Help me plan a trip to Arizona

Hi there, 

I am planning on taking a trip with my gf to the Southwest in the second week of December. I love climbing and would easily spend every waking moment on the rock if I could. My gf is a bit less enthusiastic. She has multipitch skills, but shuts down in the cold. She would also like to accomplish some other activities outside of climbing like museums, hiking, etc. 

My question is where would be an ideal place for us to fly to that would give us both climbing and cultural options that is not terribly cold? 

Phoenix (Sedona area) and Tucson (Cochise stronghold) are on my list for climbing. We will rent a car and are not adverse to road tripping a bit. 

I know Covid, but we are safe and will wear a mask in all public spaces and stay away from crowds. 

Any insights would be welcome. 

Best,

Doug

Edit** 

No longer headed to Arizona this year. Flying is to large a risk with the huge increase in covid cases. I welcome any suggestions since I am still planning on travel there at some point in the future. 

***Edit edit 

We decided to take the risk. Were going to wear n-95s and face shields on the plane. This is our only chance at a vacation for the year. 

A few years ago around Christmastime I flew into PHX and drove to Tucson and climbed at Cochise

The weather was great!  

Cochise is super for slabby multi-pitch - I did The Peacemaker, which I highly recommend

Just so you know, Phoenix is not the "Sedona Area". That's a solid two-hour drive. That being said, Sedona is fantastic if you don't mind being a bit chilly. Puts you near Flag for some great sport and bouldering as well. Hiking in Flag is pretty fantastic with endless quality trails in the Peaks. If the cold is a dealbreaker, Tuscon has great variety within ~90 min with milder temps. Prescott is not to be missed either, great granite multipitch at Granite mountain and cragging in the dells. Also some cool museums in town. I would suggest flying into Phoenix as it is a great launching off point for most areas in the state. That being said, if you look at the forecast and the cold is too much to handle, Tuscon is the way to go.

Hope you guys enjoy your trip!

Josh Rappoport wrote:

A few years ago around Christmastime I flew into PHX and drove to Tucson and climbed at Cochise

The weather was great!  

Cochise is super for slabby multi-pitch - I did The Peacemaker, which I highly recommend

The weather will be critical. I have already put the Peacemaker on my to-dos lol. Thanks for the info!

James Frost wrote:

Just so you know, Phoenix is not the "Sedona Area". That's a solid two-hour drive. That being said, Sedona is fantastic if you don't mind being a bit chilly. Puts you near Flag for some great sport and bouldering as well. Hiking in Flag is pretty fantastic with endless quality trails in the Peaks. If the cold is a dealbreaker, Tuscon has great variety within ~90 min with milder temps. Prescott is not to be missed either, great granite multipitch at Granite mountain and cragging in the dells. Also some cool museums in town. I would suggest flying into Phoenix as it is a great launching off point for most areas in the state. That being said, if you look at the forecast and the cold is too much to handle, Tuscon is the way to go.

Hope you guys enjoy your trip!

I guess I mean easily drivable within a day as "area". Yea Sedona looks amazing, but so does Flagstaff. Thanks for the tip about the good hiking in Flag. I think we may let the weather dictate whether we drive north from Phoenix or south. 

I had not even considered Prescott and I had never heard of Granite Mountain, but it looks amazing too. It also sounds like the kind of town my gf would enjoy. 

The more I learn about Arizona the more I start to believe it's the promise land. Thanks for your beta!

I don't have a ton of AZ experience, but a couple things I've done that were cool and have lots of hiking options nearby --

Sedona area we climbed Streaker Spire and the Queen Victoria, both around 3 pitches of 5.7 / 5.8 or so and beautiful towers with great summits

In the Superstitions, we backpacked in and climbed Weaver's Needle. You can even camp on top!

Yeah check temps though

Doug Emmett wrote:

The weather will be critical. I have already put the Peacemaker on my to-dos lol. Thanks for the info!

Took some cheese grater falls (slab is NOT my forte) and the walk off was a bit dicey, but the climbing was GREAT!

What sort of temps is your gf opposed to?  Heading north from Phoenix in dec puts you in that too cold to want to really camp but still good for climbing in the sun.  Isolation canyon and jacks canyon as well as Stewart pocket all also have great climbing about 2 hours from Phoenix  between payson and winslow.

Also if you are in prescott it may be worth checking g out Jerome for sightseeing.  Your GF may get a kick out of the old Town.  

I’d head to Tucson.  Hike in Sabino and Pima Canyons.  Climb shirtless on the lower reaches of Mt. Lemmon for half days then do sightseeing stuff. The Sonoran Desert Museum is top notch and there is a lot of good food. Cochise plus a quick overnight to Bisbee (artsy mining town) would be fun.  Tombstone is a bit kitschy but fun if you are from a different part of the country.  AZ is pretty much can’t miss for climbing no matter where you go so it’s the other stuff that should drive your choice.  

Fly in to Phoenix or Flagstaff and climb in Sedona. Weather is 77 degrees today. Might be colder in December but I climbed nearly every weekend last two winters. Sometimes we get cold mornings but it warms up enough to climb in the sun. Go climb Motorboating if you want an easy "clip and go" multi-pitch. 

Note that the climate in AZ is dictated by elevation and solar exposure.  Phoenix is in a valley so North also means up.  Expect desert nighttime temperature swings also.  A cool thing about AZ is that some part of the day is usually comfortable outside;  It may be 2pm in the mountains or 4am in the valleys, but some part of the day is usually comfortable.

Jeremy Bultman wrote:

Also if you are in prescott it may be worth checking g out Jerome for sightseeing.  Your GF may get a kick out of the old Town.  

When I went to Jerome many years ago (late 1980's), it was a hoot.  The town (at least at that time) was about 80% lesbians.  They were fun!

It's probably change a lot since then.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions!  However, with the huge increase in covid cases in the last week,  we have decided to vacation close to home. I.e. I'm getting all of my guns, plus 2 months of food, and heading to a cabin in the woods. 

I really do want to visit Arizona, and this forum post can serve as my inspiration to plan a winter trip there sometime in the future. 

****edit - Fuck it. We are going to risk the air travel. 

John Penca wrote:

When I went to Jerome many years ago (late 1980's), it was a hoot.  The town (at least at that time) was about 80% lesbians.  They were fun!

It's probably change a lot since then.

80%? Hah! That might be a bit high. But the Town is definitely welcoming to people of all different political, sexual, race, creed, color, etc. They even let climbers come visit. A word of caution, the bars are still closed. :o( However, a poorly kept secret is that you can bring your own bottle (plastic or aluminum please) and sit on the 3rd step or above and drink in the Town park. Just be sure you're at least on the third step and try not to make fun of the locals. :o)  

John Knight wrote:

80%? Hah! That might be a bit high. But the Town is definitely welcoming to people of all different political, sexual, race, creed, color, etc. They even let climbers come visit. A word of caution, the bars are still closed. :o( However, a poorly kept secret is that you can bring your own bottle (plastic or aluminum please) and sit on the 3rd step or above and drink in the Town park. Just be sure you're at least on the third step and try not to make fun of the locals. :o)  

Brown bag required? 

Doug Emmett wrote:

Brown bag required? 

Never hurts.

Don't even need the brown bag. It's fully legal! Just be sure not to feed/"water" the locals. They may turn into gremlins.