Climber/Skiier/Outdoor Friendly Cities

I had a revelation as I watched a 40 something local Crested Butte dude try and pick up my 22 year female roommate. The never ending winter in the sausage fest..er..CB bubble might be a little too much. Work runs out in the Spring and my options are open (as cool a place as Crested Butte is)! What do you feel is a good career oriented place to settle for a young exercise science major. Boulder and C. Springs are out but I'm open to just about anything.

Flagstaff! we just moved here 3 months ago from the front range and love it! surrounded by super tall pines, in winter you can drive 40 minutes south and be in sunny warm climbing. climbing scene is way chilled, just got a foot of powder and i hear the backcountry and resort are pretty cool (however, i don't ski myself).

Andrew James C wrote:I had a revelation as I watched a 40 something local Crested Butte dude try and pick up my 22 year female roommate.

Did the old fart score, or did she give him the Heisman?

22 is kinda old he should be hitting up the 18 to 20 crowd so he could impress them by buying beer.

Angela Dembik wrote:Flagstaff! we just moved here 3 months ago from the front range and love it! surrounded by super tall pines, in winter you can drive 40 minutes south and be in sunny warm climbing. climbing scene is way chilled, just got a foot of powder and i hear the backcountry and resort are pretty cool (however, i don't ski myself).

I keep hearing lots of good things on Flagstaff. Do people in Flagstaff head to the Sierras and Tahoe quite a bit for skiing ect? or is it still pretty far?

Hank Caylor wrote:Did the old fart score, or did she give him the Heisman?

Poor guy was shut down...

I would not suggest Flagstaff for skiing. And here's why:

• Lift lines are unbearably long unless you can get off during the week.
• The lifts are slow.
• There really isn't much terrain as compared to Utah or Colorado.
• Temps get high and you end up with ice a lot.

It's a cool town with a laid back vibe, but the mountain blows. The climbing is world class though!

for a real city seattle or salt lake

Eddie Brown wrote:I would not suggest Flagstaff for skiing. And here's why: *Lift lines are unbearably long unless you can get off during the week. *The lifts are slow. *There really isn't much terrain as compared to Utah or Colorado. *Temps get high and you end up with ice a lot. It's a cool town with a laid back vibe, but the mountain blows. The climbing is world class though!

+1

I used to live in Phoenix and heard a lot of the same. It is great for mountain biking but skiing is definitely subpar when compared to CB or Tahoe. Flag to Tahoe your pushing 700 miles vs 490 miles to CB and 515 miles to Park City. SLC to Park City is only 30 miles. Seattle to Whistler 215 miles.

If your looking for a good balance between climbing and skiing I would just go with SLC. Moab (great mtn biking as well) and the desert towers are not but 4 hours away (a guess) and your right there next to some solid skiing.

Moab proper is about 5 hours from SLC depending on how you drive and there is a lifetime of climbing down there. Also good sport, bouldering and trad closer to SLC and quite a bit right in the back yard. It's not the best place to get in pitches after work but you are half a days drive from a lot of good climbing.

The real reason to live there would be the skiing. Snowbird, Alta, Deer Valley, Brighton, Solitude, The Canyons, Park City... and Grizzly Gulch rocks for out of bounds stuff but there is probably way better that I don't know about. The terrain in Utah is better than CO for me, but I'm sure a lot of people will argue with that. They do get a shit ton of snow too. If I needed to be in a city and wanted to ride/ski... I'd be in SLC.