Best UT climbing areas by season

I just moved to SLC and am trying to get a good feeling for where to climb throughout the year. I'm primarily interested in 5.11-5.13 sport climbing and high density areas (if given the choice, I'd rather visit an areas with 20 2-star climbs than an area with 2 4-star climbs), though I'll take whatever I can get if it's dry and climbable.

Ideally, I'd be looking for things that are within a ~2hr drive of SLC, but I'm guessing that at times during the winter that radius is going to have to be larger.

If you were determined to climb year around in SLC, what would your crag rotation look like? May = City of Rocks? Aug = Maple Canyon? etc...

(Also, if anyone is looking for a partner, feel free to DM me)

Well it's not a matter of which canyon, but which side of the canyon, and which specific walls, to match the time of year.     

Chris Stocking wrote:

 I'm primarily interested in 5.11-5.13 sport climbing and high density areas

Ideally, I'd be looking for things that are within a ~2hr drive of SLC, but I'm guessing that at times during the winter that radius is going to have to be larger.

If you were determined to climb year around in SLC, what would your crag rotation look like? May = City of Rocks? Aug = Maple Canyon? etc...

City of rocks is really sweet but it isn't what you are describing. The thing about SLC is there aren't many crags like you are describing in big cottonwood or little cottonwood at all. The sport walls just don't have many routes in that range. There are quite a few small sport walls (2-6 routes) which can be nice for after work but for high density 5.11-5.13 you gotta drive.

Here's the rotation of where the sport climbers I know in SLC typically go. I'm less psyched to drive 4 hrs than I used to be so I don't climb outdoors much in the winter:

January-feb: St George (sunny), mesquite, sinks

March-april: St George (shady), mesquite, American fork, maple starts to come in.

May-june: American fork, maple, Logan area. Shade mandatory. Uintas (not a lot at 5.12 but really sweet rock and a good hang), wild iris start to come in

July-august: maple, AF, Logan. Shade mandatory. Iris, uintas. Might be too hot to climb

September-october: maple, AF, Logan, sunny stuff might be climbable. st George (shady).

November December: AF (sunny) if it's dry. Ogden is worth a visit. Maple is marginal in mid November but doable depending on the weather. St George, mesquite, sinks can be solid

This spring is weird at AF. A lot of stuff is wet and the north facing crags still have snow on the ground. But it is becoming too hot to climb in the sun. I've heard maple is in. Have fun!

Eric Chabot wrote:

City of rocks is really sweet but it isn't what you are describing. The thing about SLC is there aren't many crags like you are describing in big cottonwood or little cottonwood at all. The sport walls just don't have many routes in that range. There are quite a few small sport walls (2-6 routes) which can be nice for after work but for high density 5.11-5.13 you gotta drive.

Here's the rotation of where the sport climbers I know in SLC typically go. I'm less psyched to drive 4 hrs than I used to be so I don't climb outdoors much in the winter:

January-feb: St George (sunny), mesquite, sinks

March-april: St George (shady), mesquite, American fork, maple starts to come in.

May-june: American fork, maple, Logan area. Shade mandatory. Uintas (not a lot at 5.12 but really sweet rock and a good hang), wild iris start to come in

July-august: maple, AF, Logan. Shade mandatory. Iris, uintas. Might be too hot to climb

September-october: maple, AF, Logan, sunny stuff might be climbable. st George (shady).

November December: AF (sunny) if it's dry. Ogden is worth a visit. Maple is marginal in mid November but doable depending on the weather. St George, mesquite, sinks can be solid

This spring is weird at AF. A lot of stuff is wet and the north facing crags still have snow on the ground. But it is becoming too hot to climb in the sun. I've heard maple is in. Have fun!

This is pretty spot on. I would add:

• Teddy/Massacre/Dirkies in south east Idaho when it's cold and you don't want to fight the masses of Red Rock or Saint G, also a shorter drive.  If you have sun in any of those spots you can climb with your shirt off when it's 30 degrees 40 sometimes feels too hot in the sun often. If it's cloudy though its hella cold.
• Echo is good April till Decemberish and a great spot for when you don't have a lot of time. Dry Wall is super low commitment and a good spot to drive up clip draws then dip
• Ogden has a lot of 2 star 12/13s if you're okay with the worst approaches and adventurous belay areas.  For both the limestone and the Quartzite.
• Ibex has long shoulder seasons and sometimes is climbable in the winter and has a handful of good 12s
• Honorable warm weather mentions worth a visit:
  • South Willow
  • Fins
  • Blacksmith and Hardware walls in Cache Valley
  • Jungle on the Aquarius(Long Drive not a ton of 12s)

Also my typical rotation(I live in Ogden)

• Jan-March
  • South East Idaho
  • Saint G
  • West Desert
• April-June
  • Logan
  • Echo
  • Ogden
  • Saint G/Mesquite
  • West Desert
  • AF
• July-Sept
  • Uinta's
  • Iris
  • Hardware Wall
  • South Willow
  • Maple
  • Dry Wall Afternoons
  • AF
  • Fins
• October-Dec
  • Saint G/Mesquite
  • West Desert
  • Ogden
  • Sinks
  • South East ID

As was stated earlier City of Rocks is fun but not a total open your rope bag and clip bolts. Same with the cottonwoods.  BCC has a bit more with the Gnar wall and the Pile but I get enough Quartzite in Ogden to ever feel like heading there. 

Oops! Yeah, forgot to mention echo because I hate the train/highway noise. I'd rather climb in the gym but that's personal preference, lots of people like it there. I left out ibex because it isn't strictly sport, isn't super dense either. But it is amazing.

Yeah Echo is an acquired taste. If you get to choss cave the noise isn't as bad but you have to like glue.  Ibex isn't strictly sport but it has enough to be worth at least one trip a year IMO.  But I do like bouldering. 

Jordan Wilson wrote:

This is pretty spot on. I would add:

• Teddy/Massacre/Dirkies in south east Idaho when it's cold and you don't want to fight the masses of Red Rock or Saint G, also a shorter drive.  If you have sun in any of those spots you can climb with your shirt off when it's 30 degrees 40 sometimes feels too hot in the sun often. If it's cloudy though its hella cold.

I'm familiar with Massacre and Dierkes, but not sure where you might be referring to with "Teddy." Can anyone help me out? 

Chris Stocking wrote:

I'm familiar with Massacre and Dierkes, but not sure where you might be referring to with "Teddy." Can anyone help me out? 

Teddy Bear Cove.

https://www.mountainproject.com/area/118277486/teddy-bear-cove#:~:text=Teddy%20Bear%20Cove%20is%20a,a%20steel%20open%20cold%20shut.

Thanks for the beta! TBC might be one of the best documented crags I've seen on this site. Really cool to see. Will have to check it out sometime, though I'm guessing it's probably already out-of-season?

Chris Stocking wrote:

Thanks for the beta! TBC might be one of the best documented crags I've seen on this site. Really cool to see. Will have to check it out sometime, though I'm guessing it's probably already out-of-season?

You can kinda chase shade there but most likely going to be too hot to be there unless you have a full cloudy day. Plus it'll be really over run by dirt bikers.

 Massacre has more shade you can chase worth a visit to the Eagle Wall in the morning and Love Connection in the afternoon.

Edit- Also if you like how Teddy is set up you'd love Mortal Earth by the Fins.  It's the same developers. 

Chris Stocking wrote:

(Also, if anyone is looking for a partner, feel free to DM me)

done!