Chattanooga vs Lexington KY

I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on living in these two cities. I'm familiar with the climbing aspects of both, but if you want to chime in on gyms, city life, general setup as basecamp, living expenses and the likes that would be great.

Cheers
T

Chattanooga>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Lexington for pretty much everything other than sport climbing

chatty for sure

anybody have some more details on life in Lexington? I spent a month there but was working and didnt get a chance to get out too much.

I spent only a week in Lextown working, but met a lady I ended up dating for over a year there. So I've definitely been there a few times, and met some really cool people there. I do think its a cooler crowd than where I currently reside.

But, unlike other near-climbing cities, Lexington is predominantly a horse city. Derby town. UofK. Students and horse folk. And I grew up around horses, so I found it charming, but not appealing to move to. But I like multipitch trad, so YMMV. Overall cool place. Downtown is nice, as well.

But the Gorge IS 45 min away.....

I prefer multi pitch as well but my other option is where I live in Columbia and climbing is 2-3.5 hrs away

Lexington was behind the curve on having a quality gym. However, that's changed now. There is a new very high quality gym in Lexington.
Check out LEF L'Escalade fitness.
lescaladefitness.com/

Down side of Lex...Red River Gorge is around 50 miles away (depending on what part you're going to). I hear Chattanooga has quality rock just outside town.

rock_fencer wrote:I prefer multi pitch as well but my other option is where I live in Columbia and climbing is 2-3.5 hrs away

Chattanooga doesn't have much more than 3 pitches. For the most part, you choose between rock quality and length. If you like choss wrangling like myself, however, it'll be awesome. A lot of the larger cliffs are in Suck Creek Canyon and on signal mountain (unfortunately, it's illegal to climb on Signal Mtn unless its on your private property) and much of it requires at least a little bit of bushwhacking. If you like adventure, though, you'll love it.

If you're in to developing, Chattanooga has a lot of virgin rock to offer. In fact, the only part of town that isn't near a developed crag is hixson and I can think of at least one cliff that has easy access to the top. It's actually like 5 min from my Dad's house and I would have tried to develop it myself if I still lived there.

Forgot to mention a plus for Lex & Red River Gorge.
Muir Valley is one of the nicest, most well developed outdoor climbing areas in the country.
Well maintained and even has little metal I'd tags at the base of each climb so you know you're on the right route.
Check out :
muirvalley.com/