Castle Hill Ice Cream- Moon Goes Bouldering Recently Ryan Moon, a 26 year old bay area climber and 5 year Touchstone employee, traveled to Castle Hill on the central northern portion of the south island of New Zealand. Moon traveled with Eric Vergne, another Touchstone employee, for the entire month of May. The pair climbed on the slabby and glassy rock of Castle Hills.

In the first two weeks, the pair climbed four or five days. The weather was crushing and it rained frequently. Ryan spent all his time non-climbing time blimping out on the country’s amazing ice cream. “Come for the climbing, stay for the ice cream,” Moon wrote on his blog.

“The birthplace of our love for the infamous Tip Top ice cream is right here in Darfield. One should be prepared before ordering ice cream on a cone in New Zealand. A single scoop in the states is just that, a single scoop. A single scoop in New Zealand is a grapefruit sized ball of bliss that even my sweet tooth can barely handle. There was one experience where the woman serving the ice cream crushed my cone into oblivion attempting to place the gigantic frozen sugar sphere onto what would normally be a structurally sound cone. Alas, she had to rescoop.”


Eric crushing a boulder problem


When the weather cleared, Moon and Vergne managed to shake off the extra ice cream and meat pie weight and head to the crags. “The climbing was very 'anti-Ryan Moon'. It was slabby, buldgy, slopey, glossy, and everything else i can't climb,” Moon said. “Tons of mantles. Not an easy topout in the country.”

New Zealand Mega Adventure 2011 from Old Man Moon on Vimeo.

Moon's video of the trip

Moon said that some of the other highlights of the trip included sick nasty padslides, dance parties, shortbread cookies called 'melting moments', amazing climbing, runnel climbing, mingling with peeps from other countries, beautiful scenery, annoying kiwis with jokes about lord of the rings, locking friends in the bathrooms that have locks on the outside for some reason, sheep jokes.


Ryan climbing a V2 runnel

Moon is back behind the desk at Berkeley Ironworks, where he can’t stop talking about going back and how he’s “stuck” in Berkeley. If you see him, tell him he needs to call the Wahmubulance.

Labels: Bouldering, Castle Hill, Ryan Moon

  ¶ Tuesday, June 14, 2011 0 Comments

  Climbing Clip of the Week: Homemade Climbing Wall Yesterday, we mentioned that if you have a room or garage in your home that isn't getting much use, maybe a good idea would be to spend some bucks and convert it to a homemade, DIY indoor climbing or bouldering wall that can help you practice anytime you're outside of the gym. Today, I just so happened to find a video of a guy that did exactly that and with great results.

Granted you might not have as much space as the guy in this video, it does show what's possible with a few pieces of plywood and some great holds. Watch his wall, watch him climb on it, and get inspired to make something like it for your Own home.

Have a great weekend, see you back here bright and early Monday morning!

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, Climbing Clip of the Week, DIY Ideas, Home

  ¶ Friday, April 10, 2009 0 Comments

  Empty Space In Your House? Build A Bouldering Wall!
Do you have empty space in your house, whether it's an unfinished basement, a garage you don't use or a family room that never actually sees your family? How about converting it into a mini-climbing or bouldering wall? What better way to keep up on practicing when you're not inside the climbing gym, whichever Touchstone Climbing location you frequent, than doing some climbing and practicing at home?

I just read an article about a family that did exactly that, converted their unused space in their home to a bouldering wall and filled the walls and ceilings with holds and even made their own routes. What better way to stay fit, practice your climbing skills and have FUN while you're not able to be in the gym? According to the article, the Dad of the family, Kevin did all of the work himself:

"Kevin, a handy man, installed plywood around three walls (the fourth wall is a mirror) and part of the ceiling, added "holds" or fake rocks made of resin that he found on eBay and Craigslist and threw a few mats on the floor."

Head over and check out the article, maybe it will inspire you to whip up your own mini-bouldering wall in your own home.

(image via journalnow.com)

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, DIY Ideas, Home, Practice

  ¶ Thursday, April 09, 2009 0 Comments

  TBS4 This Friday at the Diablo Rock Gym!!
All you bouldering fans we have some good news. We're having a huge bouldering competition this Friday night from 6-10pm at the Diablo Rock Gym. That's right, TBS4 is coming to Diablo Rock Gym and this is one you're not going to want to miss.

Registration for this TBS4 starts at 5:30pm. Here's a bit more about what to expect at this competition:

"Registration starts at 5:30 pm. This is a friendly non-competitive competition. Beginners are welcome, if not encouraged to come have fun and climb some great problems. The event is free for members or $10 for non-members. We will be serving free pizza. Also we will have beer from Pyramid Brewery, in Walnut Creek, we will have a keg of their seasonal amber, Rollick. Also we will be having one of our members spin some beats on a speaker system compliments of the Guitar Center in Concord. "

All Diablo Rock Gym members, please take note that ALL bouldering will be closed from Wednesday til Friday at 6:00pm when the competition starts. Be aware that some route climbing areas will also be closed on Thursday but will reopen Saturday morning. Finally, most of our route climbing will also be closed Friday night for the competition.

Get registered and we hope to see you there, should be a great time for all.

Labels: Bouldering, Diablo Rock Gym, DRG, Events, TBS4, Touchstone Climbing

  ¶ Tuesday, February 17, 2009 0 Comments

  New Members: Bouldering Safety & How To Fall The new year always brings a lot of new faces in the gym and as such, we thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of some basic bouldering safety. The main thing you need to know, right off the bat before you start climbing, is the easiest to learn: How To Fall. That's right, many people get injured by falling, and landing improperly while bouldering.

Here are the basics:

1. Hit the ground feet first, toes facing forward, with your knees bent.
2. Absorb shock by collapsing like an accordion.
3. Roll backwards to disperse force.
   

The article mentions that you should always scout out your landing area before beginning any bouldering problems. Keep this extra little tip in mind:

"Except in cases where an obstacle looms immediately behind you (e.g. a wall, person, etc.), there is seldom a reason to remain on your feet. Posting your arm behind you can potentially dislocate or break your elbow, wrist, or shoulder. Also take care when rolling forward, as whacking your head on your knees or the wall will reduce your debonair appearance."

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, How To Fall, New Members, Safety

  ¶ Thursday, February 05, 2009 0 Comments

  Great Western Power Co. Bouldering Area Closed Wednesday

That's right, the FOURTH, yes 4th Touchstone Bouldering Series is coming up this Friday! To prepare for the event the Bouldering Area of GWPC is going to be closed starting Wednesday and continuing until the competition ends. Here's what our good friend Lyn Verinsky, General Manager of Great Western Power Company, has to say about the forthcoming event:

"Can you believe it’s the FOURTH season of the Touchstone Bouldering Series?! GW is kicking things off in November with lots of climbing, food, and beverages. We’ll raffle off a few goodies and make sure everyone has a great night with all their climbing buddies."

So, prepare yourselves for Friday if you're in the area, and if not, at the very least we're giving you a nice little reminder that the bouldering area will be closed for a few days. Sorry for the inconvenience, but trust us, it's worth it!

(Image via UTomJording on Flickr)

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, Closures, Great Western Power Co. TBS4, Rock Climb

  ¶ Tuesday, November 18, 2008 0 Comments

  Full Lung Capacity Benefit a HUGE Success! A few weeks ago, October 23, to be exact, we mentioned an extremely important event that we wanted as many people as possible to know about. The Full Lung Capacity Benefit, for Rowan Jimenez was a chance for all of us to give back to one of our own. The event was November 1st and has come and gone. The news I want to share with all of you is this: It was a MASSIVE success! All of YOU made the Benefit far greater than we could have imagined, and for that, Thank You!

We got an email and we thought we had to share it, to help show you just how wild a success the Full Lung Capacity Benefit was. Try this on for size my friends, straight from Chris Bloch:

"The Full Lung Capacity Bouldering Benefit was a great success, bringing in over 300 supporters, 178 who climbed in the bouldering competition, and the rest participatied in the acro yoga workshop, or just came to support Rowan and party. We raised $15,600 for Rowan’s transplant fund, and came together as a community to help a friend in need. There was an amazing outpouring of positive energy all night long...I have organized, set routes, or competed in over 200 climbing events in the past 14 or so years, from the ESPN X-Games, to countless local bouldering events here in the Bay Area. This event was by far the most positive, least stressful (really), and most enjoyable event I have been involved with. I was hoping for a good turnout, and was a bit worried with the weather the way it was, but the event far exceeded my expectations. I heard positive things from everyone I talked to, and the energy in the gym was amazing. The whole night was a testament to how many lives Rowan has touched, how our community of climbers can come together to support a friend in need, and how teamwork, hard work, and dedication can make a difference."

I'm proud of everyone! For all of you that couldn't make it, fear not, there is a photo album up with every single photo you missed at this awesome event! Head over, check them out and be proud that we as a climbing community came together for such an awesome cause!

Labels: Benefit, Bouldering, climbing, Full Lung Capacity, Rowan Jimenez

  ¶ Thursday, November 13, 2008 0 Comments

  Crash Pads For Sale!
It doesn't matter if you're brand new to the sport of climbing or bouldering, or a seasoned veteran, we all know that when it comes to climbing, falls are a simple, often painful, constant. The bad news is, it will always be a constant, the good news, it doesn't always have to be painful!

If you've ever been to a climbing gym, one of the first things you'll likely notice are crash pads. Any slip, tumble or fall can be transformed from a nasty, potentially career or sport-ending fall into something to laugh about, learn from, and advance yourself further into climbing. Bottom line, if you're a serious climber, or serious about becoming a serious climber, you need your own crash pads for your own bouldering needs!

I have some great news: Touchstone Climbing offers crash pads, and you can special order any pad you want from all of the companies we deal with if we don't happen to have the one you want in stock. The better news is, in our special ordering we can get different sizes and colors if we don't have the exact one you want. The BEST news is that as a member of Touchstone Climbing, you get 10% off your order! The prices range from about $135 up to $370 for the top-of-the-line. We offer the best of the best when it comes to crash pads, including Voodoo, Moon, Organic, Metoulius and Black Diamond pads!

Be smart, invest in some pads so your climbing and bouldering days can continue long into the future.

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, Crash Pads, members, Sale

  ¶ Wednesday, October 29, 2008 0 Comments

  Clinic: How To Perform Your BEST in Climbing!
Hello, Happy Monday and welcome back to the work week!

Here's a heads up for what is sure to be an awesome clinic that you should Not miss. If you are not a climber but want to be, are a climber but want to be better, or are already amazing but just need a tune-up, this FREE clinic is for you. Tomorrow, from 6-7:30pm at the Great Western Power Co., Ethan Schwartz, Ph.D. is going to be putting on a great clinic on how you can perform your best in the climbing world.

Here are some details, so listen up, if you please:

What: Clinic on how to perform your best in climbing!
Where: Great Western Power Co.
When: Tuesday, October 28 from 6-7:30pm
Cost: FREE

About the clinic:
What allows you to perform your best? What mental processes channel all of your physical potential into one superb performance, your personal best? Peak moments can be fleeting, but this class will outline the psychological processes that set the stage for peak performance, specifically in the realm of climbing. Through exercises and discussion you'll learn how best to get "in the zone" and get your "head" out of your way, so you are more likely to utilize all that you are as a climber/athlete.

About Ethan:

Ethan Schwartz, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist in private practice with an office in Oakland. He has worked with professional, college, and amateur athletes and has studied, researched, and pursued the psychology of peak performance both as a climber/athlete and a clinician. He has been climbing for 17 years and continues to be passionate about pushing his physical limits whether it be bouldering, crack climbing, or sport climbing.

Don't be shy, come, enjoy, learn and push yourself to be the best that you know you can be. Click here to check out the official flyer, then, hopefully we'll see you Tuesday night!

Labels: Bouldering, climbing, Rock Climb

  ¶ Monday, October 27, 2008 0 Comments

  Full Lung Capacity Bouldering Benefit
When one of our own goes down, we must all rise up to help. This is something I think we all know, we all preach, and now we will all practice. This is a reminder of a benefit coming up, November 1st, from 6-10pm at Berkeley Ironworks. Rowan Jimenez needs our help for a lung transplant...our help, is the least we can do.

Here is the official info on the event, which is absolutely not one to be missed!

Labels: Berkeley Ironworks, Bouldering, Lung transplantation, Rock Climb, Rowan Jimenez, Scleroderma

  ¶ Thursday, October 23, 2008 0 Comments