Durango vs. Flagstaff

Okay, so I know there are a lot of these "best location" questions, but hopefully this will be a bit more narrowed down. So I just moved to Albuquerque, NM from Iowa not long ago and, while I love this area of the country, I feel like the city is a bit big for my tastes. That being said, I have briefly visited Flagstaff and Durango and what little I saw of the cities I liked very much. I'm a web developer, so I am going to try to push for my current employer to allow me to work remotely and, if they go for it, I am curious to learn a bit more about the towns to make a better informed decision. So anyway, I'm curious about the stuff that would be hard to learn without living there:

General vibe of course (though it seems pretty similar for both)
quality of climbing in close proximity (I've been to Priest Draw and loved it)
ability to climb year-round
food, beer, etc.
quality of the gym (I know, I know, but it's an easy place to meet people)
cost of living
ease of getting around town
anything else that you like/hate

Or, if there are any other towns that would be similar, I'm always up for more choices. Thanks for your help!

I'll speak to Flagstaff...

We have perhaps the most diversity of close climbing of anywhere with a two hour radius you have, in my opinion, world class bouldering, crack climbing, tower climbing, yosemite quality granite, and true YEAR ROUND climbing. I climbed in the same temperature range on new years day and in August just by driving 30ish miles in either direction.

There is insane amounts of bouldering here, more than one could do in a lifetime, and tons of exploring to be had in every direction.

We have two gyms in town now. One has a great sense of community fun lead routes, 3 cracks, and a small bouldering area. The other newer gym is going to be perhaps the best bouldering gym in the region... think on par with some of the big bouldering gyms in CO.

Beer is getting better here there are 5 micro breweries here each with about 1 great beer for a specific style and then some that are okay.

Lots of good food!

Super easy to get around town on a bike or otherwise

Nice! Yeah I got that feeling talking to a couple of locals about the nearby climbing. I did not know about the other gym opening up there, that's good to take into account. It seemed like a really nice place when I drove through the other weekend, and it has a lot of greenery and trees that I am sorely lacking at the moment.

Thanks for the info

A few questions that the OP may wish to answer about yourself:

What find of climbing do you prefer? Bouldering? Sport Routes? Single Pitch Cracks? Long Choss Adventures? At what difficulty level? How important is climbing in choosing a location?

Do you like to or want to climb ice?

Do you ski?

Are you the sort of climber who things nothing of driving 3 hours each weekend to get to a world-class climbing area (this is what you'd prbably do a lot of in Durango), or would you rather stay close to home a climb at smaller but much more convienient local crags (Flagstaff).

What environment do you prefer: desert or mountains?

Durango is a great town. I disagree Chufftard, there is quite a bit of rock near D-town. The Creek is a short drive. You got X rock, Turtle Lake, Golf wall, Boxcar, Sailing Hawks, Animas, the wild wild west is close. Alpine right up the pass. 4 good seasons to play. Its a college town, but you have work so that is not an issue.
It is just far from major cities. Fun place with a great climate. Go for it.

I generally like sport (just rp'd my first 5.13a) and bouldering (v7/8ish at the moment) though I enjoy trad quite a bit, just don't have a chance to get the rack out much as the people I've been climbing with tend to avoid it. I'll have to say, living-wise, I prefer the mountains to the desert, but for climbing either environment works for me (or an option for both seems ideal). I have never climbed ice, so I don't have that bug at the moment, but I do snowboard. In terms of proximity, it would be nice to have at least some decent climbing options right near town (I don't need a huge area, it's just nice to be able to easily get outside if I'm getting stir crazy).

JacobD wrote:I'll speak to Flagstaff...Beer is getting better here there are 5 micro breweries here each with about 1 great beer for a specific style and then some that are okay. Lots of good food! Super easy to get around town on a bike or otherwise

Flagstaff has Gnarbarian Climbing , the Greater Northern Arizona Republic. Enough said.

Flagstaff, hands down.

MIYG wrote:Flagstaff, hands down.

Might want to look into Taos. It's a really cool city and lots of good climbing around.

If I could pick a city to live in in the US where work wasn't an issue, it would be on of those two. Flagstaff is better for climbing, Durango is better for skiing/whitewater/fly fishing. Much faster to get to a major airport from Flagstaff. Both are great towns that I would love to live in.

Awesome, thanks everyone! I think I'm leaning toward Flag, so hopefully I'll figure out a way to get out there sometime soon.

I checked out Durango after some Bishop friends recommended it to me. I work remotely for a software company. I am mostly an alpine and multi-pitch trad climber, and coming from Bishop/Eldo I personally didn't find the local climbing very impressive (I realize I have been spoiled). You do have the Creek and the Black within 2.5-3 hours.

I didn't see MTBing on your list, but I would say it's more of a MTB town than a climbing town. The closest ski area is Wolf Creek which is small (and cold) but gets a ton of snow: wolfcreekski.com/ The economy is depressed but if you can bring your job and you don't have to travel much (closest major airport is ~ 3 hrs) for work you are set.

fossana wrote: The closest ski area is Wolf Creek which is small (and cold) but gets a ton of snow: wolfcreekski.com/

What about Durango Ski area (used to be Purgatory)? Did they shut down? That would be a shame.

Or perhaps Silverton, which is the ONLY worthwhile ski area in Colorado. Sorry!

But you have to ask yourself, "do you want to be a bra-bra"? If so, then either choice is optimal. Get a beanie and a crash pad. Get an attitude and get ready to share a girlfriend, hard! Get ready for the sun to set at 4 (in D-town) and get ready for a large group of people that claim to be locals when they were actually born on the East coast (Flag). That shouldn't' be so hard, you are claiming Albuquerque when you obviously were not born there, otherwise you would already know all of this.

If you have a profession, I might recommend pursuing that instead. You can always visit the homeless bra-bra's when you want to.

Johnny Q: Or perhaps Silverton, which is the ONLY worthwhile ski area in Colorado. Sorry!

You haven't spent much time on the snow in Colorado have you?

Jeff Kent wrote: Johnny Q: Or perhaps Silverton, which is the ONLY worthwhile ski area in Colorado. Sorry! You haven't spent much time on the snow in Colorado have you?

I'd take Flag over Durango in terms of climbing, hands down. More diverse local options, more year round options.

Also, I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but Flag is closer to maybe slightly more national climbing destinations. Flag is closer to Red Rocks, Joshua Tree, Zion, and even Bishop would be doable for a weekend trip. Durango is closer to Rifle, the Creek, Hueco Tanks, and all that Colorado front range choss.

If you have been both places and still must ask, then Durango will be the best fit

DURANGO!!!!!is this really a question 2 hr to the creek 2 hr to penantenta 1an a half to oury hour to silverton ... an their is a ton of local rock to climb from sand stone lime stone garnet all with in 30min from town... o an no fucked up laws about smoking pot. rad climbing hands down D-town