Living in Seattle

Josh Audrey wrote:i was born in Portland, and Portland is way cooler than Seattle(IMHO). Smith rock is closer, coast is an hour away, and Mt. hood has really rad skiing or snowboarding and is like and hour and a half away. Damn why did i move away again.....oh yeah cause Vegas is sunny everyday! Portland is really beautiful though hope that's helped. josh

Reed Fee wrote:Ok here's my 2 cents. If you are going to own a car Portland traffic is not as bad as Seattle. You pretty much have to have a car if you want to visit all of the above mentioned climbing areas. There is some urban basalt climbing in Portland though I have never sampled it. To the East of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge there are handful of crags under an hour away. Starting with Broughtons bluff (mixed sport and trad) Ozone (mostly sport) and finally Beacon Rock, the holy pillar of stone for those of us who climb trad. (generally more difficult trad climbing on solid basalt dihedrals) On the East side of Mt Hood there is another handful of places such as Petes Pile (slightly dirty but excellent trad climbing with secret sport climbing near by), Area 51 (5.9 and up alien themed sport climbing) If you prefer climbing on granite and alpine stuff Seattle is the city for you. If you like basalt and three hour drives to the tuft at Smith rock Portland is for you. I used to live an hour East of Portland in Hood River the windsurfing capital of the world. There is also really good kayaking, mountain biking,and hiking near Hood River. A great place for active people. Reed

Pretty much what Reed said.

Portland has the smaller town feel while still be a large city. Better public transportation and less traffic. Good cragging near the city within 5 min - 1hr.

Seattle feels like the big city it is. It pretty much sprawls from Tacoma to Everett. Traffic can be terrible and public transportation is not very good. Cragging is a drive, but you can climb in 45 minutes. Good granite ranging from single to 10 pitches can be climbed in less than 1-1/2 hours. The mountaineering in the north cascades is awesome.

Jonah wrote, "Of course in Boulder, the only world class climbing is 4 hours away - Rifle."

Are you serious!!!???? You obviously didn't climb that much when you lived here or you just enjoy sport climbing more than trad.(not trying to sound sarcastic or like a smartass)

Eldo has some best cragging trad climbing in the country(15-20mins from Boulder, 30-45mins from Denver)

RMNP - away with some of the best alpine rock and bouldering in the country/if no world( ~45min-1hr)

Clear Creek Canyon - great sport climbing(30min away)

Turkey Rocks - great crack climbing(2-2.5hrs away)

Shelf Road - again great sport climbing(3.5.4hrs away)

Indian Creek - desert crack climbing mecca(5hrs away)

Zion - another great desert crack climbing(8-9hrs away)

Tetons, SLC area and Red Rocks are within an 8 - 12hr drive from the Denver/Boulder area.

And the best thing is you can climb here all year in most places around here. Not everyone likes Boulder but you don't have to live in Boulder to be close to climbing. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is a great city I've spent a good amount of time there(got friends who live there.) It's all perspective on what you want and looking for.

Alicia, it's where you want to be. You can't lose with either of those cities or any other city you decided. Good luck!!

Chris

Seattle is awesome just for the fact that Squamish is only 3hrs away. As for the climbing, I think it is world class with something for everyone with in 2hrs. Portland is a cool town but there is a reason that people say that the best rock climbing in OR is in WA because other then Smith Rock, which I am not knocking because it is an amazing area, they have nothing comparable to the rock in WA. No northern cascades, no index, no leavenworth, little Si. Etc...
For me what it comes down to is the climbing. Both seattle and portland have very laid back friendly people and both are very cosm, though transportation is much better in Portland, so for me those are aspects are a wash. So, if you want to be doing trips every weekend to Smith, choose portland but if you want a little variety, while still being able to climbing at world class areas then I would choose Seattle.

PS: It doesn't rain in Seattle as much as in Portland. And thanks to global warming....I mean climate change the weather patterns are becoming dryer here in great northwest

NOBODY's talking up Marymoore Park???? You're out to this artificial wall (designed in England I believe) a few minutes from town. Once you get soloing all over that thing, climbing on the weekends should come pretty easy. Just bring a jacket I guess.

Bottom line: the climbing near Seattle is better. Index, Squamish, Leavenworth, Vantage, North Cascades, Central Cascades, Little Si and Exit 38...the list is quite strong.

The climbing near Portland...well, there are some smaller crags, but Smith is the best option, about 3 hours away; some amazing splitter columns as well if you know where to look (north of Smith).

In terms of rain, it rains in both Portland and Seattle, and depending on what weather stats you look at, one might receive more precip than the other...but who cares? it rains all the time in both from October to April, with occasional sunny spells in between. And every few years, an entire month in the summer is lost to rain as well. I've lived in the NW nearly my entire life, so believe me when I say this. You climb half the year. The other half, you get desperate and climb in gyms, climb 4 routes at Smith on a cold, snowy weekend, nearly freeze to death in Squamish on winter multipitch...

In terms of which city is a better place to live, I'd say neither. Portland is about as pretentious as it gets. The city has a giant blindspot to anything happening outside of its borders. And truly, the mass transit is not that great, unless you live directly on a MAX line. Good thing traffic isn't that bad. If you're a hipster, you'll fit in fine though. As for Seattle...well, it does sprawl, but again, it's probably worth living here if only because you're much closer to beautiful granite and alpine climbing.

You know, you could just forego both, live in Bellingham or Mt. Vernon or somewhere closer to the mountains, and accept that you'll never find a job :)

Good luck, and happy climbing. Welcome to the NW!

This has been an interesting read as the girlfriend and I weigh a potential move. Anyone else care to weigh in?

Don't sleep on the Seattle Bouldering Project!

Living in Seattle as a climber is, despite the rainy off-season, quite tolerable. :-)

We are extremely well-served in terms of climbing gyms for those cold, dreary, wet winter days. Between Stone Gardens, Vertical World, and Seattle Bouldering Project we have what, 8 indoor gyms? ...and the new ones are really good!

We have... the cascades. Index, Leavenworth, Tieton, Darrington, Vantage, Washington Pass, 32, 38... the breadth of climbing within 3 hours' drive is such that you could climb a looong time in just this state and not get on half of what's on offer. I'm on my 3rd year of going into the Enchantments and haven't gotten on half of the lines up there.

Can you climb outdoors in winter? Yes, but your options become much more limited- you need overhung rock that doesn't get seepage, or high desert rock in direct sun. It's out there, and the temperature is moderate enough that it's possible. Personally, I've taken my rack out of the car (where it's lived all summer) and hung it in the garage, only to come out for road trips or possibly winter alpine foolery. Until then, I'll be climbing indoors when I'm not out backcountry skiing.

There are downsides to living here, of course. Seattle is 45 minutes away from the cascades, and that's assuming no traffic, which is among the worst in the nation- so logistics around getting to where you'll be playing will tend to involve a high bullshit:fun ratio. Our transit is poor, and the cost of living index is on the high end. The mosquitoes haven't quite been known to carry off small children, but if they were better-organized I suspect they could.
That said, everything is green here. The mountains are glorious. The coffee and the beer tends to be good. The trees (old old growth giants) will blow your mind.

If you come, you'll find an enormous breadth of options for enjoying yourself.

I lived my first 18 years in Washington. It rains. A lot. When I was a kid, I didn't really notice the rain and certainly was never bothered by it. Now that I've got a better frame of reference (I've lived in Arizona for 15 years), I can look back and see how many days we fought to try to ride (horses) when the ground was either muddy or frozen.

That being said, I keep having to remind myself why I don't want to move back there. Every time I go home for a visit and am treated to one of their gloriously sunny summer days, I can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else.

Everything is green. Everything (including your car during pollen season). The mountains are simply amazing. The weather is on a par with what I've seen in Ireland and England after some weeks spent there. What you get in return for all that weather, however, is greenery on a much grander scale than anywhere else I've been - towering evergreens, rhododendruns growing everywhere, incredible fields of tulips during bloom season, and the list goes on...

Add to that a city in which the majority of people are open minded, friendly, intelligent, and interesting, and you almost don't need the absolute wealth of climbing to make this Seattle a desirable place to live.

I've lived in the suburbs of both Seattle and Portland, and Seattle wins by a long shot, purely for the "feel" of the place. Portland is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't move back there.

I hope that's given you some food for thought, in addition to making me homesick. :)

Not to belabor this point too much more, but what are the half day/dawn patrol/after work climbing/skiing/trail running opportunities like? The climbing's been discussed pretty well (sounds like Little Si and a couple of other spots cover quick-access climbing pretty well).
How about from the skiers out there? I have no familiarity with the area- is it possible to do a morning or afternoon at some of the closer spots? Touring zones? How about good, nearby trail running? Thanks for any insights!

Dawn patrols at Snoqualmie pass are very doable, the drive from Seattle is under an hour. Night skiing can be good too. This is the lowest of the ski areas around, so snow quality comes and goes, but the access is great. If you worked north of Seattle you could also reasonably hit Stevens Pass.

After work climbing at E32/38 is also easily accessible, good, and plentiful. Depending on how early you can get out, Index can be an option, it's over an hour drive from downtown.

I don't know a lot about trail running but I think you should be able to find many options. Discovery Park in Magnolia comes to mind.

Going back to the Seattle vs Portland debate: Both cities have many pluses and minuses, no doubt. One thing Seattle has that Portland does not is access to good alpine rock climbing in the Cascades. If you are into alpine rock, I would think living in Portland would be painful. I have friends who lived there who'd spend weekends in the North Cascades, and that is a 6 hour drive.

Nick - like the previous post mentions... you realistically need to plan on 2 hours round trip in the car (minimum) for any "outdoor" recreation (mountain biking, trail running, climbing, or skiing).

I would imagine with that much driving this wouldn't be something you'd do on a regular basis during the work kweek. So if you move to Seattle and are working M-F, you will need to get in the urban existance / weekend warrior mentality.

Summer is the exception as the days are long and you can hit up Index or Little Si area after work (though traffic could be a killer).

When the sun shies, Seattle is awesome. I'm not into cities, but I do love Seattle. And the four hour adventure radius is epic.

If I lived in Seattle, I'd get back into whitewater kayaking. You can do that all year - rain or shine - with a drysuit! Then you won't feel constantly shut down by the rain and you'll still be able to get your adventure fix.

Lots of climbing gyms too, though if you don't live near one the traffic getting to them is a total buzz kill.

And when the rain gets you down, you can drive the 5 hours and visit us down here in Bend :) Smith Rocks is amazing - you'll love it. Trad and sport galore.

You should move to New Mexico.

After visiting last spring and recently moving here, I found this thread really helpful. The one thing I haven't been able to figure out, is how long it takes for stuff to be dry/climbable in typical winter weather. I got out to Gold Bar last weekend when the weather was awesome, but what about the sport climbing? Is the stuff at Exit 32/38 steep enough to stay dry? Are there areas that don't seep?

Little Si/World Wall 1 is the Shizzz, and doesn't seep that bad, can dry a lot quicker than many of the other little crags in the area. Vantage is almost always dry, and although chossy, pretty sweet crack and face climbing. I was a big fan of the Tieton River valley as well, great crack climbs and some good face climbs as well.

I'd vote Portland for livability and Seattle for Climbing. ( I lived in Olympia for 2 years, and Portland for 1 year) I'd highly recommend against living in Oly, unless you loooove the rain (rainiest city in America), low cloud ceiling and crusty uberhipsters vs. cletus the slack-jawed meth-head vibe mixed with lame ass govt. employees and bad restaurants that close at 7pm every night.

The Northwest is amazing, wild, beautiful, green and full of tasty local food and drink, the drawback is the 5 months of rain.

The rock climbing has been harped on pretty good. In regards to trail running, it is pretty awesome. The enchantments have been mentioned for alpine but are awesome for an epic day too. I have yet to tackle that one. There are way too many to list. There are a load of options within the city that allow midweek trail runs without having to go too far. And then there are Tiger, Cougar, Squak, the Si's, and Rattlesnake about 30 minutes away that are nice Friday evening runs. And many awesome runs in the Cascades. Evergreen Trail Runs ( evergreentrailruns.com/) and NW Trail Runs ( nwtrailruns.com/) have many fun courses to run with others with a little friendly competition. I can give you a quick run down when you get here if you want.

Anthony

I lived in LA the past 2 years and got to climb every weekend in Malibu, Jtree, and Tahquitz and it was awesome. I am originally from Seattle and ended up moving back in August of this year. I can say that I have not climbed as much. When it rains here there isn't much that is climable, except for a maybe a select few that happen to be overhanging. Vantage stays dry most of the winter, but is also REALLY cold for a large majority of the winter. All of this, however, doesn't mean that climbing is not feasible in the winter. Index weather is kind of funny in that you could be driving 5 miles away in a down pour and then once there it is completely dry and not raining. If you live in seattle and are a climber, your mindset has to be that you will make the drive out to the crag, even if it is drizzling and take your chances with hopes to climb. I have been more lucky than not this winter and have gotten to climb enough to keep me happy.

We also just got a sick new climbing gym that has been slaking my thirst for climbing outdoors. Other awesome areas to trad climb in WA are Darrington (long multipitch), Leavenworth (SOOOO much climbing there), Index (ultra-classic hard trad). Also a HUGE plus is that Squamish is only 4 hours away. It is seriously an easy drive on a Friday night and you can be in one of the best climbing areas in the world.

As for climbers, I have found that the community has grown significantly since I was in college here. The gyms are pretty packed at times, and people are friendly. It seems that everyone I meet here either has an interest in climbing, climbs themself or has a friend that is looking for another climbing partner.

I would suggest moving here!

P.S. it doesn't rain here as much as people say.