Mission Cliffs — Attraction in San Francisco

1 year later, they’re still doing the same thing whenever they can their collective delusion is out of my mind but they still try to reinforce the belief in me and my friends. The damage Touchstone climbing and their “yogis” caused me continues to hurt me to this day. Shame on all of you, If you’re lucky enough to be unburdened by a constant preoccupation with energy or the flow, don’t go to Touchstone. One of their yogis will likely plant that seed in your mind, and it’s a poisonous mentality that takes months or years to deprogram, and coincidentally, is often used as a tool for manipulation in cults. It’s been over 2 years since this cancer entered into my consciousness and I still get anxiety about it daily. Shame. I’m suspicious that this may be the same thing preoccupying the minds of a lot of people I’ve met that struggle with homelessness, addiction and/or mental health issues. Shame!

Now for the good stuff: I love touchstone gyms, they have the most floor space, the best routes, the cleanest holds and really nice facilities. I’ve been to all the climbing gyms in SF and Touchstone is my favorite. $107 is very reasonable for access to 5 local gyms, they have tens of thousands of square feet of climbing space, every piece of equipment you need, an incredible variation of climbing routes in countless styles, classes, trainers, coaches, snacks and fingernail clippers, they have it all.

The problem with touchstone gyms is the culture. Climbing is a sport with a very high barrier of entry monetarily, so, most of the people in this and touchstone gyms don’t have to worry about money and don’t understand the damage they do to people that do have to worry about it.

Whether it’s asking to use equipment you just started using then getting mad at you for asking for some more time to finish your sets, or someone telling you they need to use the pull-up bar you’re using because they only have 10 minutes to do 3 sets and then freaking out on you for suggesting they use a different one. Or maybe you just want a snack bar and the person behind the counter decides to treat you with absolute contempt for existing and needing calories. Shame.

Make no mistake, if you don’t look, act, or flow a certain way at Touchstone gyms, there are people that will make your life difficult. This is after 2 years of observation.

I love touchstone and their gyms, but this is unacceptable. I’ve been working out here and at touchstone gyms for 2 years, I even worked at a touchstone gym, but the entire time I’ve been observing, I see the same behavior time and time again from the same archetype of people, wealthy entitled people that think you owe them whatever they ask for.

Lastly, I’d like to mention this: I absolutely love climbing, Mission Cliffs and Touchstone. I kicked a 14 year nicotine addiction just so I could train harder for climbing and I love getting to climb and train at the network of fantastic gyms touchstone has. And this: I have a disability, I don’t tell anyone, but in the past, I genuinely almost died because of it twice. Touchstone gym has made the symptoms of my disability immeasurably worse. Shame. Shame on everyone responsible. Shame.

Just went here for the first time in maybe 6 months. Theyre still terrible. Absolutely terrible. And they’re still pulling the same BS. Same people, doing the same stuff, hurting the...

I rarely write negative reviews — especially for a climbing gym — but my experience at Mission Cliffs in SF was so disappointing in so many ways.

Maria (staff member) was extremely condescending. We were visiting from out of town and my partner needed to take his lead certification because he hadn’t visited a touchstone before. Between us, we have hundreds of hours of lead climbing experiences, both indoors and outside.

We were made to wait over an hour — despite repeatedly coming back to the front desk to ask when we could take it and if anyone was available (they were, but were just chit chatting at the desk). After the hour, we finally went to the desk to ask again and she said “oh, hasn’t someone already tested you yet?” to which she finally agreed to come administer the test.

I have previously passed a lead test at touchstone, but was told that by participating in the test again that if I did anything wrong my lead cert would be revoked. Get the need to be safe here, but this felt super unnecessary.

She then pointed out that I didn’t have a lead card (we had told her when checking in that we were visiting from out of town and didn’t have this). She then said in an accusatory tone that she could take away my lead cert for not having the card (all before the test, all still extremely unnecessary).

She then proceeded to administer the test — which is one of the unnecessarily hardest lead routes for a test imo having visited many gyms in many countries. There is no need for a lead climber to be able to climb an overhung 10b successfully and clean in one go — the emphasis should clearly be on safety rather than ability (other gyms I have visited have plenty of great 10.b and below lead routes). There is also no need to intimidate the climber taking the test prior to them taking the test. Her instructions were convoluted (“clip 6 clips, you can discuss which ones between you” — unclear why she couldn’t just say clip all the draws on the route) and she was just downright mean.

The cumulative effect of this is a gym that feels extremely oppressive and unfriendly to climbers — both old and new. I cannot even imagine how a newer lead climber would feel taking this test — intimidated, scared, and frankly not wanting to bother to clear these hurdles.

Sadly, to top it off, the route setting was not even good. Straight up and down and nothing very...

My wallet was stolen, and Mission Cliffs couldn't care less! Their response was consistent with the dismissive attitudes of staff members mentioned by other reviewers. I love the Mission Cliffs community, but the attitude of the staff is really disappointing.

On March 25, 2025, between 7:30 and 8:30 PM, my wallet was stolen from my backpack, which was placed on a bench between the bouldering section and the yoga room during my class.

I later discovered that the camera in the bouldering section clearly covers the theft area—but the gym manager, Donna Hawkins, initially claimed "camera does not cover the bench". I sent photo evidence, marked the camera and bench in bright red, and emailed gym manager. Later I was told the footage was reviewed and handed over to the police, my request to view the footage in person has been completely ignored.

I’ve been trying to work with the gym to get access to this footage, but it’s been nothing but delays and excuses. Here’s a timeline of my requests:

March 25th night – Original request. I was told I can't review the footage, I needed to file a police report first. March 26th morning – They Excused with "we’re busy now, but we can review this afternoon." I requested being present for the footage review but got ignored. Later told that the footage was transferred to the police, with no further details. March 27th – I formally requested footage review once again and asked for info about the footage transfer. March 28th -- Police information is provided, incident time was identified, told I can review the coming two days but need to make appointment. March 29th – Follow up within the timeline given to confirm for review time, however I was provided a very short window , which conflicted with my schedule. My request for alternatives went unanswered.

The lack of cooperation and constant delays in accessing critical evidence is both frustrating and concerning. The first response to my request to review the footage was a blatant "lie" about the camera not covering the theft area, which was easily disproven.

It’s clear that they couldn’t care less about helping you resolve a theft on...