best AZ climbing areas? Advice, please
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for a road trip, which are the best climbing areas in AZ ? |
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waterfall area, oak creek canyon outside sedona. basalt cracks, over 115 routes 5.10-5.12, weather is perfect there now. |
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Richard, Depending on the area of Az, there's a lot here to choose from. |
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Gorgeous multipitch domes (mostly trad but a few sport multipitch) can be found at the Cochise Stronghold. Lots in that grade range. mountainproject.com/v/cochi… . It has been featured in more than a few magazine articles. Kinda like J-Tree but minus the crowds and with a higher concentration of longer routes. The Kerry Guide is up online. |
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Granite mountain near prescott |
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thanks, everyone, for the good info |
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K-Tanz is on the money. Isolation Canyon will satisfy trad/sport yens in a supremely Arizona locale and has multi pitch to boot. Cochise is known as J Tree for adults. Jacks Canyon will satisfy limestone clipping needs and has a very chill camping situation. |
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Waterfall may not be good if you are climbing "up to 5.10." There is one 5.9, a handful of 10s, and up from there. Paradise forks is much better for that level of climbing. |
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Lots of good suggestions. I think that Iso is a great place for those looking for 5.10 and below. There is a bunch of stuff to do in that range, and although not as big as RR or Jtree, the setting is amazing. |
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Cochise is definitely where it's at! Imagine Joshua Tree, but higher quality, larger routes, fewer people, and the best: SLAB! (JK, the chickenheads are way better!) |
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The op wanted climbs less than 3 pitches. That rules out a lot of stuff at Cochise. |
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I'm surprised more of you didn't suggest Jack's Canyon... Some of highest quality rock in the state aside from Cochise and Lemmon. Solid limestone with plenty of protection to push your limits on the harder stuff. Enjoy your trip! |
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paradise forks. 'nuff said |
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Yeah, kinda shied away from suggesting the Flagstaff/Sedona area because they get a bit of winter there? Then again, Cochise can be cold as balls too. Where I'd want to hit is the stuff in the Sedona book, the secret cragging around Flag, and Winslow wall. There are many more crags too, secret and not. |
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OK, a further question: |
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Please feel fee to post on the Southern Arizona Climbers Coalition Facebook page that you are looking for partners. Also, the meet up group. We never plan that far in advance but most likely we will be in the Stronghold. Some of the best routes are around 6 pitches though you could do some sport climbing at Zappa or Lebowski wall. I posted the topo for Zappa at cochiseclimbing.com and finally got to climb Beeline, 5.9 fingers. Highly recommended and not effected by the peregrine falcon closure at the higher domes. Email us if you want more information. |
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Colonel Mustard wrote:Cochise is known as J Tree for adults.Cochise is known as J-tree, but 1000 times better. |
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is it easy to find partners at Cochise on weekdays? |
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If you went during Beanfest it would be no problem to find a partner. Otherwise, it would be hit or miss if you found anybody at a campground. Only one pay campground on the east side; many unpaid on the west side. |
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I think you would have a hard time finding people just "out there". Most people plan their weekend trips and there is not a real campground like other climbing areas where you can walk around and meet other climbers. We have been out there every week end for the past 2 months and have hardly ran into anyone-especially without a partner. What are your dates? The Beanfest is April11 |