Thinking of moving to Denver... how crowded are the mountains really?

the best climbing near denver is in salt lake city

W Kwrote:

the best climbing near denver is in salt lake city

Fact, Colorado climbing is underwhelming. Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota have much better climbing. 

W Kwrote:

the best climbing near denver is in salt lake city

yes, do this

skiing is better there too. in fact, everything is better there. go there...

This is all you really need to know about Colorado.

I heard Durango is nice

W Kwrote:

I heard Durango is nice

When the final quote for a decent new house in Bayfield, not even downtown Durango or anything came in at $600k+ , I knew it wasn’t for me.

The more you look around the state, the better Pueblo seems. 

Trinidad is the spot

Winter Soldier wrote:

Ft. Morgan has the best access, IMO

Funny you should say that. My cousin just moved from Westminster to Ft. Morgan. He bought a house there for six-hundred-fucking-thousand :-/

Winter Soldier wrote:

Does 600k out there get you a mcmansion like in the midwest, or a studio like in boulder? or somewhere in between 

100 year-old, four bedroom fixer-upper. 

Weekends at popular places in the summer are hopeless, most of all due to parking at trailheads (wtf with the way people park out here, anyway?). Weekends on I-70 are hellish all year around. Weekdays most places are quite workable. If you are a work-week 9-5er with no appetite for long approaches, you’re out of luck. If you are flexibly scheduled and creative and adventurous, and can find other people who are the same, you’re much better off. This year I did the Bells Traverse, a bunch of 14ers, some popular backpacking loops, and plenty of days in Boulder Canyon, Eldo, and the Flatirons, and crowds were not a serious factor. Those trips didn’t exactly promise wilderness solitude, but there was no trouble doing them.  But, crucially, I was flexible, opportunistic, and leveraged weekdays, working remotely, and sleeping in my vehicle.

It’s sort of like rush hour. If you’re stuck in it, you’re fucked. If you can work around it, the drive usually isn’t so bad. Speaking of driving, that’s got to be the worst part about Front Range life—there are just tons of folks who are willing to slave all week, race out Saturday morning, trample anyone in their way, and race home Sunday evening. And the basic standard unit of driving to recreation is something like 3.5 hours, which you have to learn to treat as though it is nothing. I’m not judging here, just reporting what I see. 

Friend and I ran the Mesa Trail north to south last night between 19:30 and 21:30 and saw not one (1) other person the entire time. The stars were lovely. 

Playing devil’s advocate here, it’s not as bad as people are making it sound. I’m a Denver weekend warrior with an 8-4 and spring thru fall I have climbed 3x a week after work in Clear Creek. It’s dark after work in winter but you can gym climb in the evenings and do outdoors on weekends. There are sunny crags to climb at year round. Big mountain traffic is a non issue outside of ski season (which I don’t really do big mountains in winter anyway), just be ready to drive 1.5-4 hours to the trailhead on average. RMNP is accessible and empty in the winter though.

Can’t speak to buying a house but rent is fine in Denver if you keep an eye out. I paid $950 my first year here (2017) and have never paid more, even scored a room in Sunnyside for $450 for a year. Been averaging $700-$800 since.

Weekends are busy at the big crags but it’s easy to find a spot that’s not. Yesterday we were the only party at Riviera (Boulder Canyon) in the afternoon which should be popular given it’s south facing and moderate. Even at busy crags (Canal Zone) it’s rare to have to wait for more than 1 party to get off a climb as long as you just speak up and ask to go next. If you’re doing multipitch just wake up early. If you like being the only person at a crag you’re gonna have a bad time, but if you generally don’t mind being around other people and waiting every now and then to get on a climb you’ll be fine.

Denver probably isn’t the best place for any one type of climbing, but I think it’s one of the best cities if you like a little bit of everything and ease of access is important to you.

Shay Subramanianwrote:

Big mountain traffic is a non issue outside of ski season

lol no

curt86irocwrote:

lol no

well I disagree lol

Shay Subramanianwrote:

Yesterday we were the only party at Riviera (Boulder Canyon) in the afternoon which should be popular given it’s south facing and moderate.

What time were you there because I was at Riveria yesterday afternoon and there were ~5 parties climbing

Dan Dwrote:

What time were you there because I was at Riveria yesterday afternoon and there were ~5 parties climbing

I got there at 12:30, there was 1 party and another way far left, another showed up (thanks for letting me see your guidebook!) shortly after, then at some point yeah I think there were 4 or 5. However no one stayed very long and I would say by 3ish we were the only ones left until we left around 4:30/5.

I guess my initial post was misleading as it wasn’t empty all afternoon, but a decent chunk was and still never had to wait on a climb.

Probably said hi to you at some point, hope you had a good day!

Shay Subramanianwrote:

(thanks for letting me see your guidebook!) 

No problem!

Shay Subramanianwrote:

still never had to wait on a climb.

Yeah I think this is a good point: unless you're at the super busy crags and/or are looking to climb a very specific line, you'll likely be able to climb on the weekends in the fall. Summer can get crazy at some crags, but just show up a bit early or have alternative plans and you'll probably be fine.

Uhh, I mean go away, Colorado has too many people who live here or something.

Shay Subramanianwrote:

Playing devil’s advocate here, it’s not as bad as people are making it sound. I’m a Denver weekend warrior with an 8-4 and spring thru fall I have climbed 3x a week after work in Clear Creek. It’s dark after work in winter but you can gym climb in the evenings and do outdoors on weekends. There are sunny crags to climb at year round. Big mountain traffic is a non issue outside of ski season (which I don’t really do big mountains in winter anyway), just be ready to drive 1.5-4 hours to the trailhead on average. RMNP is accessible and empty in the winter though.

Can’t speak to buying a house but rent is fine in Denver if you keep an eye out. I paid $950 my first year here (2017) and have never paid more, even scored a room in Sunnyside for $450 for a year. Been averaging $700-$800 since.

Weekends are busy at the big crags but it’s easy to find a spot that’s not. Yesterday we were the only party at Riviera (Boulder Canyon) in the afternoon which should be popular given it’s south facing and moderate. Even at busy crags (Canal Zone) it’s rare to have to wait for more than 1 party to get off a climb as long as you just speak up and ask to go next. If you’re doing multipitch just wake up early. If you like being the only person at a crag you’re gonna have a bad time, but if you generally don’t mind being around other people and waiting every now and then to get on a climb you’ll be fine.

Denver probably isn’t the best place for any one type of climbing, but I think it’s one of the best cities if you like a little bit of everything and ease of access is important to you.

Yet another confused soul. This is what climbing in Denver looks like

Shay Subramanianwrote:

well I disagree lol

i mean, you can disagree all you want...but you're wrong. there are substantially MORE cars on I70 during the summer months than the winter. this trend is true for at least the past 5 years..

https://www.codot.gov/travel/eisenhower-tunnel/trafficcounts#collapseOne

curt86irocwrote:

i mean, you can disagree all you want...but you're wrong. there are substantially MORE cars on I70 during the summer months than the winter. this trend is true for at least the past 5 years..

I hate I 70 any month of the year, but in winter the traffic is less spread out, to sync with the chairlifts, and moves slower due to snow conditions.  Winter is way, way worse.  You will generally sit in traffic much longer during the same peak hours.