Climbing destination advice@ CA, CO, AZ and Canada

So my girlfriend owns a "vacation package" that affords us to book week long stays for super low prices. There are several destinations that I would like to explore and I am looking for some advice on WHEN and WHERE to book. IE; whats the best season for each location. I only ROCK climb, no ice. TRAD is my first choice. Bouldering and sport are acceptable, not preferred. There are only a handful of options to choose from so I am trying to narrow down the best locations with proximity to climbing and then book during the best season.

So my top destinations in no particular order would be;

California: Palm Springs @ multiple locations to choose from.

-Taquitz/suicide: late spring/summer destination? How late into the summer before it gets too hot? When does the snow start falling again? Is it too far of a drive to commute from Palm Springs?

-J-tree: Winter destination? How late into spring until it gets hot. Is it too far to commute from P.S.?

California: South Tahoe @ Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort.

-Lovers Leap, Echo lakes, etc, etc: Summer/fall destination? When does the snow melt/ when does it get too hot, if ever?

Arizona; Sedona @multiple resorts to choose from in the sedona and village of oak creek area.

-???(I dont know anything about this area, seems like it would not be a summer destination. (Maybe there are higher elevation climbing areas?)Is there good climbing here? -forgive my ignorance.

Colorado; Steamboat springs, Frisco, Breckenridge, Avon @ 13 different condo locations.

-Alpine climbing? I am unfamiliar with the climbing in these areas (I've only snowboarded here). Places such as Lumpy and S. Platte interest me, anything similar to those in this area? Obviously not a winter destination(for me at least). Late summer/early fall destinations? I lived in SLC, so I am familiar with higher elevation weather(read:snow). When does the snow typically recede enough to climb most areas? This is a very general question.

Canada, Whistler, BC; @ Whiskey Jack@ The Iron Wood.

-Squamish: looks like a 45 minute drive from whistler. When is the climbing season here? Any other climbing in the proximity.

Thanks in advance for your help!

_Jeremiah

I live in Palm Desert about 15 miles east of Palm Springs. It's just under an hour to the Tahquitz trail head and about one hour to the Joshua tree west entrance. With the hike, Tahquitz rock is about 1.5 hours from me (fitness dependent) and Joshua tree is also about 1.5 hours to the climbing depending on where you are going in the park.

If you are going to be in Palm Springs proper then add 15 minutes for the tahquitz trip and subtract 15 minutes for Joshua Tree.

I commute to both places for the day and don't mind the drive.

In general I climb Joshua Tree October to April and Tahquitz the other half of the year though there is lots of overlap and seasonal variations. Joshua Tree is almost never tolerable (for me) in the summer and even Tahquitz gets pretty warm in July August but you can head to the north side.

Brian

The Lake Tahoe area is amazing. Lovers Leap is generally good from Mothers Day to Veterans Day, give or take. It can get quite hot there during the summer on South facing rock, but you can definitely manage things by climbing in the shade and cooling off in the river.

You will not find much climbing immediately near Frisco and breck but there are a few places. Swan mountain road has some suitable bouldering and a few tr routes. Montgomery resevour has a 5.5 and a 5.10 sport crag. Slim pickins. You may want to try Boulder.

Squamish is good in summer, it can be pretty wet till June. Mid-July until beginning of Sept are prime. Amazing climbing area especially for traditional climbing. Huge variety of climbing and some good alpine objectives too. About 40 mins south of Whistler. Some good climbing also exists north of Whistler in the Pemberton area, and great sport climbing in the Checkamus canyon between Squamish and Whistler. If you are staying in Whistler then the drive isn't bad because once you are in Squamish all the climbs are really close and the approaches are very shortt for the most part. check out squamishclimbing.com and get psyched!

Also some adventurous big limestone trad climbing a couple hours north of Whistler at Marble Canyon

J Watts wrote: Colorado; Steamboat springs, Frisco, Breckenridge, Avon @ 13 different condo locations. -Alpine climbing? I am unfamiliar with the climbing in these areas (I've only snowboarded here). Places such as Lumpy and S. Platte interest me, anything similar to those in this area? Obviously not a winter destination(for me at least). Late summer/early fall destinations?

The geography of Colorado climbing/skiing is wierd. Many of the mountain/ski towns have no climbing at all. This is especially true for much of Summit County. I would not reccomend a climbing trip to those areas.

J Watts wrote: California: South Tahoe @ Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort. -Lovers Leap, Echo lakes, etc, etc: Summer/fall destination? When does the snow melt/ when does it get too hot, if ever?

This would be a great choice. Snow melt depends on year and location. Although it can be warm, it never really gets unreasonably hot in summer at Lover's Leap, especially if you take advantage of morning shade. September would be nice there.

J Watts wrote: Canada, Whistler, BC; @ Whiskey Jack@ The Iron Wood. -Squamish: looks like a 45 minute drive from whistler. When is the climbing season here? Any other climbing in the proximity. Thanks in advance for your help! _Jeremiah

If you want to trad climb in mid/late summer, Squamish is probably the best destination in North America. Go in late July, August, or early September for the best chance of dry weather. The drive from Whistler is scenic and not too far.

J Watts wrote: Taquitz/suicide: late spring/summer destination? How late into the summer before it gets too hot? When does the snow start falling again? Is it too far of a drive to commute from Palm Springs?

It would be pretty far to drive each day of your trip.

J Watts wrote: Arizona; Sedona @multiple resorts to choose from in the sedona and village of oak creek area. -???(I dont know anything about this area, seems like it would not be a summer destination. (Maybe there are higher elevation climbing areas?)Is there good climbing here? -forgive my ignorance.

Jeremiah,

Since no one has yet chimed in for AZ I'll try to shed some light on it. First off, there is climbing here year-round you just need to chase the altitude during different seasons. If you are able to stay at The Village of Oak Creek then for shortest drive time and awesome multipitch Trad climbs staying around Sedona would be a great choice in itself. Seasons are usually Fall through Spring, depending on the amount of precip received any area is climbable.

mountainproject.com/v/sedon…

If you are looking to come here during summer, it sounds like your dates are pretty open, staying north around Flagstaff will be best. Flagstaff is about a 35 min drive from Sedona. Trad climbing in Flagstaff would pretty much be come down to The Forks and The Overlook. There are several sport climbing areas, but closest to Sedona would be The Pit.

mountainproject.com/v/flags…

If you find yourself coming here between October and January 31st. You might want Granite Mountain to be on your list for Trad climbs. I would say exposure and old-school ratings are the name of the game here. Peregrine Falcon closures are in effect Between Feb-Jul 15th, but July-Sep can still get wicked toasty and also nail you with afternoon storms. GM is located in Prescott, AZ; which is just over or around the mountain depending on the way you decide to get here it could be 45mins to 1.5 hrs. For a nice scenic drive take the 89A over Mingus.

http://mountainproject.com/v/granite-mountain/105787785

Hope this helps you out, I'm sure more people from AZ will recommend other specific areas. This information is just a basic overview of areas within 1.5 hours driving from Sedona. If you want further details on an area let me know and I'll help you out the best I can.

-Mac M

Best summer areas in az are the peaks, the forks, Winslow wall, and isolation canyon. It's still pretty hot there however

Oh and the overlook is south facing and black rock at seven thousand feet. It's about the hottest place I can think of on a sunny July day. Sedona has a couple hot weather areas but they are few and far between,

Also the pit is by no means a destination area. More of a shitty home crag. It is also hot as fuck there in the summer.

shotgunnelson wrote:Also the pit is by no means a destination area. More of a shitty home crag. It is also hot as fuck there in the summer.

Haha, let's be real, no sport climbing area is a "destination crag." (I'll leave that debate for another day though.) Also, "hot as fuck" is a relative term, but to clarify for Jeremiah it will usually be between 78-85 deg there during the summer. I do agree here that The Pit isn't the best place to be during the summer, with so many other options around. If you find yourself in the area it does have some nice jug-hauls and a ridiculously short approach. If I head there in the summer I personally go in the morning, then take a long break midday from like 11am-3pm, then head back when most walls are in the shade and enjoy the rest of daylight.

Side note: I mixed some thoughts in my head when I posted The Overlook, that IS NOT a good idea during summer. Good thing shotgunnelson pointed that out. It's a Fall/Spring crag for sure.

-Mac

The canadian rockies is a "destination" sport climbing area ;)

Do squamish ...

Tons of moderate trad cragging and multi

Solid rock

Straight forward gear placements

Decent sport

Best bouldering in canada

5 min approaches

Tons of TR soloable climbs

Yuppie sbucks right by the crag

Stays decently cool

Thanks for all the great input everyone!

shotgunnelson wrote:Best summer areas in az are the peaks, the forks, Winslow wall, and isolation canyon. It's still pretty hot there however

You can't leave out upper Mt Lemmon. Lemmon has some great summer climbing, however it is a bit of a drive from Sedona. ~4-5 hours

@Red,
There are a few condos in the North Scottsdale and Paradise valley areas that I have access to. Whats the proximity of these areas to Mt. Lemmon and/or Cochise Stronghold? Ideal season(s)?

^ probably looking at no less than three hours either way.

Just go to Squamish. Its amazing. Especially considering the access and amount of climbing within an hour of Whistler... I'm spending all of August there myself :) weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

What would be considered the authoritative guidebook to squamish?

The new Squamish Select (Quickdraw Publications) would be more than sufficient for a week trip, covers all the main areas and classics in a nice full-color glossy format... Kevin McLane's Guide is more extensive but harder to wade through unless you climb there a lot and want to search out every crag out there, plus it is getting dated and the new edition isn't due out till late this year. The last one was excellent though and once it comes out this will be the one to have. I would say Squamish Select would be a good bet for you. Quickdraw also has a great Squamish Bouldering guide if you're into that kind of thing.

quickdrawpublications.com/S…

highcol.ca/upcoming/

Also if you Mtn Bike at all Whistler is INSANE

J Watts wrote:What would be considered the authoritative guidebook to squamish?

squamish select, the new edition ... its all youll need for a trip of yr length

amazon.ca/Squamish-Select-C…