Best Winter Bouldering?

Looking for a place to go from Dec 26- Jan 2. What is the best (or your favorite) winter bouldering area in the US?

Pluses:
-Warm/stable weather
-Range of grades (V1-V10)
-Good camping
-Aesthetic setting

Minuses:
-Crap weather
-Required Guides (I'm not interested in Hueco)

Thanks for the the help!

Easy - HP40 near Steele, Alabama
Perfect temps for sending those slopey boulder problems.
Warm/Stable Weather - Does that exist that time of year anywhere in the US? I've gone this time of year and it's been great.
Range of grades (V1-V10) - Check
Good Camping - Check. Also has general store with some climbing supplies, food, warm showers, and right next to the boulders.
Aesthetic Setting - Check

jarthur wrote:Easy - HP40 near Steele, Alabama Perfect temps for sending those slopey boulder problems. Warm/Stable Weather - Does that exist that time of year anywhere in the US? I've gone this time of year and it's been great. Range of grades (V1-V10) - Check Good Camping - Check. Also has general store with some climbing supplies, food, warm showers, and right next to the boulders. Aesthetic Setting - Check

I don't know. If I lived in Oregon looking for winter bouldering, I would likely not drive cross country.

There is plenty of closer bouldering. The owens valley has some of the best bouldering in the world and its great in winter. I would assume the eastern part of oregon has similar weather in the winter (rain shadow, dry). I would focus on the Southwest. Red Rocks can be good in winter, though it can get unstable weather. Joshua Tree.

I don't know, I don't want to discourage you from going to the southeast, but thats a long way from Oregon....seems like a hassle to me when there is so much great rock in the west.

yeah, Arizona or SoCal would be my choice living on this side of the country, or SW Utah. I know the weather can be crappy at times, but you can't plan for that months in advance. If I were you, I'd keep an open mind and hit up the south west wherever it is the dryest. Depending on conditions, the front range here can be spectacular that time of year. Was it last year it was like 70 degrees in January? or the year before, they've all started to blend together.

bishop.

AESTHETIC SETTING

Horse Pens 40 and Little Rock City......No Question

Jtree!

south west utah no doubt great weather tons of bouldering. go to the desert rat and they can point you around or let you look at the book. you can camp directly in moe's valley for free. have a good trip

Andrew

climbersconnect.com

Joshua Tree
-weather - usually great (a little cold and windy sometimes)!
-range of grades - has it all
-Camping - Eh, a little overcrowded but there are options
-Setting - Beautiful
-Guide - Unnecessary but useful

Bishop
-weather - Can snow and be windy but usually nice and cool
-range of grades - from V0- to Vkick yer ass
-Camping - Gorgeous setting and abundance of sites/options
-Setting - Amazing!!!
-Guide - Once you get to the areas you don't need a guide unless your blind
-minuses - A potential clusterf*** of irritating, showboating, goons (see The Hulk, Serengeti and The Ice Caves).

+1 one for Bishop. The hotsprings make the long winter nights suck a lot less! Oh yeah, the bouldering is pretty good too. And, it's not too far from Portland.

Dang, all of your wonderful and varied recommendations are what I didn't want to hear...

Basically, I've had bad luck (cold/windy/snowy) with winter trips to Red Rocks and JTree to climb routes, so I was thinking that maybe I could go on a bouldering trip to somewhere different this winter and have the promise of better weather.

I was already trying to decide between HP40, Bishop, and Southern Utah and was hoping that everyone would convince me that one had far superior weather to the rest! Well, at least I know that there's options! Thanks for the replies, I guess I'll have to chance it on the weather no matter where I go...

Bishop offers a lot of variety during the winter (I'm a bit biased since I live here). There are several bouldering areas, plus the Gorge for sport, Lee Vining for ice and, Mammoth for skiiing (though a zoo that time of year). The town also has more redeeming qualities than those near J-tree, and how can you beat bouldering with snow-covered peaks as your backdrop? High desert winter weather can be somewhat of a crap shoot, but I'd go with granite over sandstone for less wait time after a rain.

Although not quite on the same scale as Bishop, you may want to consider the bouldering and rock climbing in Red Rocks and Southern Nevada.

There is loads of problems, the weather is a bit warmer than Bishop, and the rock is typically more friendly on the skin.

There is a new comprehensive guidebook available for the bouldering. (snellpress.com)

Ethan Pringle wrote a short review of the guidebook: ethanpringle.com

Tom Moulin

How come no one has suggested Hueco Tanks? Was it not once considered World Class?

Yeah it's a shit show especially during Christmas Break. Yeah there's all sorts of red tape and hoops to jump through in order to climb there. Yeah you have to deal with the inflated ego of every number chasing climber if you stay at the rock ranch, but it's the Tanks.

androo.daveass wrote: I was thinking that maybe I could go on a bouldering trip to somewhere different this winter and have the promise of better weather.

Bishop. Duh.

Another vote for HP40 and LRC. So good that I plan on flying back there (from CO) this winter.

Hueco is pretty great right now. The weather is superb all winter long. It will probably be a lot busier during the dates of your trip though. People really start to pour in around Christmas Break. Most of the time tours are not too hard to hop on. Rarely are they full and you can meet a lot of folks that way. North mountain on the other hand is a bit more difficult to get on when without reservations when it's busy.

There is free camping just past the rock ranch on blm land. Also, there is good limestone sport climbing within a couple hours of hueco and superb, granite, adventure, trad climbing in the Organ mountains. On the hot springs note, there are some up in truth or consequences, new mexico for those days off.

Having lived in the south most of my life, the winters are nice but the threat of rain or an ice storm is always possible.

Myself, I'm heading to bishop.

Adam Winters wrote:bishop. AESTHETIC SETTING

Although flights can be pricey once you are in the southeast and have a rental car that's pretty much all you need. At HP40 you can rent pads (although not your stiff organic there with nice landings it works), and there is also a new hostel called the crash pad in Chattanooga where you can get to LRC(stonefort) or any dayton river bouldering. If its not to cold and you have time Little river Canyon, AL for both routes and bouldering.