Bellingham vs. Fort Collins vs ??

Bellingham... 2 hrs from middle of North Cascades, less than 2 hrs to Squamish, 2 hrs to Index, less than 3 to Leavenworth, little crags within 30 min, good beer, cheapish rent.

Might be sold!

Now how about we start a Cascades vs. Rockies debate..........

Hey, I lived in B'ham and now live in Boulder. I think the climbing could go either way: Index/Squamish vs Estes, WA Pass/Cascades vs RMNP, etc. Bouldering is damn good from both and sport climbing from neither. To me it comes down to whether you are off-put more by weather or crowds -- the Pacific NW rains all the fricking time but you can have (mossy, dripping) cliffs to yourself; weather in the Front Range is stellar, but expect to share the cliffs. You'll get more days per year in CO, but it's hard to beat those few, dry, adventurous days in WA.

Im going to go against the grain and say come to FOCO!

As a lot of people have pointed out, it is more of a college/suburban town than it is mountain town, but you have some great access to climbing areas. RMNP/Lumpy/Estes is about an hour to an hour and a half away, vedauwoo is also about an hour and a bit away. Boulder and Eldo are about an hour away. Poudre canyon is about half an hour away which has some good cragging. Depending on where you live, Horsetooth res is just a couple minuets away and it has some really good bouldering and a couple short sport cragging areas.

As far as rent goes, I split a nice apartment with in walking distance of downtown with one roommate for under $500 a piece.

Also, there are a LOT of breweries and distilleries in town. And a couple good CC's

But that is just my two cents...

On a different note, is Squamish really less than two hours away from bellingham?

john, google maps tells me squamish is 2 hours from bham but definitely depends on border crossing.

anyone have any more info on durango? san juans?

john sims wrote:Horsetooth res is just a couple minuets away and it has some really good bouldering and a couple short sport cragging areas.

lol "sport cragging" at horsetooth. Those bolts are gonna be chopped within a couple weeks. More of a TR and highball area.

But yes FOCO is the shit. I paid 420 for a place next to old town, food, and campus. you can live by horsetooth for sub $400 if you find the right place.

lol "sport cragging" at horsetooth. Those bolts are gonna be chopped within a couple weeks. More of a TR and highball area.

Haha, alright valid point. But there is some top roping!

SASQUATCH5 wrote:anyone have any more info on durango? san juans?

Yes