Moving to WA, Seattle Area? Help!

Hey guys, I live in St. Louis, Missouri right now. I'm thinking about moving to Colorado or Washington around late May or early June. I have no connections in either place. I would rather live in Washington, probably the Seattle area or right outside because I think Washington has more of what I'm looking for in climbing, alpine style, not so much just rock climbing. I need a job guys. I have a BA degree in Physical Education but not sure if I want to get into education and have to re certify in a different state but I figure a degree will help me in general. I don't care if it was just an outdoor job helping out professionals, like a carpenter or something. Anything really haha. So does anyone have any leads on a job I might be able to get, and maybe roommates? Anything will help guys! Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
Austin

You might want to reconsider... I love Seattle, but you'll spend a great number of days inside waiting out the rain. The traffic in and around Seattle is terrible, worse than LA some say. Colorado is covered in mountains and has (14) peaks over 14,000ft, so tons of alpine. The problem with that state is the cost of living and people. If those are your only two options I'd go with Colorado. But, Utah can't be beat.

Having lived in Seattle and Colorado, if your into Alpine climbing the Cascades have more to offer and is a great place to train for the big ranges. Lots of alpine ice/rock, and glacier slogs (if your into that). World Class rock climbing is close by with Index and Squamish. It does rain alot but you can head to the east side of the cascades to Leavenworth or Vantage or Tieton or head south to Smith Rocks and get on some dry rock. Winters can be rough but if your into skiiing, there is plenty of snow, lots of backcountry options. Ice climbing is hit or miss but you can take trips to BC or MT on long weekends. Cost of living is not cheap in Seattle. As far as jobs, the Northwest economy can be tough unless you in the tech industry. You could always be a tree planter up in BC, the pay is good. The big plus of WA is the Summers are amazing.
Having said that, I live in CO now, but there are lots of days I miss the Cascades.

I completely agree with Highlander. I will emphasise how amazing the spring/summers are. I grew up there and moved to Colorado 3+ years ago. Despite all the bad press I still miss the NW all the time. My friends and I climbed pretty much year round. The difference between motivated climbers from Washington and the rest is that the long-timers will head out even if it feels a bit rainy. I have gone rock climbing when it looked like rain and turned out to just be cloudy more times than I can count. In terms of alpine climbing the clouds don't normally amount to much but a sun shield. The weather systems are consistent and mostly reliable. They don't affect alpine climbers as much as they do rock climbers. That said, you should get into back country skiing if you really want to climb some mountains because the snow packed approaches are significant. The approaches are often through true thick NW wilderness (EXCELENT!). All this said I also love Colorado! There are huge differences between the two all of which are trade offs for the good parts. I think the job market is better in the Front Range than Seattle. Denver is an awesome, young, and growing city with plenty of other options across the state. Colorado is centrally located within long weekend trip distance to many states, mountain ranges, crags, or anything except for the ocean. If you don't mind driving a little you can climb mountains to your hearts content. They just may not be covered in glaciers and thick forest. I'll stop my rant but before I do I should mention that I had a lot of friends in NW Washington who moved there from Colorado to climb those beautiful cascade mountain.

I've lived in both. If you like sun and amazing rock climbing, live in Colorado. If you like rain and gyms, try Seattle. Anyway, here's a link to a job that might help you get started in the NW.

stonegardens.com/bellevue/e…

if you can climb in the north cascades you can climb most places.while the peaks are "only" 8000 feet high trailheads start much lower and you really are climbing the whole mountain. Isn't the highest road in CO at something like 12000 feet? Come to washington, you'll become a better climber and a pro dirtbag. Might be able to get a job as a PE teacher but don't count on it. you could support your climbing by cooking up meth somewhere in the skykomish valley...

Austin, I just moved to Denver from St. Louis (where I was born and raised) not too long ago and I think you will like it here. It is set up similar to St. Louis, where there are lots of different bar-districts and neighborhoods, but they are much closer together. Mass transit/the light rail (similar to the metro-link) helps too, people actually use it here. The people that live here are pretty cool too, very motivated to climb any day of the week.

To give you an idea of the climbing here, I posted this on another thread but this sums it up: In the Denver/Boulder area, 50-60 minutes will cover Eldo, RMNP, Boulder Canyon and CCC at the very least. And if your willing to drive 5-6 hours, throw Ouray, Rifle and the Black Canyon in there. Skiing/summit county is 1.5 hours away too. Vail ice/ mixed 2 hours. I know there is a plenty of alpine climbing here but you are right, there is probably more a few hours outside of Seattle. There should be a RMNP High Peaks climbing guide at REI in Brentwood or Alpine Shop.

I have been to Seattle a couple times, both times in July and newer saw a drop of rain but I was told by some of the locals that I was pretty lucky. 9 months of rain, 3 months of sunshine is the impression that I got. Seattle was pretty cool and I considered moving there myself but I like sun and hate humidity.

If you do decide on Denver or have any questions on the neighborhoods here and where would be a cool place for a person to live, feel free to send me a PM anytime. Where did you go to high school?

Highlander said it best.

Another very real consideration: in Seattle, your four-hour range contains world-class mountaineering of many varieties. Your one-hour range contains choss of poop-class variety.

I live an hour or so from seattle, and I see a lot of people who end up just not wanting to make that damn drive, especially for a one-day weather "window" of %45 chance of rain. And it's usually more like %60. The result: they probably don't climb nearly as much as they would on that world-class rock as they would if they lived 20 minutes from El Junkheap crag in a state with decent weather.

Once again, it's all about priorities. As strange as it sounds, though, by the sounds of yours, I'd probably choose seattle. The employment sectors you mentioned - especially the outdoor ones - are pretty economically vulnerable. The PNW economy, for better and for worse, has four major economic engines - Boeing, Microsoft, the Navy and the Army - that tend to do pretty well regardless of things like the housing market, and that kept our unemployment rate relatively low even during the 2008 crash. And high alpine we've got, so long as you're willing to drive for it.

What Wombat said about motivation is exactly right. If you got it, you'll love it here. If you dont the clouds will crush your soul.

Also, if you're the roadtripping sort, don't forget that Seattle is only about 12-13 hours from the bugaboos. BOO!

seattle is 4 hours from squamish, the best crag(s) in the world.

Thanks guys this has been very helpful so far! And Mark I went to Rockwood Summit High School, where did you go? As for choosing between Colorado or Washington it's not easy. I have been to Colorado a few times and love it, RMNP is an awesome place and I would want to live in Ft. Collins or Boulder, just a 45 minute drive right outside RMNP. But like Highlander and MegaGaper said I think Washington and the Cascades have more to offer of what I'm exactly looking for. Cascades have more of the alpine scene I'm looking for and the "entire mountain" feel if you will. And it's a great training ground for much larger mountains in the future if I am fortunate enough to chase those dreams. But can you guys help me out with living arangements. I'm taking a complete leap of faith and moving out west with virtually no connections especially in Washington, where is a good place to live? Do you guys know of anyone who is looking for a room mate? I'm pretty low key and wouldn't be a bother, I could really only afford about 3-400 bucks a month because I'm making a car payment as well right now. I just want to get any oddball job I can get to pay the bills and give me an ok apartment and climb any days I have off or train if the weather is so bad. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys.

I went to Chaminade, and if you haven't already, check cascadeclimbers.com. It's a great NW based climbers site. There might be someone looking for a roommate there too.

BC Sortor wrote:You might want to reconsider... I love Seattle, but you'll spend a great number of days inside waiting out the rain. The traffic in and around Seattle is terrible, worse than LA some say. Colorado is covered in mountains and has (14) peaks over 14,000ft, so tons of alpine. The problem with that state is the cost of living and people. If those are your only two options I'd go with Colorado. But, Utah can't be beat.

Umm, I'm pretty sure that Colorado has 55 fourteeners, not 14. There are, however, 14 eight thousand meter peaks in the world and 14 3000 foot peaks in Wales.

As for where to live... SLC over Seattle or Denver any day!

Chaminade, right on thats pretty close. What year did you graduate? And thanks for CC.com, I'll use that for sure. And Ryan I believe Colorado has 59 14ers? I could be wrong didn't google it but thats the number that came to my head first.

There are a lot of other options out there too- not just Boulder and Seattle. If you want to do the winter/alpine thing, also consider Montana (Bozeman), and northern New England.

If you aren't super picky about finding a "real job" right away, some smaller towns in WA could put you closer to the mountains. Leavenworth has great rock nearby for the summer, close access to skiing in the winter, lots of alpine options, and it rains a lot less. The job situation is likely dismal, but you could probably figure out something to last a little while.

If you want to find a real, career-type job in a nice city that also has climbing nearby, then Boulder and Seattle are great choices. If your main priority is to get out of the midwest, live in the mountains, climb a lot, and make enough money to get by, then there are many smaller mountain towns that might suit your interests better.

Since your degree is in Physical Education, consider looking into work in the outdoor/experiential education sector. The work is usually in nice locations, and it is seasonal, giving you big chunks of time to travel to other places. You won't make much money, and it certainly isn't a lifestyle that I would want to keep at for a long time (very transient and unsettled), but it is really fun to do for a few years.

From looking at Craigs List it looks like I can get a Personal Trainer job fairly easy. It's posted quite a bit and I have a BA in P.E. I would just need to pass a Personal Trainer Test for a few hundred bucks. The pay is pretty good and it's in my field so I think I would enjoy it and I would be able to stay in excellent shape. I'm concerned if I would have enough time off to climb though. What do you guys think? Know any friends that are Personal Trainers and who climb?

A recommended area I would choose to live in if you like to alpine climb would be somewhere near the Olympic Range. Around the Silverdale/ Bremerton area would be a good idea if you have the BA PE Degree. There is plenty of oppertunities there both for a job and for climbing. That's all I have to say. A mountain I may recommend is The Brothers. I haven't climbed it yet, I'm only taking alpine climbing CLASSES. However I am planning on climbing that within the next year or two.