Where in the USA? Best small to medium-size climbing town

Though I'm partial to the northeast winters up north are about as harsh as any. I lived in northern VT for 7 years and it can be downright brutal, though I love snow, cold and generally weather that keeps people inside.

Can't believe Asheville hasn't been mentioned, check it out.

SRB25 wrote:communities along hey 395.

AKA Sierra Eastside. I'm one hour to The Bam/Portal, two hours from Bishop, two hours from the Needles, three hours from Jtree and four hours from the Valley. Also note that I am 2 hours from a "real" city.

I am going to plug Loveland, CO. Bouldering if you wish very close, 30 minutes to alpine climbing, sport trad, and Ice, plus you are close to Boulder but not IN boulder or Fort Collins. 7 Hours from moab, 6 hours from devils tower and SD climbs. 2 hours from garden and three hours from shelf road. Veedawoo is an hour away for awesome off widths...Damn, I might not want to say this in a public forum....Great schools and many local brew shops...My $.02...

Marc801 wrote: Someone may have implied that, but never mentioned by the OP (MClay). Hence my comment "pretty difficult". Not a lot of climbers I know have 2/3's of a million dollars that they can park somewhere. But actually, not quite. Before you can get dual citizenship, you need to have been a permanent resident in both countries for some time. Are you thinking perhaps of residency status? From: wikihow.com/Have-Dual-Citiz… """"""""""""""" Get permanent residency status in Canada. If you are not a citizen of Canada or were born in Canada, you will need to apply for permanent residency before you can be eligible for a Canadian citizenship. If you are already a permanent resident, you must meet several conditions before you are eligible for Canadian citizenship: You need to have been physically present in Canada for at least 1460 days (4 years) in a 6 year before before you apply for Canadian citizenship. Also, within these four years, each year, you must have been physically present in Canada for 183 days. You must not be under review for immigration or fraud reasons or be under a removal order. """""""""""""""""" Work permits and visas are a whole different animal. canadaworkvisa.ca/info/faq.…

No argument here about how difficult the process can be. I thought I didn't write that every climber has $660,000. I just wanted the OP to know that Squamish is amazing and if he\she has the coin anything is possible.

I have no idea what it takes but remember seeing a billboard in Whistler about it. I inquired about it when we bought a condo in the upper village to our real estate agent. I was saying that the funds. would "expedite" residency or citizenship.

Reply to Bill ^^^^^^^^

Years ago I interviewed for a job in Toronto whose job description looked as if I'd written it for myself. They were ultimately unable to offer me the job job due to the trouble it would be to bring me over.

There seems to be a really direct and simple immigration plan over there for just about anyone but Americans. I don't necessarily blame them.

In retrospect, I can't tell you how thankful I am that I didn't move to Toronto.

Bill Kirby wrote: No argument here about how difficult the process can be. I thought I didn't write that every climber has $660,000. I just wanted the OP to know that Squamish is amazing and if he\she has the coin anything is possible. I have no idea what it takes but remember seeing a billboard in Whistler about it. I inquired about it when we bought a condo in the upper village to our real estate agent. I was saying that the funds. would "expedite" residency or citizenship.

+1
We agree, believe it or not!.

Gotta throw Tucson into the mix. Year round climbing and 4000+ routes in your back yard... it may not meet some of the other requirements, but its a pretty fantastic place to raise a family.

Kemper Brightman wrote:Gotta throw Tucson into the mix. Year round climbing and 4000+ routes in your back yard... it may not meet some of the other requirements, but its a pretty fantastic place to raise a family.

I'd live there.

airbnb.com/rooms/8809213
I have a nice place you can stay at in Silverthorne if you and your family want to come check out the area. Plus my wife and I climb a lot all year round so we can provide you with a lot of info. We also live only a few blocks from a descent climbing gym. I'm not saying Silverthorne is the best option because there our a lot of great places out West as many have suggested but Colorado has a lot to offer and I like Summit County because it's not crowded like the front range and we are a short drive in any direction to a huge amount and variety of climbing. We do get some serious winter but with our dry climate it's possible to climb outdoors year round if you pick the right days. I just got back from bouldering near Minturn this afternoon it was beautiful and sunny, and I can go snowboarding tomorrow ten minutes away.

My family and I just bought a house in Big Bear, Ca hit me up if you want any info great small town good climbing and endless fun. Lots of young families the only reason the pop. Is high is a lot of very wealthy people own vacation homes up here.

We were thru a lot of the places mentioned this past summer, so we have some experience in several states/towns mentioned. Loved Big Bear area, but pretty much all of the CA and West Coast is out due to cost of living. Didn't love the Colorado front range scene - Western CO is preferable.

Never said we're independently wealthy - just minimalist living and my wife and I have skill sets that will be in demand pretty much anywhere.

Climbing scene/culture don't matter that much to us. Family amenities as determined by American dream don't matter that much. So after reading most of the mid-sized towns positives, I'm leaning more towards some of the rural/hick towns.

Summers in the St. George area are longer/hotter than I thought. I've lived in So. AZ and it wasn't optimal. Upside is St. George is only 2 hours from Red Rock though.

^^^ I bet you'd dig Lander.

My wife and I figured out full time remote work a few of years ago and decided to move to a small mountain town.

Our constraints wants don't match up with OPs exactly. Trad, alpine climbing, bouldering, backcountry skiing and mountain wilderness to adventure in are more important to us then sport climbing. We also wanted a climate amenable to growing some of our own food, to be near family in the North West and consider the granite family of rocks to be by far the best and wanted what many would consider a really small town. Canada was unfortunately not an option.

Places we considered or would consider again:

Bellingham/Mt. Vernon area, WA
Leavenworth/Wenatchee area, WA
Mazama/Winthrop area, WA
Spokane Area, WA
Missoula/Bitterroot Area, MT
Kalispell, MT
Bozeman, MT
Stanley/Sawtooths Area, ID
Boise Area, ID

I wouldn't call it the best climbing town out there but we ended up in a small town in the Bitterroot Valley, near Missoula.

Sam Fox wrote:Burlington VT or Keene NY Red River Gorge (8 hours)

How many times have you actually done this for a weekend? Google maps has it at over 14hrs from Keene to Miguells...

Burlinghton is nice but I think there are many many other towns that are a better fit for his requirements. Sport climbing in Vermont is pretty limited...

Between Littleton and Golden, CO is the sweet gem: western edge of Lakewood, CO. None of the Boulder and even Golden's up and coming "scene". Fast access to all of the climbing near Golden plus it's gym. Even closer to the South Platte. Family-friendly, down to earth active lifestyle people. Affordable. lots of hiking/biking trails. This is based on living decades in Boulder/golden for comparison.

Like to hear what you guys end up doing.

Jeff Ruiz wrote:++++New Paltz Four perfect seasons, best low grades to introduce your kids, some of the best moderate multi-pitch in the country (5.6-5.9), and an endless quiver of harder routes to bite into as well. Great schools and easy drives to all locales in NH, plus 1.5 hours from NYC. Hard not to fall in love with New Paltz. Happy looking!

So, what percentage of the posts in this thread are simply people suggesting the place that they live, even if it isn't actually that great a climbing town, or does not match the OPs specifications? Seems like greater than 50%.

New Paltz is cool, no doubt, but there is essentially zero sport climbing.

And Lakewood is reasonably nice as far as 'burbs go, and has very good climbing access, but in no way is it a "small to medium size town". It is a suburb in a massive metro area.

Scott McMahon wrote: the whole denver metro is way over crowded. 200k moved here from 2013-14, and it's supposed to go up 50% by 2040. When you just moved here it's not bad, but if you've been here for a while the growth is making it a bit overwhelming.

I've always wanted to live in Boulder/Denver area but the more the years pass the more I realize its just as overcroweded as CT and getting worse...and most areas are like cookie cutter developments. And then there's the ski traffic...

JCM wrote: So, what percentage of the posts in this thread are simply people suggesting the place that they live, even if it isn't actually that great a climbing town, or does not match the OPs specifications? Seems like greater than 50%. New Paltz is cool, no doubt, but there is essentially zero sport climbing. And Lakewood is reasonably nice as far as 'burbs go, and has very good climbing access, but in no way is it a "small to medium size town". It is a suburb in a massive metro area.

Yeah, this seems to be a common and annoying answer for the "Tell me where to move" thread. Answer "My town is the greatest". I guess it is a good thing that 50% of the poster's think their town is the best in America. Even if they never read the OP's requirements.

JCM, you're right Lakewood is a suburb. So are Golden and Boulder.
I've lived in Fayetteville, WV, Bend, OR, Portland and Seattle. Boulder for about 15 yrs.

I wouldn't recommend any of them based on the criteria. If he's not looking for any of the three 'burbs mentioned above, I'd guess Durango to be pretty great. But truth is unless one has lived or currently lives in a place, the suggestions are just a WAG, IMHO. So best sources will be from the locals or former locals. Again, my opinion.

Morgan Patterson wrote: I've always wanted to live in Boulder/Denver area but the more the years pass the more I realize its just as overcroweded as CT and getting worse...and most areas are like cookie cutter developments. And then there's the ski traffic...

I'm from Hartford...so yeah it's similar. It's all like driving through the Buckland mall at Christmas time. haha!!!

Problem is no one is moving to CT..they are moving out of those states and to places like CO. I made the move about 10 years ago myself. And I remember getting to killington in like no time. Lift lines were way worse back east though.