As local climber Mike Rommel performed a difficult ascent up the face of the Old Stonehouse Brewery in downtown Nevada City, a passenger in a passing pickup truck rolled down the window and yelled, “Try the door, it’s open!” Rommel took a slight reprieve to laugh before continuing on to the top of the route. “It was pretty good, fun. It was tough though,” Rommel said Thursday, once safely back on solid ground. Rommel climbed the iconic Gold Rush building, which was designed by an Italian stonemason and built with the help of Chinese labor, as a means of promoting …


























