolumne. Located at…
Learning to Boulder Outside
While many gym climbers prefer to keep their climbing inside, inevitably some will feel the call of the wild and want to take their crushing into the great outdoors. We feel a responsibility to educate and mentor our members and guests who decide to climb on real rock. When climbing outside, paying attention to access issues and…