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whiskeybullets
Oct 14, 2009, 5:21 PM
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Thinking about changing the view up a bit and thinking about the impact of climbing on a relocation destination.
So, what are your top ten U.S. destinations for trad climbing (with extra points for crack climbing)?
Also, what are your top U.S. metropolitan areas for living in if you are destined to be a weekend warrior who still enjoys the trappings of the city (coffee shops, music, good food, book stores, cultural events, university, zoos, museums etc)?
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marc801
Oct 14, 2009, 6:10 PM
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whiskeybullets wrote: Also, what are your top U.S. metropolitan areas for living in if you are destined to be a weekend warrior who still enjoys the trappings of the city (coffee shops, music, good food, book stores, cultural events, university, zoos, museums etc)?
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jrathfon
Oct 14, 2009, 6:41 PM
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thought it was sugar smurf, eh?
for others who may read this, my list is sort of as follows, since i've done new england, they are low, but definitely places i'd settle down:
flagstaff! (coffee, university, small city life, edit to add drivable: red rocks, zion, moab, socal, sedona, cochiz (sp?))
olympia/seattle
corvalis/portland
boulder
burlington! (coffee, university, small city life, lake champlain, dacks, NH)
north conway (coffee, climbing, BC skiing, won't have the city ammenities, but you can drive to boston)
chattanooga
asheville
pretty much all of those have bigger colleges with life in the towns.
(This post was edited by jrathfon on Oct 14, 2009, 6:43 PM)
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sspssp
Oct 14, 2009, 6:57 PM
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Boulder would be a good choice and you can climb after work.
Seattle and Portland are cool towns but the rain really detracts from the climbing.
Salt Lake City has a lot as far as ammenities, but I don't think I would enjoy it. Each to their own.
If you are content with a 3~4 hour drive to great climbing (Yosemite/Tahoe/Sierra) there are a lot of possibities in California. San Fran., Berkeley or one of the other University of California towns (Davis, etc). I keep thinking UC/Merced (one hour from Yosemite) will turn into a cool place but the university is still too new and small to have yet changed the culture from central valley farming town.
(This post was edited by sspssp on Oct 14, 2009, 6:58 PM)
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jrathfon
Oct 14, 2009, 7:09 PM
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yeah but for the NW, i love sailing, and olympia/seattle gives you access to the olympic penn. and the cascades for awesome long alpine climbing, and leavenworth offers up some dry desert climbing.
ditto on corvalis/portland, ain't smith close?
add to that awesome mtn biking, bc skiing and beachside bouldering, big cities closeby for airports and "opera" and i'm set!
(This post was edited by jrathfon on Oct 14, 2009, 7:09 PM)
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sspssp
Oct 14, 2009, 7:18 PM
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Well, I wasn't saying the NW was a bad place to live, but the OP didn't ask about mtn biking, skiing, etc.
If you enjoy snow/ice that opens up more places. For instance, I think the climbing season is too short to live in the Northeast, just for climbing. But add in ice and skiing, well, another story...
Smith isn't too far, but it sounds like the OP isn't focused on sport routes. Leavenworth is a cool place. I would have a hard time with the dreary weather even if I was escaping to the desert on the weekend, but again, each to their own...
(This post was edited by sspssp on Oct 14, 2009, 7:21 PM)
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crazy_fingers84
Oct 14, 2009, 8:05 PM
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Bend, OR
Short drive to Smith... which has great trad climbing +1
and Trout Creek... which has the highest density of splitter cracks I have ever seen
+ 1,000,000
Awesome breweries and restaurants in town, music, etc.+ 1,
skiing nearby +1
No university or zoo -2
But that still puts Bend at positive 1,000,001 for points.
All that being said, I have never lived there... though I would like to someday, and every local I have ever met there has warmed up on my project...
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sspssp
Oct 14, 2009, 10:42 PM
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I've been to Smith a couple of times, but it has been a while. Is the trad climbing you are refering to the basalt down by the river? I enjoy basalt, but if someone is relocating to find crack/trad climbing, I still don't see Smith as that big of a plus, but there might be a lot more crack climbing in the area than I am familiar with. 1,000,000 points for splitter cracks at Trout Creek? Then that must be somewhere in Southern Utah, right?
The breweries/music, etc. I certainly agree with. I've had some fun weekends in Bend.
(This post was edited by sspssp on Oct 14, 2009, 10:43 PM)
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crazy_fingers84
Oct 14, 2009, 11:30 PM
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there are tons of trad lines at smith... none worth mentioning that i can think of on the basalt rim rock though.
trout creek is less than an hour drive from bend. it consists of columnar basalt, with a high density of routes, mostly in the 5.10-5.11 range. all splitter in stellar rock with phenomenal views.
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rschap
Oct 15, 2009, 12:26 AM
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As much as I hated living there, Los Angeles is in close proximity to Tahquitz, Joshua Tree, Needles, Easter Sierras, Yosemite, Bishop, Big Bear, Red Rocks, etc. And then there’s the sport climbing…
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josiahdood
Oct 20, 2009, 6:35 PM
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Well, the best place to be of course, is Bishop. I think it has the highest concentration of fantastic climbing for one town. And the proximity to the Valley (well, when the pass is open) is pretty nice.
The Bay Area is only like 3 hours drive from the Valley - seems pretty good if you're looking for a large urban Area.
I was born n' raised in Portland - not a bad place for climbing - but the awesomeness of the city kind of balances it out. Also, people always complain about the rain, but honestly, spring/summer in P-town is worth all that rain...
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shockabuku
Oct 20, 2009, 6:39 PM
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crazy_fingers84 wrote: there are tons of trad lines at smith... none worth mentioning that i can think of on the basalt rim rock though. trout creek is less than an hour drive from bend. it consists of columnar basalt, with a high density of routes, mostly in the 5.10-5.11 range. all splitter in stellar rock with phenomenal views.
But those aren't splitter cracks.
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