Touchstone Blog Archive
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Zero Gravity At Nationals in Atlanta
Touchstone's Zero Gravity youth climbing team crushed the USA Climbing, SCS National Championship. The competition was held at Stone Summit in Atlanta, GA, July 7-10 and the team came in second place with 9 national champions and 10 US national team spots.
In addition, team members Joshua Levin, Nick Bradley and Mirko Caballero were National Champions. US National Team spots went to Joshua Levin (Sport and Speed), Mirko Caballero
(Sport and Speed), Natalia Grossman (Sport and Speed), Jacquelyn Wu (Sport and Speed), Nick Bradley (Sport), Seth Rogers (Speed). Also in Finals were: Connor Everton, Dylan Meyerhoffer, Sera Busse, and Will Roderick. Also competing were: Eric Sanchez, Rick Gentry, Alexa Nazarian, Sam Steuart, and Michael Cohen.
The seventeen year old Joshua Levin set a new American Record for the 10 meter IFSC Speed Route with a time of 5.05 seconds. He clocked this time at the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Atlanta, GA on July 10th 2011. The IFSC Speed route is an internationally certified route with the same hold in the same configuration. This is the climbing equivalent of the 100 meter dash in track and field. The holds in a rough approximation to the certified route can be found on the Yosemite Wall at Mission Cliffs.
Joshua is currently in Arco, Italy competing at the Rock Master, Adult World Championships. Live broadcast of this event can be found here
Joshua, Jacquelyn and Nick will join head coach Scot Jenerik (also US National Team Coach) in Imst, Austria, August 25-28 for the Youth World Championships. Good luck to our athletes as they compete against some of the worlds best climbers in Europe.
In addition, team members Joshua Levin, Nick Bradley and Mirko Caballero were National Champions. US National Team spots went to Joshua Levin (Sport and Speed), Mirko Caballero
(Sport and Speed), Natalia Grossman (Sport and Speed), Jacquelyn Wu (Sport and Speed), Nick Bradley (Sport), Seth Rogers (Speed). Also in Finals were: Connor Everton, Dylan Meyerhoffer, Sera Busse, and Will Roderick. Also competing were: Eric Sanchez, Rick Gentry, Alexa Nazarian, Sam Steuart, and Michael Cohen.
The seventeen year old Joshua Levin set a new American Record for the 10 meter IFSC Speed Route with a time of 5.05 seconds. He clocked this time at the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Atlanta, GA on July 10th 2011. The IFSC Speed route is an internationally certified route with the same hold in the same configuration. This is the climbing equivalent of the 100 meter dash in track and field. The holds in a rough approximation to the certified route can be found on the Yosemite Wall at Mission Cliffs.
Joshua is currently in Arco, Italy competing at the Rock Master, Adult World Championships. Live broadcast of this event can be found here
Joshua, Jacquelyn and Nick will join head coach Scot Jenerik (also US National Team Coach) in Imst, Austria, August 25-28 for the Youth World Championships. Good luck to our athletes as they compete against some of the worlds best climbers in Europe.
Labels: Josh Levin, USA Climbing, Youth Climbing, Zero Gravity
¶ Thursday, July 21, 2011 0 Comments
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Summer Youth Camp
Registration for Berkeley Ironworks annual summer camp begins this week. Come out to a great summer of climbing, swimming, and fun!
The camp will be packed with different events each day. There will be lunches at the Aquatic Park, swimming at Lake Anza, tons of bouldering, routes, yoga, cardio boxing, an exciting obstacle course, and a day at the outdoor climbing rock of Cragmont in the Berkeley Hills.
Charlotte Perry-Houts, who will be running the camps again this year, began climbing 8 1/2 years ago at Indian and Mortar Rock. She soon became a permanent fixture at Ironworks, where she has worked with the summer climbing camps for the past 4 years.
An Ironworks summer camp alumni, Charlotte has taken many trips to Cragmont, where the kids will climb outside for a day. "It's a nice park where you'd have a picnic that happens to have a bunch of routes down a trail on the side," said Charlotte. "We set up three routes there- two pretty easy cracks and a really tall overhanging 10b called Farewell to Arms." Join Charlotte and the kids at this summer's youth camp!
The Camps run from Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4pm. There will be childcare available for working parents from 8:30 am -10 am and from 4 pm - 5:30 pm
$400 members, $450 for non-members
Kids ages 6 - 14 are welcome.
June 20 - 24
June 27 - July 1
July 11 - 15
July 18 - 22
July 25 - 29
Aug 1 - 5
Aug 8 - 12
Aug 15 - 19
For more information check in at the front desk of Berkeley Ironworks
The camp will be packed with different events each day. There will be lunches at the Aquatic Park, swimming at Lake Anza, tons of bouldering, routes, yoga, cardio boxing, an exciting obstacle course, and a day at the outdoor climbing rock of Cragmont in the Berkeley Hills.
Charlotte Perry-Houts, who will be running the camps again this year, began climbing 8 1/2 years ago at Indian and Mortar Rock. She soon became a permanent fixture at Ironworks, where she has worked with the summer climbing camps for the past 4 years.
An Ironworks summer camp alumni, Charlotte has taken many trips to Cragmont, where the kids will climb outside for a day. "It's a nice park where you'd have a picnic that happens to have a bunch of routes down a trail on the side," said Charlotte. "We set up three routes there- two pretty easy cracks and a really tall overhanging 10b called Farewell to Arms." Join Charlotte and the kids at this summer's youth camp!
The Camps run from Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4pm. There will be childcare available for working parents from 8:30 am -10 am and from 4 pm - 5:30 pm
$400 members, $450 for non-members
Kids ages 6 - 14 are welcome.
June 20 - 24
June 27 - July 1
July 11 - 15
July 18 - 22
July 25 - 29
Aug 1 - 5
Aug 8 - 12
Aug 15 - 19
For more information check in at the front desk of Berkeley Ironworks
Labels: Charlotte Perry-Houts, summer climbing camps, Youth Climbing
¶ Wednesday, June 01, 2011 0 Comments
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Brothers on The Rise Come to GWPC
For the past two years, Brothers on the Rise has brought middle school boys to the Great Western Power Company's downtown Oakland gym. Brothers on the Rise is a youth group with a goal of helping to empower young men to "achieve individual success, develop healthy relationships and contribute to a more just and equitable society through gender-responsive programs that engage males personally and professionally in social service and social change."
For many of the kids, this was their first experience rock climbing. They all got to boulder on the rad problems in the cave, and they tried their hands at toproping on the tall walls of the gym. They had a blast and are all excited to come back later in their summer program.
.jpg)
Touchstone is a proud supporter of groups like Brothers on The Rise and appreciates them coming to the gym for their team building exercises.
For many of the kids, this was their first experience rock climbing. They all got to boulder on the rad problems in the cave, and they tried their hands at toproping on the tall walls of the gym. They had a blast and are all excited to come back later in their summer program.
.jpg)
Touchstone is a proud supporter of groups like Brothers on The Rise and appreciates them coming to the gym for their team building exercises.
Labels: Brothers on the Rise, Great Western Power Co., Youth Climbing
¶ Thursday, August 05, 2010 0 Comments
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Wildlink Climbs at Diablo Rock Gym
On Saturday, June 27th, five students from the Environmental Studies Academy (ESA) in Martinez, CA met with WildLink (WL) Community Coordinator, Paul Martin, for a rock wall climbing session at a gym in nearby Concord, CA. Martin emailed a short write-up of the trip.
"After being equipped with harnesses, shoes, and some chalk for the whole group by the instructor, Ryan. The first exercise for the group was rope and belay orientation facilitated by Ryan. When our group proved to Ryan that we understood the safety techniques we started to explore the various features in the gym. The overall ability of the group was very impressive with certain standouts: Maddy and Jimmy – bouldering, Sophia and Jacob “Tarzan” Ford – ropes, Cheyanna…everywhere. The staff at Diablo was very accommodating, the WildLink Ambassadors were engaged and attentive while climbing. Overall, this was a great day program!"
Diablo Rock Gym and the other Touchstone gyms are proud to support programs like Widlink. It's awesome to provide underserviced youths with a chance to experence a step towards the wild cliffs.
"After being equipped with harnesses, shoes, and some chalk for the whole group by the instructor, Ryan. The first exercise for the group was rope and belay orientation facilitated by Ryan. When our group proved to Ryan that we understood the safety techniques we started to explore the various features in the gym. The overall ability of the group was very impressive with certain standouts: Maddy and Jimmy – bouldering, Sophia and Jacob “Tarzan” Ford – ropes, Cheyanna…everywhere. The staff at Diablo was very accommodating, the WildLink Ambassadors were engaged and attentive while climbing. Overall, this was a great day program!"
Diablo Rock Gym and the other Touchstone gyms are proud to support programs like Widlink. It's awesome to provide underserviced youths with a chance to experence a step towards the wild cliffs.
Labels: Diablo Rock Gym, Wildlink, Youth Climbing
¶ Saturday, July 24, 2010 0 Comments
Monday, June 21, 2010
Teen Team Overnight at Berkeley Ironworks
Last month, Berkeley Ironwork's Teen Team held its Spring Overnight event. All the members of the team, including the coaches, took over the gym for a giant slumber/climbing party!
Kim Groebner, Allegra Guairno, Jose Gutierez, Corey Thornhill, and teen coach- Jamie Boudreau, started the evening with Family Climb, where the teens invited their parents and siblings to participate in a family top-roping session.
Twice a year, the teen team has an overnight, where over a dozen kids, supervised by the coaches, take over the gym. "There's a lot of climbing, pizza eating, and spazzing out," said coach Kim Groebner. The kids stayed up til 3:30 in the morning
After the family climb time, there was a giant pizza party.
Jose Gutierez recounted the evening. "At 10pm, Ironworks closed to the general public, leaving the entire facility at our disposal. We conducted a series of team-building exercises and lead-climbing lessons." Activites included- Twister, Lead CLimbing, and Bouldering.
Jose continued, saying, "We watched movies on the big-screen and, of course, we did a lot of MID-NIGHT BOULDERING! In fact, it was 3:30 in the morning and some of us were still climbing! Needless to say, a great time was had by all and we look forward to hosting yet another overnight event in the fall!"
The teen team is a non-competitive group of teenagers from 12-18, who meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:30. The team acts as a great opportunity for kids to meet other climbers their age, work on their technique, and have fun with 18 other kids.
Great Western Power Company is also starting a teen team, which will be led by Ryan Moon. Check in at the front desk of either gym to sign up and start having fun.
Kim Groebner, Allegra Guairno, Jose Gutierez, Corey Thornhill, and teen coach- Jamie Boudreau, started the evening with Family Climb, where the teens invited their parents and siblings to participate in a family top-roping session.
Twice a year, the teen team has an overnight, where over a dozen kids, supervised by the coaches, take over the gym. "There's a lot of climbing, pizza eating, and spazzing out," said coach Kim Groebner. The kids stayed up til 3:30 in the morning
After the family climb time, there was a giant pizza party.
Jose Gutierez recounted the evening. "At 10pm, Ironworks closed to the general public, leaving the entire facility at our disposal. We conducted a series of team-building exercises and lead-climbing lessons." Activites included- Twister, Lead CLimbing, and Bouldering.
Jose continued, saying, "We watched movies on the big-screen and, of course, we did a lot of MID-NIGHT BOULDERING! In fact, it was 3:30 in the morning and some of us were still climbing! Needless to say, a great time was had by all and we look forward to hosting yet another overnight event in the fall!"
The teen team is a non-competitive group of teenagers from 12-18, who meet twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30-6:30. The team acts as a great opportunity for kids to meet other climbers their age, work on their technique, and have fun with 18 other kids.
Great Western Power Company is also starting a teen team, which will be led by Ryan Moon. Check in at the front desk of either gym to sign up and start having fun.
Labels: Spring Overnight, Teen Team, Youth Climbing
¶ Monday, June 21, 2010 0 Comments
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Zero Gravity Team Crushes
On May 15th, Touchstone Zero Gravity won the USA Climbing Northern California Regional Championship for the fifth straight year! The Youth team, coached by Scot Jenerik, managed to pull another outstanding performance. Using the Touchstone facilities as a training ground, the team had a number of great accomplishments at the competition.
Big congratulations to Touchstone Zero Gravity Regional Champions in Sport: Eric Sanchez, Joshua Levin, Cicada Jenerik, Sera Busse and Nick Bradley
Regional Champions in Speed: Eric Sanchez, Joshua Levin, Cicada Jenerik, Sam Stewart, and Gabii Strandberg.
And to our silver medalists: Jacquelyn Wu, Charlie Andrews, Ryan Riggins
And bronze medalists: Dylan Meyerhoffer, Michael Cohen, Will Roderick, Mel Roderick
And Rick Gentry, Andrew Dixon, Aidan Oneill, Mike Humphrey, Cameron Read and Marianna Florine in our Twenty Six Division 1 Championships bids.
The Division 1 Championships will be held in Portland, OR on June 12 and 13.
Big congratulations to Touchstone Zero Gravity Regional Champions in Sport: Eric Sanchez, Joshua Levin, Cicada Jenerik, Sera Busse and Nick Bradley
Regional Champions in Speed: Eric Sanchez, Joshua Levin, Cicada Jenerik, Sam Stewart, and Gabii Strandberg.
And to our silver medalists: Jacquelyn Wu, Charlie Andrews, Ryan Riggins
And bronze medalists: Dylan Meyerhoffer, Michael Cohen, Will Roderick, Mel Roderick
And Rick Gentry, Andrew Dixon, Aidan Oneill, Mike Humphrey, Cameron Read and Marianna Florine in our Twenty Six Division 1 Championships bids.
The Division 1 Championships will be held in Portland, OR on June 12 and 13.
Labels: Scot Jenerik, Youth Climbing, Zero Gravity
¶ Thursday, May 20, 2010 1 Comments
