Job offer in the Twin Cities. How is the scene?

Hey y’all. Another relo post in the sea of MtnProj relo posts.

I got a really enticing job offer in MPLS. I’m living out west and considering accepting. I know that moving to the Midwest from the west coast is a bad move for climbing. I do want to know about the quantity of climbing in Minnesota, and where Minnesotans climb when things are in season.

I know there is the Bonamici guide book for MN/WI boulders, but wanted to crowd source info from folks here too. 

i just moved here from Vegas last year.  While the climbing here in no way compares, I have been enjoying what climbing is around. So far I have bouldered at Taylor's Falls, which is pretty decent.  I have climbed at Sandstone which has a couple really good routes, and is an ice park in the winter.  Willow River is unbelievable, just not that many routes. I have also sport climbed at Barn Bluff, which is a scruffy little crag, but the upside is that there are quite a few routes there.  At the level I am climbing right now I will be busy with projects there for a while.   There is good climbing up near Duluth (I have yet to go up there) as well.  

A lot of locals also go to Spearfish in SD, which isn't that far of a drive all things considered.  

I lived in mpls for a few years. The outdoor climbing is there, and pretty decent, but you always have to drive like an hour. Or three hours to the north shore.

It's worth mentioning that the gym scene is outrageous. There are like six gyms there, and three or four of them are huge mega gyms with high quality setting.

(1 hour from Tc) Taylor’s falls has a bunch of decent single pitch trad surrounding a river (good for climbing and swimming in summer). (1.5 hours from tc) Sandstone and redwing have a bunch of single pitch sport and like mentioned above sandstone is farmed for ice climbing in the winter.
(3 hours fro tc) palisade head, shovel pt and wolf ridge offer the most scenic and best climbs in Minnesota. Again still single pitch. But really cool trad climbs. Also a bunch of cool natural ice climbs in the region including nightfall which is around 200ft and requires a mi long bike up a frozen river. 

Decent climbing and cycling (especially up north), wonderful 4 season climate (except this year), and reasonable cost of living... what's not to love? Oh, it snowed 7" last week, so consider your winter hobbies.

You may hear that it's tough to make friends up here in the northland, but in my experience it's quite the opposite. If you're on facebook, join the MN climbers page and you'll have belay partners and friends before you even complete that docusign. 

They say it’s tough to make friends (historically) cuz everyone heads “up north” on the weekends.  Only people who don’t have an outdoor orientation find it difficult.   It’s a very outdoors oriented state.  Never bad weather or Out of season for fun.  

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies. It sounds like there is plenty of climbing to be had and progress through. I would be mostly happy with boulders and single pitch sport and trad for a few years, provided there is plenty in the grades I am climbing. Some cursory MP searching suggests that is the case for Minnesota/Wisconsin/South Dakota 

One factor to keep in mind is the MSP airport. It's a good hub. The flight to Denver is easy. You can also get to a lot of other places from MSP. If you like traveling and will have some extra money from this 'enticing' job, you would have a lot of options after things get back to normal, whenever that may be. 

plantmandanwrote:

One factor to keep in mind is the MSP airport. It's a good hub. The flight to Denver is easy. You can also get to a lot of other places from MSP. If you like traveling and will have some extra money from this 'enticing' job, you would have a lot of options after things get back to normal, whenever that may be. 

That's a really good call. I used to walk to the light rail on lake and minnehaha, take it to the airport for a couple bucks, fly to Denver for $70 (round trip), then take the bus to Boulder for a couple more bucks and get picked up by my friend there.