Can you climb without a car, and still have hope for a job?

Lets say we run out of petroleum tomorrow, or just that I don't feel like paying for insurance and gas anymore. If you could go anywhere in the world, and not need to depend on a car to go climbing, what are the options?

To make it even more difficult, I'm an architect, so small towns are really difficult to find jobs in.

I've never been to Boulder, but I understand a lot of the climbing is really close.
Paris is really cool, and a lot of Font is an easy trainride away.
I visited Austin recently, and loved how close the greenbelt was, even if it wasn't great, and I don't think there is anything else that close either.
I saw a lot of rock travelling around Switzerland, it seems like you could get around on their train system to the rocks....

Oh, gyms don't count.

I manage to get out often enough (a few days a week) without owning a car. Crags here are close, but not within waking distance. My climbing partners have cars, so unless I want to solo, transportation isn't a problem. I just try to chip in for gas and such.

I think that unless you lived near an extraordinarily concentrated climbing area (such as Terrebonne, OR), the climbing within waking distance would get old pretty quickly.

Phillip

Do you know how to ride a horse? Best solution for when we run out of oil.

Flagstaff would be a good place to be a car-less climber. Plenty of rock within easy biking distance.

NYC has plenty of terrible bouldering in the city, and public transit to the Gunks, I believe.

You could live and work in Monterrey and take public transportation to the Huasteca and Potrero Chico.

Don't worry, we won't run out oil anytime soon...

After we invade Iran we'll have enough for the entirety of our lifetime

Squamish is the best place I've seen for a ton of climbing within walking distance of a town. Not a big city, though. Maybe someday there will be passenger train service up the Sea to Sky corridor from Van.

Cape Town has a lot of rock in and around the city.

I have biked to several climbing areas in Boise a few times. It is doable, but I would be very sad if the local climbing was my only option.

I took a bus to most of the climbing in Rio, but again, the better climbing requires a car.

You climb with a car? That must be one heavy haul bag...you must be ripped!

Fontainebleau is difficult to do without a vehicle. While the city itself is easy to get to, the individual bouldering locales are hard to get to without some transport.

There are LOTS of places in Spain which are relatively easy to do sans car. You could do pretty well by basing yourself in Barcelona.

The Rimrocks here in Billings are literally the closest I've ever been to a crag... extremely close to town.

I believe Phoenix AZ, has a number of crags within the PHX/Metro area that are probably accessable via public transportation. Or just offer up a some cash for gas, and the use of your rope & rack. If this isnt enough to persuede a partner into driving a couple cold beers (or a hot meal) should do it. If none of this works, then said partner is probably not interested in climbing with you. Good luck.
-Mackley

Austin, Texas. Plenty of limestone climbing in the center of town. Other limestone cliffs a long bike ride or short hitchhike. Granite domes -- plenty of slab and cracks 90 minutes by hitchhike.

+1 for not wanting to pay for gas and insurance anymore!

I've been without a car for half a year now and still climbing. Needless to say those fun little solo outings have stopped, but if you're willing to be flexible you can still get out. I've taken a bus before but usually just ride with partners and pay for gas. A bike is a great option if you live within reasonable(subjective) biking distance to a crag. I've seen apartment rentals within very close range of popular climbing areas, but I'm sure the rent is pretty pricey. I guess since you're an architect your best bet is living in a city and networking with other climbers/outdoor enthusiasts to find rides.

Live and work in Golden, CO and walk to the Golden Cliffs. And the new light rail going to downtown Denver will be finished next spring.

I should clarify, I'm more interested in knowing if there is anywhere where you can get away with not having to ride in a car every time and still being able to climb on decent rock. I know that there will always be more available to you with a car, but I like the romantic idea of biking from work to the crag, or maybe hopping on a short train.

I know a lot of Font isn't accessible, but I was able to take an easy train down to Bas Cuvier.

I'd love to hear more about Barcelona.

Austin was nice, but hot. I've definitely thought about it.

Geneva...there's a bus to Chamonix and you can get to a ton of other climbing locales in Switzerland very easily by train.

Rio de Janeiro and Innsbruck come to mind.

Can you all elaborate at all? Or know of good starts to looking up those places? I'm sitting here in Seattle looking over my computer at the mountains and not getting any work done, so I figured I could be constructive with my wasted time.

If only they'd have a fast train to leavenworth, smith, and squamish....

Yes, it's gotta be Squamish. Smoke Bluffs Municipal park is right downtown and has over 500 climbs. You could live on Hospital Hill and literally walk across the street into the park. The Chief provincial park is a 20 minute walk and has classic multi-pitch, bouldering and aid-climbing.

Squamish has a population of around 18K and is one of the fastest growing cities in the province. Whistler is just up the road with all kinds of construction happening. There is also public transit in town.

If you need to live in a bigger city, Vancouver, with a population of around 3 million is beautiful. There are (private charter) buses leaving Vancouver for Squamish and Whistler every two hours.

If you're an architect check out the Squamish Adventure Centre a new building next the the Smoke Bluffs - quite cool. www.adventurecentre.ca/

For more info on the climbing in squamish visit squamishclimbing.com

Train / bus / cable car gets you pretty far in Switzerland.

Car not needed for access to lots of limestone cragging, 20+ pitch alpine adventures, cresciano granite boulders, and everything in between. "Long approach" means more than 30 min walking...

The key to climbing without your own car is to know someone that has one. I know this.

Maybe no one has mentioned it because Boulder is kind of a cliche, but Boulder is by far the best place I can think of for access to lots of high quality climbing without a car. All of Eldo, the Flatirons, lower Boulder Canyon, plus tons of great bouldering are relatively short bike/bus rides away.

If you want to take a climbing vacation I would say Krabi, Thailand or Halong Bay, Vietnam. Ticket there is expensive, but once you're there everything else is dirt cheap. I can't speak from personal experience for Halong, but I went to Railay (where you climb in Krabi) last December and it is awesome. You can rent a private bungalow for 10 bucks a night, there hundreds of quality routes on these gorgeous limestone walls right on the beach. Best part, from your bungalow you can walk to it all, get pad thai from a boat on the beach, then go out to a bar afterwards. There aren't roads, you have to take a boat to get there. Oh, and there is deep water soloing.

The minimum wage there is not so good... so I wouldn't suggest moving there and getting a job. But you can live on very little for a long while.

squamish ...