Scouting Places to Live Need Opinions

Hey all,

I am pretty fortunate to have netted a remote job that lets me work/live from anywhere in the U.S. I have primarily lived in the SE all my life and currently live in Chattanooga, TN. While the outdoor access is going to be hard to beat the West is calling me.

My lease ends this next February and I am planning to work/live in a mobile fashion for a while to get out and explore the different area's of this country to scout places I'd like to settle down. Of course a large part of this will be outdoor focused. I am pretty into climbing, MTB, and skiing.

In terms of climbing, traditional climbing is my favorite and I thoroughly enjoy multi pitch adventure climbing. Clipping bolts is always fun too when I cant find others stoked on trad. Bouldering is typically at the bottom of my list due to finger injuries I always seem to incur from the activity.

I wanted to ask the communities opinions on places to check out that offer trad cragging & multipitch, MTB trails, and skiing in some sort of proximity. Off resort skiing is fine too. Would be great to get some feedback on some options that offer what would be the total package for me to go visit and scout for potential settling. I have been reading the numerous posts about where to live and etc.. but I haven't stumbled across anything that was enough for me to not post.

Feedback on the surrounding areas for living would be fantastic. Any general feedback would be appreciated as well!

Some of the area's I am planning to visit to scout for living are:

Red Rocks, NV

Smiths Rock, Oregon

Bishop, CA

Boulder/Golden, CO

For just pure gear plugging fun I was looking at exploring:

J-Tree

Tetons/maybe go back through Lander for some bolt clipping

Moab

Looks like I'm doing the opposite and leaving for the SE after 8 years in Colorado. It's expensive and overcrowded, but at the end of the day if you live in Golden or Boulder you can check all your boxes no doubt. Climbing, MTB, and skiing options are varied, abundant, and close to home. 

I lived in Bend, OR for four years. The sport climbing is phenomenal at Smith, but I did get bored of the style after a while. Riding Mount Bachelor is crazy fun too as a snowboarder but if you crave steep skiing you're not going to get it. The mountain biking is also top notch and probably provides the most variety of the three activities you mentioned. The Trad at smith is great in the lower gorge but almost all single pitch. I've done some multi pitch Trad in the other parts of smith and it's decent but really not my favorite style. You have Trout Creek nearby for splitters and there are some other local options like Cougar Buttress that are a more adventurous multi pitch Trad setting.

I moved to the Golden area two years ago and besides the point made above about overcrowdedness, I am much happier with the climbing in the front range. The options are limitless for almost any type of climbing. Eldo, Boulder canyon and South Platte are right there. RMNP and Vedauwoo are day trips and Moab is a weekend trip. The backcountry skiing access is also much better and easier...in Central Oregon you really need a snowmobile to get around.

I recently started a fully remote job and have minimal things tying me down in the Golden area (I live in Arvada...much cheaper than Golden). I'm not planning on leaving because of the quality of climbing and ease of access I have around here. 

Grand Junction CO is worth checking out. Unaweep, the black, escalante, moab area are all very close. Mountain biking is great and it isn't far from skiing. It's also dirt cheap to live there (compared to the rest of colorado). 

While all the places you mention have plus's and minus's the one thing they all have in common is they are a crowded, crowded, and more crowded. And of course expensive.

Doctor Chosswrote:

I lived in Bend, OR for four years. The sport climbing is phenomenal at Smith, but I did get bored of the style after a while. Riding Mount Bachelor is crazy fun too as a snowboarder but if you crave steep skiing you're not going to get it. The mountain biking is also top notch and probably provides the most variety of the three activities you mentioned. The Trad at smith is great in the lower gorge but almost all single pitch. I've done some multi pitch Trad in the other parts of smith and it's decent but really not my favorite style. You have Trout Creek nearby for splitters and there are some other local options like Cougar Buttress that are a more adventurous multi pitch Trad setting.

I moved to the Golden area two years ago and besides the point made above about overcrowdedness, I am much happier with the climbing in the front range. The options are limitless for almost any type of climbing. Eldo, Boulder canyon and South Platte are right there. RMNP and Vedauwoo are day trips and Moab is a weekend trip. The backcountry skiing access is also much better and easier...in Central Oregon you really need a snowmobile to get around.

I recently started a fully remote job and have minimal things tying me down in the Golden area (I live in Arvada...much cheaper than Golden). I'm not planning on leaving because of the quality of climbing and ease of access I have around here. 

When everybody is referencing overcrowded areas they referring to outdoor activities or the general living for CO?

Glad to hear you are enjoying the golden area so much. If you had to choose between golden and boulder which would be your go to?

id be initially looking at renting as I move around. I have found it’s not sustainable for me to live in a mobile setup for extended periods when working and playing.

You might want to look on the west side of the Sierra. 

Golden over Boulder for me because of access to I70 and after work climbing in CCC. Colorado crowds are typically not really a problem if you are motivated and get up early.

I would add Fort Collins to your list. Great local climbing and access to Wyoming. Great gym scene and decent mountain biking. Bellingham Washington as well just because of how great the mountain biking is and how close you would be to Squamish/BC area (best climbing and mountain biking within a 2-hour drive!) 

But to be honest I would stay in Chattanooga. You check all your boxes other than skiing (which is the only crowded activity in Colorado that will make you want to quit a hobby). The cost of living is cheap and that area is rad. You have the best stone within a 5-hour radius of you and hands down one of the best single pitch trad crags in the US. You are also close to some amazing mountain biking. I spent 3 months in Chattanooga and have wanted to go back ever since. 

Explore the west and have fun! 

Truckee, CA. Reno, NV.

+1 to Mark saying west side of Sierra. Depends how much culture/city scene you want. Places in Utah might even check your boxes - St. George, Moab...

Good luck!

After 10 years in NYC, I moved to Arvada last summer and love it. It's in between Golden and Boulder. 20-30 minutes away from sport & trad climbing in CCC, Eldo, and Boulder Canyon. Climbable pretty much year round. Prices for living IN Golden or Boulder proper are through the roof, so unless walkability is important for you I'd suggest the surrounding areas like Arvada, Lakewood, Louisville, etc. instead. If I had to live in downtown Golden or Boulder, I'd pick Boulder due to the proximity of the Flatirons for hiking and scrambling. But they are close enough to each other it really doesn't matter.

carla rosawrote:

Truckee, CA. Reno, NV.

+1 to Mark saying west side of Sierra. Depends how much culture/city scene you want. Places in Utah might even check your boxes - St. George, Moab...

Good luck!

Shh Reno sucks 

The Sierra Eastside is not crowded and ticks the boxes.  Main issues here are that finding affordable housing is really difficult and you are a long ways from culture and decent shopping- if that is a consideration.

Kyle Sicardwrote:

When everybody is referencing overcrowded areas they referring to outdoor activities or the general living for CO?

They go hand in hand

If you are looking for low-priced housing, you can definitely get a shack (or even a house) in 29 Palms for real cheap compared to anywhere else on your list. Better to rent before you buy though, and it's preferable to be elsewhere during summer.   

Skiing + Climbing = CA, CO, or UT. 

CO downside is I70 sucks.

CA downside is $$$. Things are far from each other.

UT downside is LDS.  

Do you want to live in a mountain town (Truckee, Bishop, Moab), where it's beautiful, chill, but typically remote and less convenient. Or a small city (Boulder, Reno, Ogden) where it's more convenient but not as nice a place IMO?

Red Rocks, NV skiing is a low point, and its' Las Vegas.

Smiths Rock, Oregon trad climbing is a low point, pretty expensive now, not the steepest ski terrain.

Bishop, CA expensive, remote, and limited housing. Sierra eastside is hard to beat in terms of amount and quality of climbing and skiing.

Boulder/Golden, CO. Downsides I70, not a mountain town. Upside it's a city so convenient and close to an airport. 

J-Tree No skiing. SoCal slums. But great cragging and inexpensive housing.

Moab: downside skiing. Water tastes terrible. 

Maybe Sandy, UT. A convenient town right at LCC with climbing and great skiing. Or Ogden, cheaper, still convenient. More off the beaten path climbing.

Eric Dannerwrote:

Golden over Boulder for me because of access to I70 and after work climbing in CCC. Colorado crowds are typically not really a problem if you are motivated and get up early.

I would add Fort Collins to your list. Great local climbing and access to Wyoming. Great gym scene and decent mountain biking. Bellingham Washington as well just because of how great the mountain biking is and how close you would be to Squamish/BC area (best climbing and mountain biking within a 2-hour drive!) 

But to be honest I would stay in Chattanooga. You check all your boxes other than skiing (which is the only crowded activity in Colorado that will make you want to quit a hobby). The cost of living is cheap and that area is rad. You have the best stone within a 5-hour radius of you and hands down one of the best single pitch trad crags in the US. You are also close to some amazing mountain biking. I spent 3 months in Chattanooga and have wanted to go back ever since. 

Explore the west and have fun! 

Here is my two cents:

I second staying in TN. Climb the eastcoast and enjoy the humidity and save money and travel to humid places to climb like thailand the red and gunks.

Word from the wise and a warning about humidity: if u ever want to live in a humid place again for whatever your reason is maybe don’t move where the dry is air. It’s a one way move and  game changer for most.

And elevation. Might as well Stay in the low lands east of the Mississippi as it Takes most humans 6months to grow enough red blood cells to feel normal climbing and approaching climbs (front range has very steep and long approaches) 

living above a mile hi is a challenge for the human skin. ((There are humid places to move to like the cascades washington state if u do move plan to erase your TN twang in your speaking voice! ))

Out west it’s a laughable sound when u speak and instantly heads will turn and much private questioning of your intelligence level. So when u speak up sounding like u from The South we snicker. ((( Redneck southern hick talk it’s not really welcome in the people’s republic of boulder, but some ppl who not locals might be nice about it))) ((((unless u are tall longhair and skinny and look like a vegan yoga magazine model then all is forgiven ))))

Eric Dannerwrote:

But to be honest I would stay in Chattanooga. You check all your boxes other than skiing (which is the only crowded activity in Colorado that will make you want to quit a hobby). The cost of living is cheap and that area is rad. You have the best stone within a 5-hour radius of you and hands down one of the best single pitch trad crags in the US. You are also close to some amazing mountain biking. I spent 3 months in Chattanooga and have wanted to go back ever since. 

This is where I am at. Ski traffic and crowds are horrendous to the point I am giving up on it. With all the money I will save living in Chatt I can afford a nice ski vacation here and there if the psyche ever returns   

My wife and I both went to school in Lexington. During that time we climbed at the Red, but we dreamed of moving to Colorado. After graduation we moved to Breck and stayed from 2004-2013. Eventually we got sick of the crowds, the cost, etc. and came back to Ky. There are pros and cons to everywhere I've ever been. I'm a way stronger climber by being back here. The New one week, the Red the next. Some weeks I climb at both. No snowboarding here but hey I got my thousand days. Road trips out west to beat the humidity these days. My .02 on greener grass.

I moved from Delaware to Colorado Springs 2 years ago and am enjoying it (pretty hard not to step up from DE). I happened to get a sweet deal on a house (which is currently impossible) and have been pretty happy. Denver sucks imo but I'll still go up there to climb Clear Creek, Golden, Eldo.  It is definitely crowded but not so much that it has ever ruined a day. (there are probably around 10000 routes within 2 hours, so if it's crowded you are in the wrong spot, stay away from 4 star routes that are right off the road on the weekend, however on Sunday I walked right up to reefer madness and 4 other climbs I wanted to do that contradict that statement..)

I do really miss East Coast greenery. Just went back to the New and being in the woods made me so happy, however in Delaware I was a weekend warrior, and when it rains 5+ weekends in a row and is sunny while you are in the office... really eats at you lol. 

Any climbing area close to a city is crowded. Ever been at the gunks on a weekend? Something we all deal with. 

I guess the takeaway here is every place you move to has downsides, nothing is perfect. Moving for me has felt like I am on a long vacation where I happened to get a job. I don't plan to stay here forever and everything isn't rosy all the time but damn I climb so much more now.

Sounds like an awesome plan, go check some places out and see what you think! And if you can live somewhere in CO other than the front range I would be stoked on that... I just needed a job and got one on the front range but would have preferred to live somewhere more isolated. 

Once you add skiing in the mix it lowers the number of options considerably. There's tons of places with good climbing and many aren't too expensive. As mentioned you could just live somewhere and plan on ski trips. Hit the good snow, but you don't have to shovel it. But of course that means you won't get in the same number of days if you lived there.

If you are looking for one place to hang your hat it's really up to you and your priorities. Personally I want 350" of snow and steep terrain. That rules out a lot of places. 

I said trad as a low point for Smith, not because there's not great trad there, but it doesn't compare to places in CA, UT, or CO for extent and otherwise there's a lot going for it. So if trad is only one factor but not the deciding factor it's a great place. 

Also some places just speak to you. The idea of a road trip is an excellent one. You won't get the 4 season experience, but you'll have a decent feel for the area.

If you don't like crowds come to Sonora. Between Yosemite and tahoe so both are easy destinations, and sonora pass itself is excellent. Not quite the same ease of access as other places, you're not going to be climbing twenty minutes out the door, but it's pretty great here.