72 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} he describes. The vast facility, owned and operated by Touchstone Climbing, offers something for every climber, featuring around 275 rock climbing problems across more than 10,000 square feet of wall space that slants and curves in all directions. Difficult climbs appear alongside easier ones, the routes weaving over and under one another so climbers of different levels cross paths. At climbing gyms, it’s not unusual to seek out help on a problem from a neighboring climber. Groups of friends also commonly hang out on the large comfy pads, working out the routes together. “It is technically an individual sport, but it does not popping up across the country. During the pandemic, climbing debuted as an official sport at the Tokyo Olympic Games and since then, at least five gyms have opened locally, including Hyperion. To foster the climbing community here in Redwood City and on the Peninsula, Hyperion hosts monthly events for guests to get to know one another and the staff a little better. To celebrate Halloween last year, the gym turned out the lights and members climbed in costume with the help of headlamps. One member scaled the walls dressed as Katy Perry on her recent trip to space. Ali, who joined the festivities as a Minion from the animated film Despicable Me, also recalls seeing the iconic Batman shadow projected onto the bouldering feel that way,” says Ali, who has been part of the climbing community for well over a decade. Ali fondly recalls climbing at Pacific Pipes—one of Touchstone’s Oakland gyms that also happens to be the largest in the country—regularly as the pandemic waned. He’d meet up with old friends and new acquaintances, everyone congregating to tackle a tricky climb. “I think I just fell in love with the community,” says Ali. “It was kind of crazy to just be working out and working my brain and socializing all at the same time. … I think it was the first time I had ever experienced that combo.” Plenty of others are catching on. Indoor rock climbing has surged in popularity since the 1990s with hundreds of gyms
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