world's best sport climbing areas

A climber asked me which those would be.
I am interested to hear from any climbers who have climbed in at least 3 countries and at least 15 major areas (arbitrary criteria but that is what I am seeking)
My quick response was: Smith; Red River Gorge; Red Rock (Vegas); American Fork; Maple;  El Chorro, Siurana, Margalef, Ceuse, Verdon, Ailefroide, Buoux, Kalymnos, (should Leonidas be included? I haven't climbed there); Geyikbayiri,
I exclude Potrero Chico (various reasons-I know there are many who love the place), Finale Ligure (used to be great, no longer), all South Africa (too dangerous even though outstanding climbing). Morocco doesn't get enough visitors IMO,
Her question was only sport areas so ignore the great trad areas, even if there is a lot of sport there (e.g. JTree, Squamish...) and no bouldering areas
IMO there should be really good camping nearby, long season, well known, lots of excellent routes, easy to get to and attracts lots of climbers from far away during the year (so exclude great crags which are not popular)
I assume I have missed some great areas-please toss in your opinions. Is there good accom near Rumney and if so, should that be included? Any great sport in Colorado which is not overshadowed by great trad nearby?
thanks

I think Kalymnos is though to beat. It's the climbing which is incredible, but just the overall setting & life on the island. One has to like limestone but still.

RRG has, IMO, better rock & climbing overall, but for some reason I had a better vibe in Ten Sleep Canyon. Small town, friendly, wild camping, cowboy feel.

But if I HAD to choose just one for sport.... I think Kalymnos wins out.

So you seriously think the sport climbing at Red Rock is better than the Frankenjura, Verdon, San  Vito  etc etc..........?

I am not seeking a ranking; I am seeking a list of the best places. Comparisons would be to secondary areas, not to each top destination with the others

Pretty ridiculous to blanket exclude South Africa because it's dangerous. I've been living here for the better part of a decade and have never been a victim of crime personally. In most climbing areas, I leave my car unlocked and stuff out at night. Have never gotten anything stolen. That being said, I think the main reasons to go here for climbing is bouldering and trad. Sport is great, but trad and bouldering is world class. On par with the best areas in North America and Europe IMO and I have never waited for a another party on a climb. Never.

 Now that you mention it, SA is really dangerous and you should probably stay away....

richard aiken wrote: I am not seeking a ranking; I am seeking a list of the best places. Comparisons would be to secondary areas, not to each top destination with the others

?

Jim Titt wrote: So you seriously think the sport climbing at Red Rock is better than the Frankenjura, Verdon, San  Vito  etc etc..........?

Yeah, including Red Rock and American Fork on this list is laughable. Fun areas, and regionally to nationally notable sport crag. But world's best? No way. IMO the same is true of Smith, but I acknoweldge and respect that others think otherwise.

I do think that Red Rock is world class within the category of accessible, moderate multipitch trad climbing. But the sport climbing there pales in comparison to other sport areas on the world stage.

For the most part of list of the world's best sport area is a list of major European destinations- Siurana, Rodellar, Ceuse, Kalymnos, etc... There are so many areas of this caliber in Europe that it somewhat crowds out the rest of the world from the list. A potentially more interesting question to me is what are the world's top sport climbing areas outside of Europe. Yangshou, Red River, New River, Boven, Valle de Condores, etc...?

Boulder canyon of course, come on guys, not even a competition XD 

I'd say Smith deserves its spot. There are tons of mediocre, chossy routes there, but the cream of the crop includes some of the best single pitches of climbing anywhere. I'd argue it gets a slight boost for being so historically important as well. It also continues to be a stop on the global circuit for a lot of famous climbers, like Adam Ondra last year.

The trad and bouldering at Red Rock is world class for sure, but the sport climbing is merely fun. I'd never recommend someone travel from, say, Europe to just sport climb there, but I would maybe recommend the likes of Epinephrine.

There are more world class sport areas in multiple different Euro countries than the USA/Canada/Mexico have combined.  

Here are a few obvious Euro examples, and I'd only include the RRG and general dispersed Canmore areas from North America.

-Kalymnos

-Geyikibari

-Citibi?

-Rodellar

-Terradets/Tremp

-Siruana/Montsant

-Margalef

-Chulilla

-Frankenjura

-Ceuse

-Verdon

Bunch of places in France, Germany, and Italy that I don't know about.

How does Leonidio stack up against some of the other euro spots? 

skik2000 wrote: How does Leonidio stack up against some of the other euro spots? 

IMO Kalymnos >> Leonidio. The setting is nicer and it's easier to find something to climb year-round - Leonidio in the summer has little to offer. There might be more really hard stuff in Leonidio, however if you're a mere morting (say 5.13 & easier) then Kalymno is the shit.

 too many rules. why would you rule out an area just because it has other forms of climbing even if it had enough sport climbing to keep you happy...   I would be interested in best easy sport climbing area. 11a and under. Mostly under ;)  way under :)

Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin, Texas, for sure.

On my top list for sport climbing (not in order)
RRG,
Margalef
Siurana
Montsant
Leonidio (still haven’t been to Kalymnos, so can’t compare)

The next tier (I think they are great, but have something missing in one way or another. Or maybe just smaller/more of a regional attraction, rather than truly international destinations)
Tensleep
Maple
Oltrefinale
El Chorro
Red Rocks
Rumney
St.George area(I would include VRG here)

There are a few areas that most people think are great/classic/awesome, and I can objectively see why, but I don’t enjoy climbing there very much:
NRG
Smith Rock
Finale Ligure
Tonsai
I wouldn’t pass up an option to go there, if this was the only option, but I wouldn’t choose to go there, if I were making the choices. Please skip the “great, don’t go there, more breathing room for us”.

These kinds of lists are rather pointless, because so much depends on style of climbing you like, and just the randomness of personal experience. I was going through a lot of shit in my personal life when I went to Smith, for example... has that colored my experience of it? Would I have enjoyed it more if I went at a different time, or with a different partner? Quite possibly, but I may never know, because that one week made it less likely that I would make an effort to go back, when there is much climbing out there that I still haven’t experienced. 

What makes an area great, anyway? Is it the length of the season? The variety of climbing/movement? The number of routes? The range of grades, offering something for everyone?

And then there is the whole “it was a classic destination, I can see it for sure, but too many people got things polished, now it is kinda not so great” (this is how I felt about Finale)

American fork is my local crag - and while its a FANTASTIC local crag, thats about it. Not travel destination worthy.

Maple > Shelf > American Fork

Adam Reke wrote: Boulder canyon of course, come on guys, not even a competition XD 

Shelf. WAY underhyped.

Im just here to say that red rocks, maple and AF do not belong on this list. There are several better crags in the US, not to mention europe and southeast asia.

The Dawn Wall

Kalymnos

Kalymnos is hard to beat for a sport climbing destination. The climbing on its own is spectacular, and when you add in all the other factors, theres nowhere quite like it. It also completely embraces sport climbing ethos, with the idea that all climbs there should be as safe as possible, which makes it an excellent place to push grades.