Living in Seattle

I'm considering applying for a job...

What is living in Seattle like as a climber? What are the nearest and best crags? How easy is it to get out of the city? Is there anywhere close enough to climb after work? (I've heard of Exit 38, is this the nearest? and is it any good?) What's the rock like on the local crags? Is there rock that stays climbable in the winter?

Also, are there a lot of climbers? Is it easy to meet people/find partners?

A bit of background info--I do about equal amounts of trad and sport climbing, plus some bouldering, though I'm not particularly into ice. I'd be wanting to climb every weekend and, if possible, some weekdays.

Thanks for any info!

Not a local, but climbed there a bunch.

Westside... (rain, rain, rain, rain).. but when it isn't raining:

• OK sport climbing nearby, but not enough for everyone on a sunny day...i.e. crowded.
• Index Town Walls is absolutely AWESOME, 1 hour from Seattle. One of my favorite trad crags. World class, when dry.

Eastside...

• Leavenworth. Lots of everything there. Trad, slab, sport, etc. For whatever reason I've never loved the climbing there. I don't know why.....some love it. 3 hours from Seattle. Drier.
• Vantage. Pretty fun trad and sport climbing. 2 hours from Seattle. Much drier.

Bottom line... lots of great climbing, lots of climbers, and lots of rain. A local can probably even give more detailed info. If you want to climb every weekend, you'll be driving a bunch - and getting hosed by the weather frequently. But when the weather is good, you'll be loving it.

Thanks for the reply, Andy! So when you say rain...I'm living in England at the moment; any idea if we're talking an even worse level of rain than here??

Had the opportunity to move from Boulder, Colorado to Olympia, Washington a few years ago when my employer moved there, but I decided to stay in Colorado. Olympia, 60 miles from Seattle, averages 91 days of sunshine yearly compared with nearly 300 here on the Front Range. I'm totally spoiled here, and realize to get this much good weather I'd have to move to Southern California -- no thank you!

Then, I read this article about Tacoma, which is in between Olympia and Seattle, and it made me even happier with my decision. I don't know how this compares to Sheffield, UK, but the choice was pretty clear for me.

I haven't climbed there but have spent a lot of time there for business. Generally it seems like a great place to live. Probably quite similar to the UK. Rainy season is November to April,though it can and will rain in other months too. It's usually a light misty rain without a lot of intensity unless a big Pacific storm rolls through. Seattle actually gets less total rain per year than many other U.S. cities. Very beautiful place with the green trees, Puget Sound, Olympic Mtns and Rainier views. The summers are spectacular there.

It would be tough for a climber to get out every weekend during the wet season. Guess there's always the climbing wall at the REI flagship! It would be interesting to hear what a local has to say about the scene there.

If your willing to drive up to 3 hours you can climb rock almost every weekend except in winter--December and January, February depending on the year. If your willing to drive to Smith 5 and half hours away you might even get a couple winter weekends. The way it works is it will typically rain on the west side of the cascades and be dry on the east so places like leavenworth, vantage, tieton and smith will be dry and climbable.

That said Index is amazing, probably one of the most underrated crags in the country for folks who can climb 5.11-, imho. There is some easier stuff but you will go through the classics quickly. Index is fairly reliable May-September.

Most folks who are into sport climbing go to Exit 32 after work in summer. mountainproject.com/v/washi… Its about 45 minutes out of the city with no traffic, so if you can get of work before rush hour its fine.

There are lots of climbers in Seattle partners should not be to much of an issue.

JohnJ80302 wrote:Had the opportunity to move from Boulder, Colorado to Olympia, Washington a few years ago when my employer moved there, but I decided to stay in Colorado. Olympia, 60 miles from Seattle, averages 91 days of sunshine yearly compared with nearly 300 here on the Front Range. I'm totally spoiled here, and realize to get this much good weather I'd have to move to Southern California -- no thank you! Then, I read this article about Tacoma, which is in between Olympia and Seattle, and it made me even happier with my decision. I don't know how this compares to Sheffield, UK, but the choice was pretty clear for me.

91 days of sunshine for a whole year? That sounds grim, definitely worse than here! Is that referring to the rainy west side and not counting the eastern crags that someone else was saying tend to have less rain?

Rainy season is November to April,though it can and will rain in other months too. It's usually a light misty rain without a lot of intensity unless a big Pacific storm rolls through. Seattle actually gets less total rain per year than many other U.S. cities. quote>

That misty rain sounds like it could get frustrating...it sounds like a beautiful place, though. I've been to Seattle briefly, for a day or so, but it was a long time ago and I don't really remember much about it.

SketchE wrote:If your willing to drive up to 3 hours you can climb rock almost every weekend except in winter--December and January, February depending on the year. If your willing to drive to Smith 5 and half hours away you might even get a couple winter weekends. The way it works is it will typically rain on the west side of the cascades and be dry on the east so places like leavenworth, vantage, tieton and smith will be dry and climbable. That said Index is amazing, probably one of the most underrated crags in the country for folks who can climb 5.11-, imho. There is some easier stuff but you will go through the classics quickly. Index is fairly reliable May-September. Most folks who are into sport climbing go to Exit 32 after work in summer. mountainproject.com/v/washi… Its about 45 minutes out of the city with no traffic, so if you can get of work before rush hour its fine. There are lots of climbers in Seattle partners should not be to much of an issue.

Thanks for the info. I'd definitely be willing to drive to Smith if that gets me some winter rock! Index also sounds quite good.

Don't forget about Squamish as well; it's also under 3 hours from Seattle. It's the best granite outside of Yosemite in my opinion, and the bouldering there is second to none.

SketchE said it right. I think I've climbed pretty much every week since march or so this year...leavenworth was beautiful last week, this week an "arctic blast" came through and i stayed home.

Some winters you can climb right through, others you have to take up a snow sport or go inside and train. We rarely get thunderstorm, unlike CO, which makes for some great long summer days climbing mountains.

Because of the way rain shadows work a typical iffy weekend might start at index or washington pass and move over the mountains to leavenworth/mazama if it looks wet. Similarly Olympia and Tacoma get more rain then Seattle which is somewhat sheltered by the olympic mountains.

Hi Alicia,

I spent the last few years living in Portland, OR until moving to Colorado to enjoy the sunnier weather. That said, the pacific northwest is a beautiful area with amazing places to climb, and lots of climbers to meet too!

Here's a link to a Pacific Northwest climbing site that's a lot like MP.com that you might try posting questions on. Hopefully you'll get more replies from natives up in the area :)

cascadeclimbers.com/home

Out of curiosity how good is the town of Sheffield, for a rock climber. I know its supposedly the center of climbing in the England and I know there is the famed grit stone outside out town but is there much variety? I know I would not be moving to the UK even for a really really good job. Seattle may not be a SLC or Boulder in terms of having rock close to town or length of climbing season but its really quite good.
Alpine rock (north cascades, enchaintments)
multi pitch slabs (darrrington, static point)
world class bouldering (leavenworth, squamish)
world class multipitch (squamish index)
killer hard crack routes (squamish, index, midnight rock at leavenworth)
hard sport (little si, smith, pet wall squamish, nason + other areas)
limestone (spokane, mazama, horn point-though i haven't been)
plus all the areas i didn't list

I'm not trying to sell you on Seattle. Some people really don't like it here. Is it possible to just head done to france for the weekend from Sherfield or is there a lot more climbing than what is advertised?

if you are into alpine climbing, the north cascades are the epicenter.
endless options are available. Fred Becky put up a lifetime supply of routes for all of us to enjoy.
Mt Stuart, Prusik Peak, DragonTail Peak offer great long classic routes.
also - Skaha. i never climbed there, but heard great things and a much drier climate that you can drive to.

Hey Alicia, you just got to Sheffield and you're already thinking of moving? Is MacLeod dragging you up too many FAs on the Ben in the dead of winter? ;)

As for Seattle and climbing (from a friend who lives there), like everyone else says, you better like rain (and alpine). Or be willing to drive (though the drives to Smith and Sqaumish will seem like a breeze compared to those RRG drives you told me about).

PS. Any word on ice conditions up in the Highlands? February is approaching quick.

I moved to Seattle from Boulder. So did a lot of my friends out here. I think the way it breaks down (this is their opinion, too) is that the quality of the climbing here is much better, it just takes more effort to get to. Of course in Boulder, the only world class climbing is 4 hours away - Rifle. Index lower town wall is the best trad crag in the country (and is only 50 minutes from door to roping up). I know that's a big claim, but it's true. It's like the Cookie, but way better and without any hassles. Maybe a bit harder on the ego at first, though. Little Si is great after work. Gold Bar is fantastic bouldering, as is Leavenworth. And Squamish is, of course, well, Squamish. Just completely world class. As far as people go, Seattle is a much better scene than Boulder. Boulder is a great place, and I have great friends and family there still, it's just that overall, coming to Seattle not knowing anyone, it is much easier to fall into a great group of friends. And, as a major city, Seattle offers a lot of things that Boulder just can't and never will (which isn't necessarily a knock against Boulder - big cities can suck, too, and Boulder is a very cosmopolitan small city). Also, for whatever reason, it seems easier to find serious climbers out here who are dedicated and willing to project things with you. But damn, I do miss being able to bike to climb a bunch of stuff and then get a beer and burger at the mountain sun... Boulder is pretty pimp in so many ways. It's just a tradeoff of quality (Seattle) for quantity and sun (Boulder).

Seattle is a great place to live as a climber but the unpredictable weather and infrequently updated/unavailable guide books make it hard to vacation here. Most of the steep sport crags seem to be kept word of mouth and a completish bouldering guide was only recently published.

The index town walls really are reason enough to live here though. In addition to awesome trad, they have great techie sport climbs though they start at stiff 5.10+ and go quickly up from there. Its a good place to work on your old school slab skills. The moves are hard but the protection is generally great.

I think the thing that excites me most about this area is the variety of long, hardish, high quality granite free routes to project/dream about. Both the town walls and the spires at washington pass pack in an large number of grade III-V's in the 10+ to 13-'s range in beautiful sub-alpine/alpine settings and with short approaches.

If you are willing to walk just a bit further the enchantments and other proper alpine areas offer tons more white granite goodness.

The rain is not that big a deal. There are good gyms, rain-shadowed east-side granite boulders (and basalt columns), steep, sheltered, sport crags and thoughts of long days free climbing in the mountains to keep you going. Honestly the short winter days bother me much more. They mean i have to wake up early and drive in the dark to get a full day in.

I've lived in Index and now live in the front range and would say that the quality in the P northwest is world class. Good food, people, and Fu$king Index & Squamish man!!!
Cheers,
Aj

SketchE wrote:Out of curiosity how good is the town of Sheffield, for a rock climber. I know its supposedly the center of climbing in the England and I know there is the famed grit stone outside out town but is there much variety? I know I would not be moving to the UK even for a really really good job. Seattle may not be a SLC or Boulder in terms of having rock close to town or length of climbing season but its really quite good. Alpine rock (north cascades, enchaintments) multi pitch slabs (darrrington, static point) world class bouldering (leavenworth, squamish) world class multipitch (squamish index) killer hard crack routes (squamish, index, midnight rock at leavenworth) hard sport (little si, smith, pet wall squamish, nason + other areas) limestone (spokane, mazama, horn point-though i haven't been) plus all the areas i didn't list I'm not trying to sell you on Seattle. Some people really don't like it here. Is it possible to just head done to france for the weekend from Sherfield or is there a lot more climbing than what is advertised?

Sorry, I forgot to check back here! The variety sounds pretty good--I like being able to do lots of different climbing. Yeah, Sheffield is good for much for than just the grit--there's limestone within half an hour, and multipitch mountain stuff in Wales (the delights of which I will be sampling this weekend, weather permitting:)), winter stuff in Scotland (the delights of which I will hopefully be sampling next weekend:)) all within a reasonable drive away. You could theoretically do France or Spain for a weekend trip, although it'd be pretty rushed; 4 days is more reasonable for that.

My choice has gotten more complicated by the fact that I've now got an interview with a place in Portland. Can anyone tell me about the merits of Portland v. Seattle?

i was born in Portland, and Portland is way cooler than Seattle(IMHO). Smith rock is closer, coast is an hour away, and Mt. hood has really rad skiing or snowboarding and is like and hour and a half away. Damn why did i move away again.....oh yeah cause Vegas is sunny everyday! Portland is really beautiful though hope that's helped.
josh

Ok here's my 2 cents.
If you are going to own a car Portland traffic is not as bad as Seattle. You pretty much have to have a car if you want to visit all of the above mentioned climbing areas. There is some urban basalt climbing in Portland though I have never sampled it. To the East of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge there are handful of crags under an hour away. Starting with Broughtons bluff (mixed sport and trad) Ozone (mostly sport) and finally Beacon Rock, the holy pillar of stone for those of us who climb trad. (generally more difficult trad climbing on solid basalt dihedrals)
On the East side of Mt Hood there is another handful of places such as Petes Pile (slightly dirty but excellent trad climbing with secret sport climbing near by), Area 51 (5.9 and up alien themed sport climbing)
If you prefer climbing on granite and alpine stuff Seattle is the city for you. If you like basalt and three hour drives to the tuft at Smith rock Portland is for you.
I used to live an hour East of Portland in Hood River the windsurfing capital of the world. There is also really good kayaking, mountain biking,and hiking near Hood River. A great place for active people.
Reed