Received a job offer in Connecticut. Good idea?

Noah R wrote:

Whatever man, I said white history to disclose that there was history and value in the Americas before Europeans were here. Maybe not the best word choice. I am sure we could have a logical conversation about this if it were not over the internet. When you walk through the woods in CT, there are several hundred year old stone walls all over the place. 

I know. I'm from Connecticut. My home town was known for it's red onions! Travelers from all around knew they were close to my town from that sweet sweet smell of... onions. Riveting stuff, really.

When I go to the Adirondacks I go through Crown Point a nearly 300 year old military fort - Anything like that in Boulder? 

Yes, in fact. Some of the trails still in use right outside the city were originally part of the Native American trail system. Sorry there's a lack of stone walls - the people were migratory, so less walls; more trails.

If that's not very exciting, there may be one or two things around the west that may be of interest.

That is really my point. Everywhere you look in New England there are reminders of colonialism and our admittedly fucked up but interesting history of how a bunch of white guys like you and me got here. That is really my point - Take it or leave it.

Thank you for clarifying, but you did not make that point initially. Stating something like, "White History" can be read that that history is the only one that matters.

rn maybe wrote: I'm not looking for world class cragging every night after work (although maybe I should be), but something that I can still go out to and get some mileage and project over time.

Ct will be fine then. If not 200k ? 100k and it wont be too bad for 5-10 years

Mr. Maybe, Just to be clear, at least during the spring/summer months you should be able to get some decent mileage in after work---and maybe even find something to project (as long as it is trad/bouldering--if your job has you in or close to Hartford. You are correct that the drives from Hartford to the bigger crags are pretty much the equivalent as from Seattle to Leavenworth, but there are several 'medium-sized' crags that are a good bit closer. Most exciting for climbers in this region, is that 2 local climbing organizations (Ragged Mountain Foundation and Western Mass Climbers Coalition) in conjuction with the Access Fund have just purchased a largely undeveloped cliff named Hanging Mountain,which, while located just over the border in Mass, is probably under an hour's drive from Hartford. Once fully developed this impressive granite cliff will add appreciably to the local climbing options.

While I wouldn't expect anyone to move to a location for the indoor climbing, it is still worth knowing that there are a couple of quite good climbing gyms in the Hartford vicinity for those times when you can't make it outside.

Alan Rubin wrote: Mr. Maybe, Just to be clear, at least during the spring/summer months you should be able to get some decent mileage in after work---and maybe even find something to project (as long as it is trad/bouldering--if your job has you in or close to Hartford. You are correct that the drives from Hartford to the bigger crags are pretty much the equivalent as from Seattle to Leavenworth, but there are several 'medium-sized' crags that are a good bit closer. Most exciting for climbers in this region, is that 2 local climbing organizations (Ragged Mountain Foundation and Western Mass Climbers Coalition) in conjuction with the Access Fund have just purchased a largely undeveloped cliff named Hanging Mountain,which, while located just over the border in Mass, is probably under an hour's drive from Hartford. Once fully developed this impressive granite cliff will add appreciably to the local climbing options.

While I wouldn't expect anyone to move to a location for the indoor climbing, it is still worth knowing that there are a couple of quite good climbing gyms in the Hartford vicinity for those times when you can't make it outside.

If you take I91 north and then follow route 20 westbound past the airport and all the way to route 8 (instead of fighting traffic on route 44 westbound) - the one hour drive from hartford to Hanging Mountain becomes one of the best scenic drives in the state, does not add any appreciable travel time, and the last 45 minutes of the trip does not see a single traffic light.  

I used to commute this way home every day - just don’t forget to fill up on gas before leaving Granby, since there isn’t another gas station until the junction with route 8 Winsted.  Watch out for moose as you round the north end of the Barkhamsted reservoir (pictured).

Alan Rubin wrote: Mr. Maybe, Just to be clear, at least during the spring/summer months you should be able to get some decent mileage in after work---and maybe even find something to project (as long as it is trad/bouldering--if your job has you in or close to Hartford. You are correct that the drives from Hartford to the bigger crags are pretty much the equivalent as from Seattle to Leavenworth, but there are several 'medium-sized' crags that are a good bit closer. Most exciting for climbers in this region, is that 2 local climbing organizations (Ragged Mountain Foundation and Western Mass Climbers Coalition) in conjuction with the Access Fund have just purchased a largely undeveloped cliff named Hanging Mountain,which, while located just over the border in Mass, is probably under an hour's drive from Hartford. Once fully developed this impressive granite cliff will add appreciably to the local climbing options.

While I wouldn't expect anyone to move to a location for the indoor climbing, it is still worth knowing that there are a couple of quite good climbing gyms in the Hartford vicinity for those times when you can't make it outside.

Oooh this is awesome.  I went back and looked at the MP post about it specifically.  Also... loving the fact that it is granitic.  Thank you for sharing!  This looks very cool.

How is this thread 5 pages deep? 

Christian DuBois wrote: How is this thread 5 pages deep? 

Someone got into some tangent about racism or something....

the schmuck wrote:

Here’s a few:  SLC, Boulder/Golden, Lander, Tucson, Vegas, Bishop, Reno, Durango, Roaring Fork Valley, Grand Junction, Moab, ‘Burque. I’m sure there are many more. 

Bishop, Lander, GJ and moab are all affordable and have endless career based jobs.... they are small towns with small job selections. 

Insert name wrote:

Bishop, Lander, GJ and moab are all affordable and have endless career based jobs.... they are small towns with small job selections. 

You canname tons of towns with afterwork climbing

Eh, I agree about Moab, Bishop, Lander & Roaring Fork. However, GJ is not exactly a small town with a metro of 160k. The rest are all over 500k, and Golden/Boulder (Golder) is just a suburb of Denver metro. I apologize about thread drift. 

the schmuck wrote:

Eh, I agree about Moab, Bishop, Lander & Roaring Fork. However, GJ is not exactly a small town with a metro of 160k. The rest are all over 500k, and Golden/Boulder (Golder) is just a suburb of Denver metro. I apologize about thread drift. 

Boulder is not a suburb of Denver. It's the seat of it's own county.

Long Ranger wrote:

Boulder is not a suburb of Denver. It's the seat of it's own county.

I grew up in Jeffco. Even then it was just a measly suburb of Denver :-). 

Pink granitic gneiss in NWCT, 10 minutes from Hanging Mountain

Born in CT. Grew up in NE. Moved out west at 20. Never looked back.

If you're really interested in the job, but don't "need" it drive a hard bargain.
Trade some pay for more guaranteed time off. Insist on it.
You can get good climbing in after work, Ragged in summer, East Peak in winter, and there are gyms nearby. You can get plenty good enough right in CT to go climb anything, anywhere that inspires you.
Take your extended time off and go anywhere in the world and just climb. Then go home to an interesting job, and keep repeating.

The mixed opinions are funny. I'm fully mixed on CT(10 years there) but as far as the rest of NE goes its pretty cool. Once you get far enough north of NYC and away from Boston its super laid back. Having spent most of my adult life in the west I thought I'd eventually go back after a 10 year stint in the CT area but i ended up just going north towards Canada, lobsters and granite.

Mark Bealor wrote: If you're really interested in the job, but don't "need" it drive a hard bargain.
Trade some pay for more guaranteed time off. Insist on it.
You can get good climbing in after work, Ragged in summer, East Peak in winter, and there are gyms nearby. You can get plenty good enough right in CT to go climb anything, anywhere that inspires you.
Take your extended time off and go anywhere in the world and just climb. Then go home to an interesting job, and keep repeating.

I would have to say, if you know all the spots not listed Ct has every variety of climbing 40mins from the center of the state every direction, just not a lot of height. You could spend 2 years here climbing every day until you climb everything ( May be exaggeration, but if you climb 5.11/5.13 it’s prob realistic) 

Lyle M wrote:

I would have to say, if you know all the spots not listed Ct has every variety of climbing 40mins from the center of the state every direction, just not a lot of height. You could spend 2 years here climbing every day until you climb everything ( May be exaggeration, but if you climb 5.11/5.13 it’s prob realistic) 

A funny thing is that people in CT still think Ragged and East Peak are the only places to go.

Some folks go and do a route 10,000 times because the climbing is so good.

M Mobes wrote:

A funny thing is that people in CT still think Ragged and East Peak are the only places to go. 

Some folks go and do a route 10,000 times because the climbing is so good.

I’ve climbed that route. It’s not worth climbing 10 times—and I don’t think the fact that KN has climbed it 1,000 times that often is a ringing endorsement of CT’s plethora of quality climbing. OP, if you’re still considering CT, reading up on Ken Nichols’ one-man anti-bolt crusade is probably a good idea too. 

To be fair, Dol Guldor route has changed a few times after Ken pissed off people and they tried to destroy the climb he loves. So it's kinda a different route now ... haha

Nichols is like the Lord Voldemort of the area ...Very gifted, very talented and bold climber, but his egotistically unwavering stance on ethics has made a 'bad guy' ... he has many enemies and few allies.

there's a ton of terrible stories that eclipse all the FA triumphs he has, so its hard to sum up this man. (I personally would never climb with him, nor do I encourage his style of climbing)  He and his followers still create some issues with moving the sport forward, but if you only climb on Ken's FA's it'll take you years to complete too. The guy put up anything he could find for like 15+ years, and to be honest I use his book and climb from his guides all the time.

I was waiting for this thread to morph from general CT things to just Ken Nichols stuff

Ken isn’t welcome back in western MA;

https://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/topic/52598-ken-nichols-convicted-and-fined-for-bolt-chopping/