70 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} CL IMBING touch ‘n go words by MAGALI GAUTHIER • photography by GINO DE GRANDIS gym’s wall last summer, a few months after the space opened in an industrial area off Woodside Road, near Highway 101. Though dozens of rock climbing gyms are peppered throughout the South Bay, San Francisco and the East Bay, Hyperion is one of only two rock climbing gyms on the Peninsula. The Redwood City facility is currently a bouldering-only gym, meaning climbers take to the 16-foot walls without a rope and harness. On a typical evening, There’s one wall in Redwood City’s only rock climbing gym that isn’t covered in handholds. Instead, a riot of handprints greet climbers as they arrive for their workouts. Magenta prints float ten feet up, while others in mustard yellow hover around floor level. There’s even a teal-colored paw with “Rufus” written underneath. “These are the people who were there since day one,” says Hyperion Climbing’s manager Alireza “Ali” Mirafzal. He notes that climbers left their marks on the the gym is packed with people scrambling up and down climbs and hanging over cushiony pads strategically placed over all potential fall zones. “There is a large group of climbers in the area,” says Ali. “It really felt like the demand and the space was there.” He describes how people come in after a busy work day—some even stopping by before they head back home to San Francisco. There’s also the gym’s youth team, made up of local kids aged 8 to 17, as well as folks who are brand-new to the sport. “It is a community where people of all walks of life are intermingling,”
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