Meet Remi Moehring & Nash Anderson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Remi /Nash Moehring/ Anderson.

Remi /Nash, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Remi:
I was pursuing a second bachelor’s in industrial design when I started working at Mission Cliffs, one of Touchstone’s Bay Area gyms. At that point, I had only been climbing for about a month. Six months later I had to make a decision between finishing the degree and digging myself deeper into student loan debt, or working at a climbing gym for the rest of my life and possibly never making enough money to pay off my first degree. I chose to commit to Touchstone, and a year and a half later, I moved to LA to run their first Southern California gym, located in DTLA. Two years after that I was given the opportunity to run Touchstone’s Culver City gym, which is where I am now. These days I use the talents acquired in art school to photoshop fake rainbow vomit onto pictures of my coworkers to give to them as Christmas presents. True story.

Nash:
I had been a member at Mission Cliffs for almost a decade when I met Remi. I had a crush on her from afar for over a year, but we had only been dating for six months when she got the news that she’d be relocating to Southern California. Neither one of us wanted to do long distance, and I didn’t want to leave San Francisco, so we spent the next few months before the move moping around and trying to make the best of the time we had left. So I quit my job and moved to LA so we could be together. After a short and miserable stint as a personal trainer while I searched desperately for a job in the climbing industry, Touchstone took pity on me and let me work for them.

Has it been a smooth road?
Remi:
I have much less climbing and outdoor experience than most of the people I work with, and feeling like I fit in has been my biggest struggle. I enjoy climbing because of the movement and strength it requires; not because I love the outdoors or have aspirations to climb higher or harder or more than my peers. Feeling that I belong to a group of people who prioritize those things is sometimes difficult. But if that’s one of my biggest struggles in my job I have basically nothing to complain about and you can feel free to roll your eyes.

Nash:
Our first year living in LA was a huge struggle, although we were only aware of it in hindsight. We experienced major culture shock coming from a cold walking city where everyone is a barista to a hot, sprawling city where everyone needs a car and is in “the biz.” We were very isolated. After the first year, we both had a moment where we were like, “how did we survive the last 12 months?” When you’re in it, you go into survival mode and power through hoping that things will get better, and they did! SF will always feel like home, but we’ve learned to live well and make the most of LA for as long as we’re here.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Remi:
Climbing gyms are popping up everywhere these days, and they’re becoming bigger, fancier, taller, and better every year. The fanciness and bigness are obviously important, but what the company has focused on since the very beginning (over 20 years ago) is the climbing community.

Nash:
You can have the best gym in the world, but if you don’t foster a positive, supportive, and knowledgeable climbing community, customers won’t have a good experience. I’ve been to a few large, beautiful gyms that have an extremely corporate feel, and it’s not as fun climbing there as it is at an old, crappy gym with a great vibe. Despite the size of our company, I think we’ve kept that small business, community feel.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Remi:
LA was a great place to build a rock climbing gym until three years ago. We’ve built three new gyms in the area in as many years, so I would recommend if you’re looking to do the same, look elsewhere! LA is full!

Nash:
LA could definitely use better public transit. If you ask anyone who lives in or has visited LA, the term they always use to describe it is “spread out.” Remi and I come from San Francisco, where you can bike, walk, or bus anywhere easily, so we experienced a healthy dose of culture shock when we moved here. We both had to buy cars!

Remi:
I tried biking to work for a couple months recently when the lease on my car was up, but I decided I didn’t feel like dying anytime soon, so I got another car. 75% of my commute was spent in a designated bike lane, so that says a lot. Better bike lanes and public transit would ease up on the parking situation as well.

Nash:
Better, faster, and more expansive public transit, as well as better bike routes, would really open up the city. Parking is a nightmare everywhere, including our gyms, so everyone would benefit from not having to drive everywhere.

Pricing:

• $79/month memberships, no contract, no initiation fee in January
• $$20-25 day passes
• $35 belay classes (includes gear, day pass, and instruction)

Contact Info:

• Website: touchstoneclimbing.com
• Instagram: @laboulders @hollywoodboulders @cliffsofid @touchstoneclimbing
• Twitter: touchstoneclimbing