NAU and climbing in Flagstaff AZ

I'm considering attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and majoring in mechanical engineering. I was wondering if anyone had any insight into the climbing scene there. I'm also wondering about climbing during the winter. I'm from MN and there's really only a handful of days during the winter months when you can climb outside without freezing to death. I know Flagstaff gets a good amount of snow so I was wondering what climbing options there are during the winter. Also, any insight into the town or university would be great! 

"There is nothing between Flagstaff and the North Pole except a barbed wire fence"so you will be right at home.  minus 30 and 40 temps are quite common.  But you are close to Sedona, much lower and warmer, so climbing and outdoor activity in general is feasible the entire year.  AZ is great country, with varied topography, vegetation zones, and climates - quite different from Minnesota.

Hey Lilia,

Flagstaff is a great town, good outdoor community and even better climbing. There is year round climbing on all sorts of rock type and style. The winter season just opens up different areas as others close, so there is always something to do. I also went through the M.E program at NAU and can say that it is great if you are trying to get out and climb all the time (or mtn bike, ski, run, etc.). The school has a decent climbing community where you can meet other like-minded climbers. There are also two great gyms in town where you can meet more people who are psyched to get outside (once things open up). 

I went to college at NAU.  The town and the college are awesome!  So is the climbing.  The winters are mild by Minnesota standards- you obviously can't climb during snow storms but you can basically climb on any sunny day year round.  Great variety, trad, sport, bouldering, and back country adventures.  NAU was a really good fit for me, I always recommend it, though I know nothing about the engineering program (aside from climbing with some engineering students who seemed happy with it).   Flagstaff is a fun, lively town with a good mix of lifers, college students and national and international tourists.  Besides climbing, the local skiing can be fun, there is really good mountain biking and some folks always end up gravitating to the Grand Canyon river running scene.  Good luck!  

Don P. Morris wrote: "There is nothing between Flagstaff and the North Pole except a barbed wire fence"so you will be right at home.  minus 30 and 40 temps are quite common.  But you are close to Sedona, much lower and warmer, so climbing and outdoor activity in general is feasible the entire year.  AZ is great country, with varied topography, vegetation zones, and climates - quite different from Minnesota.

Don't think it ever got that cold in the 6 years I lived there. Seems like theres usually theres one cold week each winter where the lows are like -5 or -10. But it can also be +40 in January, and it's about 15-20 degrees warmer in Sedona. There probably aren't many places where within 45 minutes drive you can climb at such a wide range of temperatues from 4000 feet to 9000 feet. 

Flagstaff is a great place for year round climbing. In addition to a small but good community, there is an active student climbing club on campus that makes for a decent way to find partners around the same age.

Your number of climbing days in winter will be lessened more by the shorter days than cold weather. Sure, it snows, but then it melts. You can always drive south to wait for it melt. For year-round climbing, you can't do much better. My tan barely faded this winter.