My list of best cities/towns to live as a climber (feedback appreciated!)

Boulder has PHENOMENAL rock, but I moved away because there are too many people. Depending on where you live, it could take up to an hour to get to various places in boulder to climb. Laramie is pretty sweet Ive heard from some friends who live there, and the price of living is about half. Also AZ has some great rock.

James Thomas wrote: Also, I hear the concerns about rain in the Pac NW but I've also met a number of Pac NWers who were really passionate about the climbing scene out there and claim the rain isn't too bad. I gave Seattle and Vancouver 9/10 (same as Reno, Lexington, and Laramie and lower than only Boulder and SLC). Any Pac NWers want to jump in and defend those high marks?

Boulder should be number one on the list.

I live in Tucson and love that we can climb all year here on the Lemmon and in Cochise (both within 1:30) but Boulder has three elite climbing areas at it's doorstep. Unless you hate the cold, then I think you need to give Tucson a shot. It's climbing is far superior to that in San Diego or LA/Santa Barbara with similar weather and significantly lower cost of living.

I lived in flag and loved it. Creek and red rocks plus stellar basalt. Now I live in Tucson and love it. Most climbable days per year of anywhere on yer list. Is it just me or does ability to climb most every free day dramatically add to quality of life? Lemmon is 30 mins to 1 hour not simply an hour. We don't drive to top in winter. Also Cochise changes the equation. You cannot list just Lemmon. You must list the stronghold. This is like listing bishop and not mentioning the Sierra.

matt c. wrote: Albany- As mentioned, right between Daks and gunks but there is not local climbing at all. Driving to the Daks is cool but most of the areas at around 3 hrs drive not 1.5. If you do ice the Catskills are 45 min away. Most of Albany is in the getto. Irvine- There is no real climbing options in Irvine. Irvine is a giant mall. Riverside- In such a small city there are also three climbing gyms. The local climbing is really good. As you noted 1.5 hours form JT. In addition, it is 1.5 hours from tahquitz and suicide rock. This is important because J tree is almost unclimbable in the summer months. On a side note,most of Riversidians are red necks. It is mullet central.

Thacher State park close to Albany. That's a great crag.

matt c. wrote: Albany- As mentioned, right between Daks and gunks but there is not local climbing at all. Driving to the Daks is cool but most of the areas at around 3 hrs drive not 1.5. If you do ice the Catskills are 45 min away. Most of Albany is in the getto. Irvine- There is no real climbing options in Irvine. Irvine is a giant mall. Riverside- In such a small city there are also three climbing gyms. The local climbing is really good. As you noted 1.5 hours form JT. In addition, it is 1.5 hours from tahquitz and suicide rock. This is important because J tree is almost unclimbable in the summer months. On a side note,most of Riversidians are red necks. It is mullet central.

Yeah but befriend them and you will always have someone to lend you a backhoe. 

Scratch Nashville off your list. Decent climbing is at least 3 hours away and limited. Moved to Nashville 8 years ago from Las Vegas.

I didn't see anything in North Carolina - Chapel Hill has an awesome university and is a few hours from a plethora of amazing trad climbing areas (Moore's Wall, Linville Gorge, Ashville stuff, etc.) I went to grad school at UNC and climbed my ass off the entire time. Some of the best trad climbing anywhere! Raleigh or Durham are just as feasible.

Can't remember if Chattanooga is on there but it should be right at the top of the list.

Also, if Tahoe seems too "in vogue" for you, you should look at Reno - cheaper, has a university, and adds only about 40 min to most of the Tahoe zones.

Reminder folks: the OP asked for opinions and feedback.........5 years ago.

Taylor Journey wrote: ... In the end, two things are going to end up forcing me out of this fantastic city. One is traffic, and the other is the isolation. You're in the dead middle of a massive, massive state. And that, for someone with a regular work schedule, prevents weekends of climbing adventure, save for what's been mentioned above. It's certainly worth considering, if you're the type that likes to load up the truck and take a 3 or 4 day weekend somewhere more remote.

Yep. I was looking at houses there (south of town) a couple years ago. A couple things kept me out. Texas has little public land. Being in the middle of Texas is a bummer. The traffic engineers who laid that place out didn't have two neurons to rub together collectively. 

Bend. Everyone is moving to Bend!

Marc801 C wrote: Reminder folks: the OP asked for opinions and feedback.........5 years ago.

Haha good point. Totally didn't even notice. 

Perry Norris wrote: Bend. Everyone is moving to Bend!

Bend is fricking awesome, but it’s also fricking expensive!

Gareth Smith wrote:

Bend is fricking awesome, but it’s also fricking expensive!

A friend just moved there and says its more expensive than Portland to maintain a similar lifestyle of eating out, etc.

Jared Willis wrote:

A friend just moved there and says its more expensive than Portland to maintain a similar lifestyle of eating out, etc.

Real shame. 

Not sure if it's been said before but Toronto and to a lesser extent London ON are 2 and 3 hours away, respectively, from devil's glen, an area with quite a bit of local renown with a couple hundred sport routes on consistently good limestone. I was pretty impressed by it as someone who lives out west and wasn't expecting there to be any real climbing in Ontario. Might be worth bumping Toronto up to a 2 or 3, still not incredible but better than most people think! Also if you live on the north side of Vancouver you can actually be within half an hour from Squamish, which is honestly one of my favorite climbing spots in the world. It is also pretty reasonable to live in Squamish and commute to the city, Lord knows it'll save you a lot on rent haha!

I was raised on a Three Star rating system. I can't follow this hahahahaha

Cool list though and I like your sorting and ranking. Good luck dude.

but did you make it to lions head?

petzl logic wrote:

but did you make it to lions head?

I didn't unfortunately, it was a bit to far to go at the time

I'm looking at land in southern WY right now.  Not sure if the CFO will sign off, because she likes trees and it's pretty flat and barren.  The wind blows like hell.  It's cold as balls in the winter.  But, there's no state income tax and my guns are legal there.  Evanston is like 1.5hrs to Park City.  Cheyenne is 1.5hrs to Boulder.  Once you get away from Jackson Hole, it's really affordable.  And if you play your cards right, you could have your own chosspile.  

https://www.landsofamerica.com/property/TWP-32N-RNG-99W-SEC-29%3b-W%2f2-SEC-30%3b-TR-IN-NESE-QCD-2012-1351309-Lander-Wyoming-82520/9264158/