help choosing place for climbing vacation for 1 week!

hi,

hoping for some advice - me and some buddies have a week off together - trad to mid 10s, sport to high 11s - thinking of
- gunks
- red river gorge
- smith
- south dakota
- red rocks
- potrero
- bishop

i know we can't really lose no matter where we go! anyone have any suggestions? (this'll be end of april) none of us can make a decision.

thanks, phil

End of April? I think wherever you have the best chance to avoid the high probability of getting rained/snowed out would be.

Well, Smith would fit the bill. End of April is good weather. The tuft has all the 5.11 sport routes you could imagine. And the basalt cracks of the lower Gorge is 5.10 trad heaven.

People forget that Smith Rocks has AWESOME trad climbing.

The downside to Smith Rocks is the weekend crowds... so if you can avoid a weekend you'll be golden.

Andy

pymiller wrote:hi, hoping for some advice - me and some buddies have a week off together - trad to mid 10s, sport to high 11s - thinking of - gunks - red river gorge - smith - south dakota - red rocks - potrero - bishop i know we can't really lose no matter where we go! anyone have any suggestions? (this'll be end of april) none of us can make a decision. thanks, phil

The Gunks would be hit-or-miss in April, weatherwise.

Kathy

Smith, Red Rocks or Potrero! All are awesome! The others seem too risky for April!

Also depends on what type of climbing you prefer:

Multipitch Sport and/ or Trad: Red Rocks
Single pitch sport and/ or trad: Smith

If you and your friends all want to hang out together at the base of the crags... Then Smith would be your best bet. Dense concentrations of routes in one location. A good "cragging" scene there. I prefer Red Rocks when doing it with only one other partner because of the long routes. Although Red Rocks does have shorter routes and some cragging, IMO, the long routes are by far the best of Red Rocks.

The Red (red river gorge) was great, and far better for sport climbing thatn redrocks in my opinion... but lack tall routes.
A tall route in The Red is usually 2 pitches, or at lest can be done in two pitches.
Red Rocks has some of the finest tall moderate routes I've ever been on, anywhere.
So it depends upon your goals... and where are you coming from? ANd what are your resources? I mean, camping at the red, not problem. Try and find that in the gunks though... Cochise Stronghold- free cammping. Indian Creek in an obvious choice too.

Do you prefer trad to sport or vice-versa? Do you like company or solitude? Do you like tall or short rocks?

Red Rocks is awesome but could be a little cold if you want to go back into the canyons to do some longer trad routes. One plus though is you could split it up with a trip to Josh, which is trad heaven.

I'd also like to chime in on the Moab area. AWESOME crack climbing at Indian Creek (if you have the requisite number of cams), Castleton, and Wall Street, which has a nice mix of trad and sport. Added bonus of mt. biking as a rest day activity. Good times. Wish I could go.

There is precious little trad climbing at El Potrero Chico, but the sport routes go up to 23 pitches and the approaches are short. You won't have any crowds at the end of April but you might get a little rain.

hi all,

thanks for your replies everyone! we've been to vegas like the last 4 years, and it's one of our faves for sure...never been out east or to the red or anything...went to smith once, it was great. we went out to city of rocks, colorado and moab last summer just for a little bit and the desert was sweeeeeet.

we're coming from vancouver and ottawa, and resources won't really be a prob...so april might be too risky for the gunks or the red??

best, Phil

Red Rocks is always a great choice...the sport climbing in Red Rocks is kind of sucky (I don't know how the limestone areas will be that time of year) but you do have Vegas as a nighttime option!!!

Red River is a great choice, nothing really to do outside of climbing though...& don't worry about the weather. you can climb at the RRG in a total downpour & stay dry. April is a very good month for the entire Southeast.

The Needles is not a good weather choice.

Potero will be getting HOT!!!

haven't been to Smith or Bishop...

Personally I think the RRG would be your best choice...best sport climbing in the US and the trad is great too!!!

Hope this helps.

Weather on the east coast is too iffy in the spring. It rains a lot. Stick to the west coast!

pymiller wrote: moab last summer just for a little bit and the desert was sweeeeeet.

If you thought summer was "sweeeeeet, you should try the desert in the spring or fall. All the "e"s in the world don't describe how amazing it is. You can clip bolts in Moab at Mill Creek. I've hiked down there to check it out and it looks great. I didn't climb anything though. Moab and the Indian Creek just have too many cracks for me to spend a day clipping bolts. Still, those lines at Mill Creek do look "sweeeeet".

Actually the Black Hills is not a bad choice at all having weathered many years here. We do experience a couple of bad days every spring but contrary to popular belief April is a weather stable month. Day time highs in the 60's on average with a high frequency of climbable days. Now May and early June are more so crap shoots as the weather is concerned. 2500 routes within an hour and a half of each other and not many tourists in April. Granite, Limestone, Volcanics, Sandstones... We have so much for such a small area. Mt Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon will both provide many options for the grades you are seeking. April is a great month for Devils Tower.

Phil

I know we are not on the list; but I recall Royal Robbins saying something to the effect that Colorado climbers are filthy rich in their rock climbing resources. I agree and suggest a visit here sometime.

Get the weather 411 from a local, but if it's the right season, how about T-Wall.

A quick note about JamesW's comment that El Potrero will be getting HOT: The weather here does not get extreme, and the way the walls are oriented there is always shade somewhere. April is a fine time to visit.

Brent Kertzman wrote:Actually the Black Hills is not a bad choice at all having weathered many years here. We do experience a couple of bad days every spring but contrary to popular belief April is a weather stable month. Day time highs in the 60's on average with a high frequency of climbable days. Now May and early June are more so crap shoots as the weather is concerned. 2500 routes within an hour and a half of each other and not many tourists in April. Granite, Limestone, Volcanics, Sandstones... We have so much for such a small area. Mt Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon will both provide many options for the grades you are seeking. April is a great month for Devils Tower.

I would not have expected that. Down here in CO we usually get 2-3 good blasts of snow in April. This is turning into a useful thread. I just heard that Spearfish is alot better than the impression you get about it from here.

Ed Wright's comment about Potrero put Mexico in my head, and then this thought:
Since deep-water soloing is the latest thing, when are people going to start exploring the Cenotes of the Yucatan?

was in Potrero at the end of April last year. Good weather, watch for thunderstorms, there was NO ONE THERE!!!

Not sure it's worth the extra drive time, but T-Wall in Chattanooga, TN is awesome, great bouldering nearby as well.

You could probably do smith, eastside, jtree in a fun sampler-trip, or stay at one place longer. There's a lot of snow in the intermountain west this year, it might stick around well into april.