Moving to Maine?

I'd definitely look at Asheville but also consider living in one of the smaller mountain towns in NC depending on what you do for work. Boone is another college town that is close to a lot of climbing, Brevard has a nice vibe and is well situated. Charlotte is also a convenient location with jobs, but it's also a suburban trap theonion.com/article/horrif…

I can't say enough about how great the climbing in NC is, and if you situate yourself appropriately you will only be a couple of hours from Hidden Valley or the New River Gorge for when you want to clip bolts.

ml242 wrote:I like Maine. Lots of recreational opportunities, but they come at the expense of the climbing season. Ice is better than the front range, skiing will have a few very good days a year and there is more culture. No place is perfect except for salt lake, everyone should move there immediately. :)

How ephemeral is the ice in Utah? Is there enough nearby to keep you busy for years without too many mixed shenanigans? I have a busy career so access is key, can't make the drive to Ouray regularly from either SLC or Denver. Ice is what keeps me in the Northeast. Obviously, the western slope of CO, MT, WY have promise but I can't get a job I'd like out there. I could get a job in SLC though.

Sorry to steal your thread OP.

Thanks to all for the replies. It's great to hear how everyone approaches the living situation.

Surprisingly, a really good offer came through in Portland, so it's looking pretty likely that I'll head there. There are still things I'm pretty wary of, chiefly that it's starting to feel like the other Portland. It is a bummer that the climbing isn't as accessible as the Front Range, but not too many places are that blessed. Hopefully being an hour and a half from Shagg and North Conway will keep me occupied.The nice thing is that this may be a temporary opportunity, so if it really doesn't work out, I could be heading back West by the next climbing season. Now if I could just find an apartment...

Also, the good words about North Carolina definitely don't go unheard. I'd like to spend some time there someday.

jdejace wrote: Sorry to steal your thread OP.

Steal away. SLC also sounds like an excellent place.

jdejace wrote: How ephemeral is the ice in Utah? Is there enough nearby to keep you busy for years without too many mixed shenanigans?

Seeing that this hasn't been answered yet.....
First the disclaimer: I'm certainly not the best person to answer this as I gave up ice climbing in 1985-ish, but from what little I know and observe:

The ice in Utah isn't as plentiful as other areas of the country and it seems much more spread out. There are some long routes, but I haven't seen the concentration of climbs that you get at say Frankenstein Cliffs (NH) or Ouray (CO).

The season seems much shorter than in NH for reliable ice. Since I drive up LCC regularly during the winter, the Great White Icicle is a pretty good barometer. Seems the reliable season is mid/late-DEC to late FEB.

If any more knowledgeable locals want to chime in, please do and correct me as necessary.

^^

Thanks! Confirms what I suspected.

Portland Maine is NOT turning into the next portland oregon. Come on people....

pressherald.com/2016/10/16/…

"In 1950, Portland was home to 77,000 people; today the city population is 66,000."

I understand Portland Maine is going to grow. It's a cool town, it's near Boston, and the northeast is crowded. But let's not have a mypoic, New-England-centric view of the world. It's a far cry from Portland Oregon, and certain factors will ultimately limit Portland Maine from exploding like crazy.

Every mid-level city (especially in the northeast) is constantly striving to make the leap. Remember Providence thru the last couple of decades? People envision in their minds, this renaissance, this flowering into something discussed in cool indie magazines. The comparisons begin, to places inevitably like Portland Oregon, Austin Texas, Vancouver, so forth. These are good goals to have, but it's such a stretch -- especially as it relates to PDX. That place is so one of a kind, and the growth they experienced in middle to late portion of the 20th century is very unique and related to the migration of North American people to the west coast, and then up and through the entirety of the west coast. This "filling in" of our continent, with its natural consequence of new huge urban centers that barely existed before 1900, is a way different series of events than an established New England city growing a little over time.

Portland Oregon is one of the coolest most vibrant and hopping cities in the world. Is this honestly what you think might happen to Portland Maine? A little industrial maritime port up in a frozen backwoods vacation state with more moose than people? There might be a good reason why it hasn't boomed yet. If it ain't happened yet, why would it now?

Portland OR may be vibrant and cool but it's also really expensive to live in and this is happening in Portland ME as well (not to mention Boulder). So it may not be booming by some standards but gentrification is certainly a problem for more than a few natives.

Peter Beal wrote:Portland OR may be vibrant and cool but it's also really expensive to live in and this is happening in Portland ME as well (not to mention Boulder).

Name one desirable area to live where this isn't happening.

So I would rather live where the climbing is really good if it's happening everywhere. And while there is climbing around Portland, it's got issues that if you are a serious climber, you will want to do without

Willis K wrote:Thanks to all for the replies. It's great to hear how everyone approaches the living situation. Surprisingly, a really good offer came through in Portland, so it's looking pretty likely that I'll head there. There are still things I'm pretty wary of, chiefly that it's starting to feel like the other Portland. It is a bummer that the climbing isn't as accessible as the Front Range, but not too many places are that blessed. Hopefully being an hour and a half from Shagg and North Conway will keep me occupied.The nice thing is that this may be a temporary opportunity, so if it really doesn't work out, I could be heading back West by the next climbing season. Now if I could just find an apartment... Also, the good words about North Carolina definitely don't go unheard. I'd like to spend some time there someday. Steal away. SLC also sounds like an excellent place.

Get into ice or you will pull your hair out. I have lived in Portland for 3.5 years and grew up about 30 minutes south (still in Maine) so I know the area well. I am about as pessimistic as Peter

Peter Beal wrote:I grew up in Maine and have lived in Boulder for 20+ years. I would definitely advise against living there if you are serious about climbing. Full stop. The weather is really not conducive to climbing (brutal winters), driving to decent crags is a pain (slow 35mph backroads, speed traps), and there is really not a lot of climbing that isn't in New Hampshire, meaning minimum 1-2 hour drives. Furthermore, Portland ME is poised to become a mini-Portland OR in the next 10 years with skyrocketing real estate prices, congestion, etc. If you have a toehold in the Front Range and are a serious climber, you will regret moving east, no question about it. Don't do it.

about the area but there are plenty of people who aren't. Maine has a ton of climbing, just barely any of it is on mountain project or in books. You gotta go find it. Rumney is awesome, but it turns into an ice fest in the winter. Which is nice if you like ice.

Was this taken from an episode of Portlandia?

pressherald.com/2016/10/24/…

Portland is a cool city but...

The climbing in Maine is scarce and not great. I live in Augusta now and there isn't much worth climbing.

Burlington Vermont is an AMAZING small city but Vermont climbing is sub par. Its adjacent to the Adirondacks and the Whites, which are really the climbing gems of the northeast. The BEST climbing in the northeast is Lake Placid NY area of the Adirondacks and the White Mountains of NH. The Adirondacks have some really rugged and remote stuff, and plenty of roadside as well. The Adirondacks are really special in that the access is remote and the area is so public and protected, and there is very little light pollution or signage. Big emphasis on trad, and bolts are a dying breed up that way. The Whites are a little more commercial and the approaches are a little more doable, but I wouldn't say Conway has a thriving arts scene by any standards. But the Whites are really a mecca. If you don't mind driving 2 hours, if you planted yourself in Burlington you would have access to the Whites and the ADKs, with decent stuff nearby in VT to keep you busy after work.

Be forewarned, summer is horrific. Black flies the size of humming birds. Fall is really the climbing season. Spring is rainy and buggy.

Sharpen your ice tools and skis.

balzano wrote:Burlington Vermont is an AMAZING small city.... If you don't mind driving 2 hours, if you planted yourself in Burlington...

You just have to be able to deal with a hipster vibe turned up to 11, rivaling Portland OR.

balzano wrote:Portland is a cool city but... The climbing in Maine is scarce and not great. I

It's certainly not super close, though scarse and not great is maybe subjective, as my reply certainly is :) Cathedral, Whitehorse, Humphreys, and so on are all within an hour and a half drive (maybe less?) plus minimal approach. Shell, Shagg, Rumney, and other crags are within 2.5 hours, including drive and approach, maybe a bit more for those further in Evans Notch (Rumney most variable depending on which wall you go to). Yes, this eats up almost a day. yes, I have also had great half days at crags when I lived in Portland. Yes, I also had a ridiculously amazing flexible work and school schedule. But the rock is good and I thought it worth the drive.
Certainly, you are not within a days drive to many world class spots, but, it could be worse. You could be in Philly thinking the climbing in PA is the best in North America. Sigh.

sclair wrote: It's certainly not super close, though scarse and not great is maybe subjective, as my reply certainly is :) Cathedral, Whitehorse, Humphreys, and so on are all within an hour and a half drive (maybe less?) plus minimal approach. Shell, Shagg, Rumney, and other crags are within 2.5 hours, including drive and approach, maybe a bit more for those further in Evans Notch (Rumney most variable depending on which wall you go to). Yes, this eats up almost a day. yes, I have also had great half days at crags when I lived in Portland. Yes, I also had a ridiculously amazing flexible work and school schedule. But the rock is good and I thought it worth the drive. Certainly, you are not within a days drive to many world class spots, but, it could be worse. You could be in Philly thinking the climbing in PA is the best in North America. Sigh.

Rumney is at least 2.5 hours from Portland assuming the traffic isn't horrible. You can definitely climb based in Portland but the OP was talking about going from CO to ME. In Boulder you have thousands of world-class routes within 2 hours, many of which are climbable year-round. But yes, one could be in Philadelphia, as WC Fields stated, more or less... :)

Philly has produced some pretty awesome climbers..some of the even learned in PA !

Gotta go with Peter on this one..Hell you could live around Northampton MA and be near some pretty sweet climbing. Though i think the OP maybe went to school in the area?

Peter Beal wrote: Rumney is at least 2.5 hours from Portland assuming the traffic isn't horrible. You can definitely climb based in Portland but the OP was talking about going from CO to ME. In Boulder you have thousands of world-class routes within 2 hours, many of which are climbable year-round. But yes, one could be in Philadelphia, as WC Fields stated, more or less... :)

So right on. I used to go to Rumney on Tuesdays, maybe thats why it was never a hassle (also I never encountered a busy crag!). of course, I would never recommend leaving the west for the climbing on the east, it's just if life leads you there due to certain circumstances, well, you know. I grew up east coast, but really love SLC and everything that is nearby or within a days drive. Except why can't I have real beer from the tap?

sclair wrote: So right on. I used to go to Rumney on Tuesdays, maybe thats why it was never a hassle (also I never encountered a busy crag!). of course, I would never recommend leaving the west for the climbing on the east, it's just if life leads you there due to certain circumstances, well, you know. I grew up east coast, but really love SLC and everything that is nearby or within a days drive. Except why can't I have real beer from the tap?

sclair, that last point is one of the consolations of Boulder!