I am going to be moving from Cleveland, Ohio to Tucson this upcoming August. I will be attending classes at UofA. Any spare time I find I want to be dedicated to climbing. However, I dont know much about the scene in this location. Any advice for indoor/outdoor climbing, climbing locations, finding climbing partners, and local hangouts would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I dont have a place to live yet. Any suggestions for apartment complexes or communities to look into??

Tucson is a great city for being a climber. You shouldn't have any trouble finding partners.
As far as what to climb, there is tons of year-round trad and sport on Mt. Lemmon. The guidebook to have is Squeezing the Lemmon II. There is plenty of route development going on so you can supplement with mp.
Cochise Stronghold is a gem. It has mostly multi-pitch trad routes on beautiful granite. There are bolted routes but they are not 'sport' routes.
Many locals climb at Rocks 'n Ropes. It's the only rock gym in Tucson and you will be able to hook up with climbers there.
Fourth ave and Congress area are just southwest of campus. There are lots of bars and good times to be had down there.
I'm a student too and I live right next to campus. Considering the amount of time I spend on campus it makes sense to live as close as possible. There are plenty of places to live right around campus. If you want roommates look in the classifieds on dailywildcat.com. The place I live in right now (for 2 more weeks) is a newly renovated studio. My landlord is way cool and looking for a tenant for the fall. Let me know if you want more info.
Hope all that helps
-Dan

Dan,

I posted the exact same thing online before moving here 3 years ago. Don't worry, there is an ass-load of sport and trad around Tucson, though very little, and very poor, bouldering. As long as you aren't only willing to boulder, there is a lifetime of quality climbing in the area.

Rocks and Ropes is definitely the place to meet partners.

The gym here is pretty nice too. Easily bikable form campus during the day.

As far as living, I suggest Sam Hughes area, there are plenty of duplexes and guest houses. But any of the neighborhoods around campus are fine if you like to bike or walk to school. There is a neighborhood a little further west, "dunbar springs", I think its called which has some houses with cool guest houses. And of course there are plenty of apartment buildings scattered about. What I did is got and apartment for a year until I figured out where I wanted to live and then got into a duplex. Check the Daily Wildcat student newspaper. I think they have online listings as well.

Climbing on Mt Lemmon is awesome. It may take a while to get used to the crimpy sticky granite stuff, depending on what you are used to. I was used to smooth TX limestone and having only a few areas to climb, but with lots of routes close to each other and flat belays. here there and many "smaller" crags and the climbing varies greatly from lower angle face to slightly overhung. On harder stuff(5.10/11) you will almost always have to use a crimp or two. On 5.9 and below, it is usually either lower angle and balancey or straight up with big holds.

There is good bouldering, but like the previous posts say, not very concentrated.

If you don't climb trad, you should try to get into it here. It will greatly expand your climbing choices and quality of experience.

If you are referring to local hangouts in general and not just for climbers, there is 4th avenue and university with many restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, usually with free wireless internet. 4th avenue is usually pretty lively, but downtown is not too active currently. Club Congress is a traditional hangout as well(basically at the end of 4th ave in a manner of speaking).

hope this helps!

As a relatively new person to Tucson, I'll throw my 2 cents in. Coming from the mid-west (Chicago land area), any amount of local rock was better than what I had, quality or not. That said, I hope you don't mind walking. There are a few OVERRUN roadside areas, so if you don't like crowds, you're gonna have to do some exploring. The rock varies from great to shit, as do the climbs. I wouldn't exactly call myself a trad climber yet, but this has been an enjoyable place to learn the craft. Ratings are generally soft, but varies greatly as chrispy mentioned. As far as bouldering in Tucson, I would actually say it is pretty damn good. If you hear people saying it's not, well they aren't looking hard enough. I was on a bouldering kick, training for Jewel Theif (a very, very fun V10), and was able to keep myself busy for over a month, climbing 3 times a week just bouldering. I would spend a day at Jewel Theif, rip my tips open, and go find friendlier routs while they healed. You just have to walk a bit, and sometimes around vegetation that wants nothing more than to kill you. Once I got Jewel Theif, I moved on to other projects, but there is still lots more out there. So, happy exploring.

As far as the gym goes, it's a gym. For me, coming from the mid-west, the last thing I want to do is go inside to climb. And from where I live, it only takes me 15 minutes more to get to the upper 1/3 of the mountain. Tucson is a great place to be a climber. I love the fact that I can climb through out the week OUTSIDE. And remember, with a car, there are loads of great climbing areas within a few hours of Tucson.

Very poor bouldering ?

Bob Murray lived in Tucson for 4-5 years.
I know for a fact there's a lot more out there than one would think...

Is it a bouldering mecca, nope.
Is there sufficient stuff, perhaps.

And if you're willing to drive and explore, there's a lot within 2 hours.

hey man,

i just moved here from Ohio myself. i sent you a pm.

todd

Thanks to everyone for all of your input. it seems as though the quality of the climbing is debatable, as always. But when you come from no climbing to any climbing, it is always an upgrade. and maybe i say this because its all i know... but i would not be as strong of a climber as i am without the help of my gym. so i am sure i will be making some appearances to pull on some plastic. when the time gets closer i will be sure to throw out another post to rally some troops for some climbing trips. i look forward to meeting a lot of you come the end of summer.

Oh the quality of the climbing is not debatable! :)

Dan--I sent you a message. I'm also going to be moving to Tucson in August for school, and I'll be looking for partners as well. Hoping to climb as much as time allows!

Charles