Worst destination climbing area to be a local?

Khoiwrote:

Do that many people fly in to climb in the Bugs? Honest question - I genuinely don't know.

Everyone I know who climbs there drives there, so that's just people from BC, AB, and the PNW

While most of my trips to the Bugs have been as a part of longer driving road trips, I have also flown into Calgary and rented a car for more 'targeted' trips to the region. I'm sure that others from the east, and other more distant parts of the Continent, as well as overseas visitors, have done the same. 

Ry Cwrote:

I think if you’re a die hard !!CLIMBER!!, the PNW sucks ass but if you’re a multi-sport person, honestly kinda rocks.

I’ve learned that if I want to go out in the winter/spring: I throw my climbing gear, running shoes/vest, skis or snowboard, maybe an ice axe, into my car and one of those activities will work out. Sometimes all of them on the same day.

it's alright if you're psyched on bouldering like i am lol

LN the Felonwrote:

How about the Bugaboos. 

Each year there's about 2-3 weeks where routes are dry but the Bugaboo-Snowpatch Col is still in. And the timing of those 2-3 weeks changes each year.

tough to be "local" without having alternative options for when the col or weather aren't cooperating

Kings Bluff, Clarksville TN

Khoiwrote:

Maybe if I climbed 5.11 trad or harder, and, maybe if I were better at friction slab climbing and better at being able to use the smeary features that proliferate granite domes I might appreciate Squamish more, but even then Squamish would still be an overly vegetated rainforest with a super short climbing season.

I was ready to disagree with you profusely until you said this. If you climb harder than 5.10 on gear, Squamish is one of the better places to be for a long period of time in terms of access to projects big and small. It’s a rainforest with a long cold season. Weather is what it is. Same with the Adirondacks in NY. The climbing however, at the higher end, is impeccable. 

Ryan Enrightwrote:

I was ready to disagree with you profusely until you said this. If you climb harder than 5.10 on gear, Squamish is one of the better places to be for a long period of time in terms of access to projects big and small. It’s a rainforest with a long cold season. Weather is what it is. Same with the Adirondacks in NY. The climbing however, at the higher end, is impeccable. 

I think people keep missing the point of the thread - places that are great destinations to visit, but would not be great to live full time. 

Saying "weather is what it is" is kind of silly - the weather is precisely the biggest issue with living there. Weather is inherently one of the most important factors in climbing. Have you spent a winter in the PNW? All that impeccable climbing doesn't mean much when it's been raining every day for a month.

Ricky Harlinewrote:

Investigate the Western Sierra some time. It is phenomenal and there is no one anywhere except Yosemite and Tahoe. Literally the entire rest of the Western Sierra is full of amazing climbing and it's super empty. 

I was going to say something like this.
2.5-3.5 hours from the bay (depending on what part) and there is a whole lot of cragging. There is SO MUCH ROCK that is hiding in plain sight it's wild.
There is a very active development scene in tahoe area and west slope of the sierra (hwy 50, 88, west shore, south shore...the list goes on). It just doesn't get sprayed on the Proj and sometimes takes a wee bit of a walk or a highish clearance 4x4.
Getting some beta doesn't take much effort, and hell, if you like the adventure of finding new rock to climb, you might find lots of routes already there waiting for you to send.
Pro Tip: Lidar maps, and if you pay for Gaia GPS, the slope angle layer has provided heaps of goodness.

Shaun Johnsonwrote:

I second that WA is probably not as great as people like to pretend it is. Everyone is talking about the weather. What about the crowds?

Is there anywhere else in the US that will have a conga line on a route 9 miles from the trailhead?

I moved from Washington to California (a state with 40 million people!) and am continually surprised by how much quieter (most of) the outdoor spaces are in California. This echoes what folks are saying about the Western Sierra. A lot of empty woods (full of rocks) to get lost in.

Ryan Enrightwrote:

I was ready to disagree with you profusely until you said this. If you climb harder than 5.10 on gear, Squamish is one of the better places to be for a long period of time in terms of access to projects big and small. It’s a rainforest with a long cold season. Weather is what it is. Same with the Adirondacks in NY. The climbing however, at the higher end, is impeccable. 

Regardless of the grades, you were going to disagree with me about Squamish being more rainy than dry, and about how the vegetation has been winning over the rock for longer than climbing has been happening there?

What does it matter that the climbing at the high end is awesome when it's too wet to climb for the vast majority of the year?

The cold season is not that long, but even then that isn't really relevant in my opinion. Colder temps makes for better friction. The issue is that Squamish is an overly vegetated rainforest. The reality of that means that its climbing season, in terms of having dry rock, is annoyingly short.

Being a local here sucks as a climber.

Ryan Enrightwrote:

I was ready to disagree with you profusely until you said this. If you climb harder than 5.10 on gear, Squamish is one of the better places to be for a long period of time in terms of access to projects big and small. It’s a rainforest with a long cold season. Weather is what it is. Same with the Adirondacks in NY. The climbing however, at the higher end, is impeccable. 

as a shit-tier trad climber, I thought squamish was incredible at 5.10 and under. I'm thinking mostly about the smoke bluffs, murrin park, and shannon falls. nice long crack features at every size that eat up gear at low angles... we don't get much of that here in Washington.

Alan Zhanwrote:

as a shit-tier trad climber, I thought squamish was incredible at 5.10 and under. I'm thinking mostly about the smoke bluffs, murrin park, and shannon falls. nice long crack features at every size that eat up gear at low angles... we don't get much of that here in Washington.

Cat Crack (not long, kinda short)

Klahanie Crack

Laughing Crack

What else?

octopus garden, first class, flying circus, easter island, arrowroot, slot machine, mushroom, etc

idk what the locals think of those climbs but I thought all of em were great

JCMwrote:

I moved from Washington to California (a state with 40 million people!) and am continually surprised by how much quieter (most of) the outdoor spaces are in California. This echoes what folks are saying about the Western Sierra. A lot of empty woods (full of rocks) to get lost in.

I lived in grass valley California for a year and enjoyed amazing climbing with almost no crowds.

Like others have said, as long as you are not going to Yosemite it is usually not too busy out there.

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Kings Bluff, Clarksville TN

Destination huh?

Acadia NP/MDI, unless you got here before affordable housing disappeared. 

Not Not MP Adminwrote:

Destination huh?

When Kings Bluff is local, ALL climbing crags are a destination.

That good enough for you, Boss?

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

When Kings Bluff is local, ALL climbing crags are a destination.

That good enough for you, Boss?

That wasn’t my question, Slugger…

Then, why'd you comment, rockstar?

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Then, why'd you comment, rockstar?

Considering I’m still looking for an answer to my original question, it should be fairly obvious why I’m commenting, cupcake.

Although I haven’t actually lived there, I suspect that Arapiles might be a grim place to be a local. It’s surrounded by the industrially farmed and rather unscenic Wimmera Plains, the summers are brutal, and Natimuck is not exactly a cosmopolitan town, unless you count the septuagenarian brass band that plays at Christmas (the local gear shop, however, is world class).

On the other hand, it is possible to climb year round if you’re a lizard (like the local stumpies) or chase shade, and the Grampians are close by and offer many lifetimes of adventure notwithstanding the recent closures. If you’re stoked on hard trad, Natty may actually be a great base, but good luck finding local work or having much of a life outside of climbing.