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Best climbing towns?

Anonymous · · Unknown Hometown · Joined unknown · Points: 0
camhead wrote: Salt Lake City really sucks. It is over 90%+ Mormon and there are no bars. Don't go there.
More like 50%, and there are some great bars in SLC. you need to get out more, and experience the wonders of Utah.
Sam Feuerborn · · Carbondale · Joined Aug 2009 · Points: 810

Re: Durango

I also forgot to add that Ouray is about 1 hr away if you're into that sorta stuff, the black is like 4ish hours away. Then there's tons of backpacking around, the Weminuche wilderness as well as the rest of the San Juans. Oh and there's a ton of biking (road and mtn.), super bike friendly town and there's kayaking on the Animas if you're into that too. Oh and 3 different kinds of stone all within like a 30-40 min drive.

Jessica Vose · · Durango, CO · Joined Dec 2009 · Points: 0
Sam Feuerborn wrote:Re: Durango
There is also prime bouldering close to town, which is great if you only have a short lunch break from work. Summers revolve around climbing and biking; skiing and ice climbing are the winter focuses - very outdoorsey all year round. The town is pretty into being green and has a lot of sustainability projects. Durango is a hippie town similar to Boulder 20 years ago. Great town, great people, chill environment. A+!
Ian G. · · PDX, OR · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 280

If you've got a nice trust fund Bend, Oregon is nice.

If you hibernate during the winter and only come out May thru Oct. Index WA would top my list.

k. riemondy · · Denver, Co · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 80

+10 for SLC. Everytime I visit friends there I am amazed at all the new bars, restaurants, and coffee shops that are popping up.
The city is big enough that you can always discover cool new places, but small enough that the mountains are less than 20 minutes away. Housing is cheap. The Mormon religion is a non-issue for most people.

The climbing is varied.
LCC,BCC,Ferguson and hellgate for after work specials; lone peak, american fork, maple canyon, city of rocks, the tetons, moab, the swell, canyonlands, zion and red rocks for weekend trips. Colorado and California are close.

Most importantly, Utah has squatter's IPA.

Yah i miss SLC.

scottydo · · ventura, ca · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 115

Anybody mentioned San Diego? Weather doesn't get much more temperate. (summer's a little hot but no humidity) Only thing is that you couldn't really bike to the climbing areas (unless you lived close to a local one like Mt. Woodson) but you'd be within a couple hours driving distance to WORLD CLASS climbing. (j-tree, tahquitz, etc.) Plus there are some phenominal local climbing areas and even some new stuff that is freakin' sweet.

San Dog is pretty stinkin' good for climbing.

Richard Fernandez · · Flagstaff, AZ · Joined Nov 2008 · Points: 859
The Larry wrote:toothless tweeker chicks to get you through the night.
Funny ass shit, The Larry.

Flag Rules.
Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725

If I could pick anywhere it would definitely be Durango. Unfortunately work isn't very easy to come by there. As it is, i'm in Denver now but i'm counting the days until I can move back to the Salt Lake/Park City area.

Ben Cassedy · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 315
Sam Lightner, Jr. wrote:Chattanooga is great, but it puts you a long way away from mountains.
I just got home from Chattanooga at midnight last night. It was freakin awesome. We went to T-Wall and LRC, and they are literally 20 mins. from town. I know those aren't 'mountains', but I think Western NC (Linville, Boone, Smokies, etc.) is fairly close to Chattanooga. There is apparently a ton more climbing right outside of Chattanooga.

Chattanooga was a cool town too. Got Lupi's pizza and then went to a bar that has 200 beers.

We went to Mt. Lemmon last April and had a blast. I really liked Tucson as a town too. I guess the down side to either Tucson or Chattanooga is they can both be hot in the summer. Also humid in TN.

With that said, I'm moving to Denver at the end of this month. But I am making a point to get back to Chattanooga for three or four days before I head out west. Again, awesome area.
Geir www.ToofastTopos.com · · Tucson/DMR · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 2,751
Eric D wrote:Tucson is one of the most underrated climbing towns in the U.S. I would feel confident saying that we have more perfect climbing days than any other U.S. city. When it gets hot in summer, go high on Mt. Lemmon to the cool temps. Great sport climbing in winter (the dry), great sport in summer (the orifice), great adventure climbing in winter (Cochise/Mendoza), great adventure climbing in summer (the Reef). Not to mention the 100s of other good locations around Tucson. Cost of living is super cheap. And the climbing community is really excellent.
+1

I moved to Tucson 7 years ago so I could climb year-round. It is truly spectacular. Trad, Sport, Multipitch, Singlepitch, Roadside, Adventure - Tucson has it all. And you can truly climb comfortably year-round.

My only complaint is that I don't get things around the house done because I'm always out climbing!
elwood · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 161

Placerville CA
Lovers leap,Phantom spires,Wrights lake 1/2 hour drive, plus dozens of hidden areas. Close to town there are a couple of TR areas. The coast areas are a days drive. Oh yeah you can ride a motorcycle year round.

bernard wolfe · · birmingham, al · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 265

What about Ogden, UT? I read some good things but don't know how it might relate to climbing or other outdoor rec. opportunities and resources

Matt McKibben · · Durango, Co · Joined May 2006 · Points: 25

Got some contenders here, I'd say Flagstaff or Durango are at the top of my list and probably would be pretty happy in either area. Both sound like they have climbing/bouldering within biking distance, plenty of other areas to hit within a few hours drive for year round climbing, bit cheaper than boulder with fewer yuppies and not too big of cities with all the annoying city folk. Tuscon was up there, but I've been through shortly and gotta agree that it's not to appealing on the eyes, sorry to say. Chatty, while it sounds great, seems to be lacking the multi-pitch aspect that you could find in red rocks or the black.

Ben Cassedy · · Denver, CO · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 315

Not that I'm trying to sell you on Chattanooga, I was wondering this more out of my own personal curiosity and we were talking about it last night.

Looks like it ranges from 3.5 to 5 hour drive from Chatty to the classic NC multipitch stuff. Looking Glass, Whiteside, Rumbling bald, etc. And about 5.5 hours to the beach. Score!

Tom Powell · · Ogden, Utah · Joined Nov 2007 · Points: 60
bernard wrote:What about Ogden, UT? I read some good things but don't know how it might relate to climbing or other outdoor rec. opportunities and resources
Having once lived in the Ogden Utah area I can definately say that the climbing there is good and close to home. There isn't really much in the way of GYM's right now but being a five or so minute drive from the crags is not a bad deal.
Brigette Beasley · · Monroe, WA · Joined Sep 2008 · Points: 275
Geir Hundal wrote: My only complaint is that I don't get things around the house done because I'm always out climbing!
+1
camhead · · Vandalia, Appalachia · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,240
Tracy Ellingson wrote: More like 50%, and there are some great bars in SLC. you need to get out more, and experience the wonders of Utah.
Look, I caught another one!
akforty7 · · seattle, wa · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 635

i would have to give a nod to san diego as well...mostly because it's not landlocked, therefore, starts off better with just that fact. you can hit up southern/mid-arizona in a couple of short hours (driving in a straight line, so it seems shorter when you tie off the wheel and take a nap on the way).

if you like seasons, then look elsewhere...it's one long summer with a few chilly days/hours? yeah.

2.5 hours from jtree
5 hours from bishop (high sierras if that tickles your fancy)
6 hours from mt. lemmon
**factor in whatever the drive to flagstaff

winter mountains within range
surf (and the bums that go with)
**used to be able to have a keg on the beach, but that has passed

there's more locations on a previous reply...see above.

BackCountry Sortor · · Ogden, UT · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 400
Andrew Gram wrote:As it is, i'm in Denver now but i'm counting the days until I can move back to the Salt Lake/Park City area.
I hear you! I lived in Denver for a year and counted down the hours to return home to the Wasatch front.

I know Ogden pretty well too, and I would recommend staying away at all costs. There is a terrible gang problem, the climbing gyms are tiny (think birthday party walls), there is a bouldering field but it's covered with copious amounts of gang grafitti, and worst of all, the tiny ding-bat mayor and his money-hungry cronies are ruining the whole town and surrounding open spaces, crags included.
envisionogden.org/Articles/…
Superclimber · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 1,310
camhead wrote:  Look, I caught another one!
Ha, that's kinda funny.

Thanks for all the input ya'll. I'm still leaning toward Tucson, but we're still considering some other areas too.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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