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Where in the USA? Best small to medium-size climbing town

Original Post
Matt Clay · · PNW · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 1,032

If you could relocate anywhere in the USA to a small to mid-sized town where would it be given following parameters?

Young family - kids climb too
Parents got into climbing in late-20s - but eager to train, continuously improve
Sport climbing, some bouldering
Wide-range of grades and styles in close proximity - 2 hours or less
Destination areas possible - 7-8 hours or less
4 seasons, but no epic winters
(Less important, but a perk - decent local climbing gym)

Where am I moving?

Dustin B · · Steamboat · Joined Jan 2006 · Points: 1,275

sounds like saint george utah to me...

Muscrat · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2011 · Points: 3,625

What is a small town? What is an epic winter? What do you do for income? What lower grade climbs (5.10 0r 5.5)?
Bend Oregon- You'll never finish Smith

Ben Circello · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 95

Lexington,KY

M Mobley · · Bar Harbor, ME · Joined Mar 2006 · Points: 911

Chattanooga

nate post · · Silverthorne · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 2,446

silverthorne colorado

Chadley · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2014 · Points: 0

+1 Stg. There's more climbing here than one will ever do in a lifetime. .

Matt Clay · · PNW · Joined Mar 2015 · Points: 1,032

Thanks for the replies...St. George has been on my list for awhile.

Never been to Oregon, my only question about Smith Rock is diversity of style (pardon my ignorance), but I've always heard it generalized as predominately vertical-to slightly overhanging technical faces.

Love Lexington and Chattanooga, for me mid-sized town is anything below 100K. So maybe a suburb in those areas would work.

Epic winter is solid snow/ice for more than 3 months. WV wouldn't be epic winter.

Silverthorne looks perfect.

Any climbers in the Charleston, WV or Huntinton, WV area? Just looking at google maps it seems ideal - New River Gorge 1-2 hours away; Red River Gorge 2+ hours away!

SRB25 · · Woodside, ca · Joined Nov 2014 · Points: 5

Bishop CA, mammoth ca or any of the smaller communities along hey 395. Alpine routes, trad, multi pitch, mega tons of sport climbs and bouldering everywhere.

JackWeaver · · Salt Lake City · Joined Aug 2012 · Points: 185

I lived in Huntington for about 6 months. I was impressed. They've got a decent climbing gym at Marshall. It was mostly students. I didn't see much of a climbing community there, but I didn't go looking either.

You have to be a member of the gym to use it and that also gives you access to a huge whirlpool, hot tub, lap pool and all the other typical gym amenities.

There was a great restaurant called something like Black Sheep and Brews?

Worth checking out in my opinion.

Ken Noyce · · Layton, UT · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 2,648
MClay wrote:Thanks for the replies...St. George has been on my list for awhile.
I would just add that it may be prudent to visit St. George prior to making the leap if you do decide to go that way. Personally, I absolutely love the climbing in St. George and the surrounding areas, but the culture is something that would make me think two or three times before deciding to move there.
Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Muscrat wrote:What is a small town? What is an epic winter? What do you do for income? What lower grade climbs (5.10 0r 5.5)?
I'll add.....
What is too small?
Do you like bugs and humidity?
What cultural amenities are important to you?
How important is reasonable proximity to a major airport?
And +1 about your line of work and what you need to produce income.
Matt Wilson · · Vermont, USA · Joined May 2010 · Points: 316

If the winter's aren't too epic for you, living north of Concord NH near I-93 would be good. Concord has a nice gym, and there us plenty of sport climbing and bouldering at Rumney, and you aren't going to have any large cities there. If you like lead, there are a few nice places in NH, and you can also do weekend trips to the gunks.

FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

You're in an enviable position if you can move anywhere you want without worrying about employment/income. Good deal!

JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115
nate post wrote:silverthorne colorado
Except that there's basically no good local climbing in Summit County...you're driving a ways from Silverthorne to get to rock.

Somewhere like Carbondale offers all the same upsides as Silverthorne, but with much more locally accessible climbing.
JCM · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jun 2008 · Points: 115
kennoyce wrote: I would just add that it may be prudent to visit St. George prior to making the leap if you do decide to go that way. Personally, I absolutely love the climbing in St. George and the surrounding areas, but the culture is something that would make me think two or three times before deciding to move there.
+100

As others have mentioned, there are a lot of things to think about:

Climate (Temps)- You have mentioned no epic winters, but would you rather deal with a bit of snow in the winter, or really hot summers? You pretty much need to tolerate one or the other. Can you handle the heat/humidity of a summer in the Southeast? Or perhaps hot/dry desert summers?

Climate (Precip)- Desert vs. Forest. How do you feel about living in the desert? Some love the sun, others start to miss the trees/water.

Climbing- You've been clear on this one- sport climbing, wide range of grades and styles within 2 hours. Good criteria.

Other sports- Do you care about skiing?

Size of town- "Small/medium" is a big range. Living in a town of 6,000 is a very different experience than living in a town of 50,000. How small are you willing to go?

Remoteness- Are you OK with being way out in a remote area (such as the middle of Wyoming)? Or is being within an hour or two of a major metro area (i.e. living in Estes Park and being within 1.5 hours of Denver) preferrable?

Cultural/Political Factors: To generalize broadly, many climbers are liberal educated types, while many climbing areas are in more conservative rural areas. This can lead to conflict when trying to choose a place to live to be near climbing. Then there is the Utah factor also. Do you want to live in a progressive political climate, or are you willing to live in a conservative/religous local culture? Raising kids definately plays a role in this calculation.

Once you think through these things, your decision should crystallize more quickly.
G Man · · Tahoe · Joined Feb 2015 · Points: 81

New Paltz is pretty damn gorgeous.

Eric Engberg · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 0
FrankPS wrote:You're in an enviable position if you can move anywhere you want without worrying about employment/income. Good deal!
Apparently the kids don't need to worry about schools either. Or culture...
S. Neoh · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Oct 2009 · Points: 35
MClay wrote:Any climbers in the Charleston, WV or Huntinton, WV area? Just looking at google maps it seems ideal - New River Gorge 1-2 hours away; Red River Gorge 2+ hours away!
Have you visited WV before? I have been through Charleston (not a small town by most definitions) a few times, and spent some time there to and from New River. Nothing "wrong" but as someone used to living on the West Coast and in the NE, I know it is not a place I would relocate to willingly. Perhaps you should pay a visit to the few candidate towns and decide for yourself. Good luck! I envy you and your freedom.
Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
Sam Fox wrote:Burlington VT or Keene NY (Semi-rough winter, cowboy up)
You're joking, right? Semi-rough??? Sorry Sam, I really have to disagree here.
The OP defined "epic" winter - which he doesn't want - as 3 months of ice and snow, so a suggestion for two towns that have 6-8 months of ice and snow with often-ugly shoulder seasons? And I'm pretty sure no one moves to hipster-central Burlington for the climbing - usually it's for the skiing.
I get that everyone likes to champion their own locale, but in this case......
Marc801 C · · Sandy, Utah · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 65
S. Neoh wrote:...Charleston (not a small town by most definitions)...
Despite the thread title, the OP stated up to about 100K, which is about the population of Boulder CO. Charleston WV is 50K, btw (just looked it up).
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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