Touchstone Blog Archive
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Studio Comes Together
Construction at the Studio is coming together quickly. Holds from Stone Age have been delivered. The adjustable cracks are being put together. The majority of the exercise machines have been delivered. Things are coming together.
The ship's prow in the bouldering area looks awesome. The setters will be able to establish some rad problems up this steep section.
The climbing walls are well constructed with a ton of new angles and awesome shapes to them.
Some of the exercise machines will overlook the climbing area. It'll be a great chance to work out and see the sports action on the wall.
There are tours of the new facility going on. Check out the Studio's Facebook page for more details about how you can see Touchstone's newest gym.
The ship's prow in the bouldering area looks awesome. The setters will be able to establish some rad problems up this steep section.
The climbing walls are well constructed with a ton of new angles and awesome shapes to them.
Some of the exercise machines will overlook the climbing area. It'll be a great chance to work out and see the sports action on the wall.There are tours of the new facility going on. Check out the Studio's Facebook page for more details about how you can see Touchstone's newest gym.
Labels: gym tours, San Jose climbing, The Studio
¶ Wednesday, January 11, 2012 0 Comments
Thursday, December 15, 2011
TBS 7 At Mission Cliffs
Mission Cliffs just had an awesome turnout for the latest TBS 7 comp. 409 climbers stopped by to turn in scorecards. The comp series has been greatly successful this season with over 1300 different climbers stopping by to compete.
The Touchstone setters spent a solid amount of time establishing new problems for the comp. The great boulder problems had everyone pysched.
There was a photo booth were climbers stopped by to get some classic candid pictures.
There was a chair bouldering competition during the evening. Climbers rallied around a small chair and tried to climb around the piece of furniture without touching the ground or knocking the chair over.
There's more great pictures of the event at the Touchstone Flickr Page.
The fun at the TBS 7 comps is coming close to an end.
On Saturday January 28, Touchstone's newest gym, The Studio will have it's grand opening. The TBS 7 Finale will be held at the new gym.
Not only will the new gym have free food, t-shirts, beer, and tons of new problems but there will also be an onsight final with cash prizes. The men and women's winners will receive $400 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third.
Get pysched for The Studio's opening and the TBS 7 Finale!
Mission Cliffs just had an awesome turnout for the latest TBS 7 comp. 409 climbers stopped by to turn in scorecards. The comp series has been greatly successful this season with over 1300 different climbers stopping by to compete.
The Touchstone setters spent a solid amount of time establishing new problems for the comp. The great boulder problems had everyone pysched.
There was a photo booth were climbers stopped by to get some classic candid pictures.
There was a chair bouldering competition during the evening. Climbers rallied around a small chair and tried to climb around the piece of furniture without touching the ground or knocking the chair over.
There's more great pictures of the event at the Touchstone Flickr Page.
The fun at the TBS 7 comps is coming close to an end.
On Saturday January 28, Touchstone's newest gym, The Studio will have it's grand opening. The TBS 7 Finale will be held at the new gym.
Not only will the new gym have free food, t-shirts, beer, and tons of new problems but there will also be an onsight final with cash prizes. The men and women's winners will receive $400 for first, $200 for second, and $100 for third.
Get pysched for The Studio's opening and the TBS 7 Finale!
Labels: mission cliffs, TBS 7, The Studio
¶ Thursday, December 15, 2011 0 Comments
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
The Studio's New Manager: Diane Ortega
The Studio, Touchstone’s newest gym in San Jose, just announced that Diane Ortega will be managing the facility.
The 30 year old Ortega is originally from Texas but transplanted to California when she attended Chico State, where she received a degree in Political Science. “Originally I wanted to be a lawyer but then reconsidered once I started working in a law office,” said Ortega.
Ortega began climbing when she was 19 but became more serious about the sport in the last six years, taking frequent trips to Bishop to boulder with her Sacramento friends. When she’s not busy in the boulders, Ortega rides one of her many bikes, takes vinyasa yoga classes, and obesses over cooking magazines, blogs and shows. “I absolutely love to cook,” said Ortega. She’s taken her cooking to the next level and started supplying her own ingredients. “I recently started gardening a bit but have had mixed success with my crops.”
Ortega began working for Touchstone in 2004, when she directed the summer camp at Pipeworks. From there, she moved into a position at the front desk and has been working at Pipeworks since. She is excited about the new gym and the possibilities.
Ortega climbing Heavenly Path at the Happy Boulders in Bishop
Ortega has solid plans for the new gym. “I really want to foster a community environment and keep people psyched on climbing and make it really easy to introduce people to it as well. I plan on having great fitness classes with a focus on an excellent yoga program.” Ortega also wants to focus on building a community of younger climbers. “I am also very excited to introduce San Jose kids to climbing and get a great kids team going.”
Ortega is also excited about climbing at the facilities. The Studio promises to be one of Touchstone’s best gyms. The gym will have an adjustable crack, which Ortega is looking forward to trying so that she can “try and understand this crazy thing called crack climbing.” Ortega has checked out the new gym already and is excited about the new bouldering area, which promises to be awesome.
Stay tuned as developments on The Studio continue.
The 30 year old Ortega is originally from Texas but transplanted to California when she attended Chico State, where she received a degree in Political Science. “Originally I wanted to be a lawyer but then reconsidered once I started working in a law office,” said Ortega.
Ortega began climbing when she was 19 but became more serious about the sport in the last six years, taking frequent trips to Bishop to boulder with her Sacramento friends. When she’s not busy in the boulders, Ortega rides one of her many bikes, takes vinyasa yoga classes, and obesses over cooking magazines, blogs and shows. “I absolutely love to cook,” said Ortega. She’s taken her cooking to the next level and started supplying her own ingredients. “I recently started gardening a bit but have had mixed success with my crops.”
Ortega began working for Touchstone in 2004, when she directed the summer camp at Pipeworks. From there, she moved into a position at the front desk and has been working at Pipeworks since. She is excited about the new gym and the possibilities.
Ortega climbing Heavenly Path at the Happy Boulders in Bishop
Ortega has solid plans for the new gym. “I really want to foster a community environment and keep people psyched on climbing and make it really easy to introduce people to it as well. I plan on having great fitness classes with a focus on an excellent yoga program.” Ortega also wants to focus on building a community of younger climbers. “I am also very excited to introduce San Jose kids to climbing and get a great kids team going.”
Ortega is also excited about climbing at the facilities. The Studio promises to be one of Touchstone’s best gyms. The gym will have an adjustable crack, which Ortega is looking forward to trying so that she can “try and understand this crazy thing called crack climbing.” Ortega has checked out the new gym already and is excited about the new bouldering area, which promises to be awesome.
Stay tuned as developments on The Studio continue.
Labels: Diane Ortega, The Studio, Touchstone Gyms
¶ Tuesday, November 22, 2011 2 Comments
Monday, October 31, 2011
The Studio: Construction Update
Construction on Touchstone’s newest gym, The Studio in San Jose, has been moving along smoothly. The gym will be located on South First Street in an old theater. The building has significant character with a marquee, a ticket booth, and a setting like an old theater.
The building’s unique design allows for a significant amount of climbing. There will be over 75 lead and toprope anchors along the 44 foot high walls.
Bent steel makes the formation of the 15 foot bouldering walls. There are no angles, just smooth transitions from one section to the next. There will also be a free standing boulder and the second floor bouldering area will overlook the climbing wall. This large bouldering area promises to be one of Touchstone's best.
There will be an adjustable crack like the one at MetalMark. There will also be a chimney, a roof area, some extreme dihedrals and tons of other awesome climbing features.
The Studio will have an excellent yoga and fitness room. New showers and locker rooms will make the gym an easy place to go work out at and leave feeling fresh. The latest cardio machines, free weights, and tons of exercise machines will round out the facilities.
Mark Benkert acted as the lead welder and wall designer along with Touchstone founder, Mark Melvin. This is the second gym the pair have built this year and they used many of the innovations they developed at Fresno’s MetalMark.
Touchstone hopes to have the building finished by late 2011 or early 2012. Stay tuned for details about the latest construction.
The building’s unique design allows for a significant amount of climbing. There will be over 75 lead and toprope anchors along the 44 foot high walls.
Bent steel makes the formation of the 15 foot bouldering walls. There are no angles, just smooth transitions from one section to the next. There will also be a free standing boulder and the second floor bouldering area will overlook the climbing wall. This large bouldering area promises to be one of Touchstone's best.
There will be an adjustable crack like the one at MetalMark. There will also be a chimney, a roof area, some extreme dihedrals and tons of other awesome climbing features.
The Studio will have an excellent yoga and fitness room. New showers and locker rooms will make the gym an easy place to go work out at and leave feeling fresh. The latest cardio machines, free weights, and tons of exercise machines will round out the facilities.
Mark Benkert acted as the lead welder and wall designer along with Touchstone founder, Mark Melvin. This is the second gym the pair have built this year and they used many of the innovations they developed at Fresno’s MetalMark.
Touchstone hopes to have the building finished by late 2011 or early 2012. Stay tuned for details about the latest construction.
Labels: Mark Benkert, Mark Melvin, new climbing gym, The Studio
¶ Monday, October 31, 2011 0 Comments
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Studio: New Touchstone Gym in San Jose
The south bay area will be getting a little bit better this year with the addition of a new Touchstone climbing Gym. The Studio, located in central downtown San Jose on 1st Street and San Salvador, will be 12,000 square feet and feature lots of wall and tons of bouldering. The old night club and theater will undoubtedly be one of Touchstone's best new gyms.
Mark Melvin, Touchstone's wall builder extraordinaire, described the three tier building. The bouldering will overlook the route climbing, which will be up to 40 feet tall. The unique structure of the theater will require significant custom work. "It won’t be a cookie cutter gym," said Melvin.
The recent construction of MetalMark in Fresno has allowed for the team to gain a significant amount of experience and the team will be implementing a number of the ideas that they used in Fresno like adjustable cracks and curved walls for climbing.
Check out The Studio's Facebook Page Construction of the gym will begin in the next couple of weeks with construction hopefully ending late this fall.
Mark Melvin, Touchstone's wall builder extraordinaire, described the three tier building. The bouldering will overlook the route climbing, which will be up to 40 feet tall. The unique structure of the theater will require significant custom work. "It won’t be a cookie cutter gym," said Melvin.
The recent construction of MetalMark in Fresno has allowed for the team to gain a significant amount of experience and the team will be implementing a number of the ideas that they used in Fresno like adjustable cracks and curved walls for climbing.
Check out The Studio's Facebook Page Construction of the gym will begin in the next couple of weeks with construction hopefully ending late this fall.
Labels: San Jose climbing, The Studio, touchstone
¶ Friday, May 27, 2011 0 Comments
