Pringle at Dogpatch

<< Back

The grand opening of Dogpatch is fast approaching and local climbers are getting psyched. The gym has had a few open house events. During a few random weekdays, members grabbed the holds on the amazing new walls. Dogpatch also saw visits by some local professional climbers.

Touchstone athlete and San Francisco native, Ethan Pringle stopped by Dogpatch already. Pringle set a new problem on the arch once and then returned to climb at the new gym. “There were a ton of brand new holds so I made the whole thing orange.” Setting in the gym remained a difficult task due to the overhanging nature. “I had to move the ladder at least 20 times so that I could reach different parts of the roof and use two different ladders of different heights.”

In his visits across the world, Pringle has visited hundreds of different climbing gyms. “The gym (Dogpatch) is pretty insane. It's definitely the biggest bouldering gym I've seen, and it's got to be one of the biggest in the world. It's almost twice the size of The Spot in boulder! And the walls are so big that pretty much every problem requires some stamina. I can't wait to train there once it's opened!”

The Wave feature, which Walltopia built to gradually move into progressively steepening terrain, attracted Pringle. “You could probably have a 25 foot long problem on it that just goes straight up.” Pringle’s favorite feature was the center piece. “I gotta say that the arch on the top out boulder is the sickest looking feature to me. I mean, you can have a 60ft boulder problem that is almost horizontal the whole way!”

Pringle commented on all the top out problems at Dogpatch. “I think standing on top of a boulder, or at least gaining a ledge where you can stand is necessary to feel like you've really completed a boulder problem. I don't really consider drop-off boulder problems real boulder problems- they don't have the total package.”

Pringle spoke about how the solid job Walltopia did on the Walls. “They are super clean, the angles are great, and flat enough to put volumes on which I'm excited for, and the color schemes are really cool too. All in all it's going to be an awesome gym.”

“One last bit of advice,” added Pringle. “If you drop from the top of the wall, don't try to stick a gymnastic landing right over your feet. My suggestion is to roll when you land.”

<< Back

Tags: Ethan Pringle, Dogpatch