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Yet another “Where do I move?!?!?” Thread (solved)

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J E · · Wherever · Joined May 2019 · Points: 312

Thanks to everyone for your input. I've decided to ultimately aim for Durango or Grass Valley, to keep Tucson in consideration, and to settle temporarily on Golden or East of Sac/Grass Valley area

E: info provided by glowering has swayed me even more towards east-of-sac; it might just barely come out ahead of Durango. A visit there should solidify my opinion. Big thanks to him

Yes, yes, I know this has been discussed ad infinitum, but everyone’s criteria is uniquely personal to them and despite reading through dozens of threads here I’m having trouble pinning down quite where I want to be.

For a couple years now, I’ve been planning to move to Golden, CO. However, as someone who greatly values solitude at the crag, reading about the hordes of weekend warriors has me second guessing myself.

So, first I’ll list my criteria, then float some places I’m considering/ruling out.


I need:

- year round climbing access; I can stomach anything from 40°-80° but prefer the lower half of that range.

-ability to find solitude at the crag; prefer not to drive+hike more than an hour or two one-way to find it

- a sizable liberal population

- healthcare career opportunities (I will be a radiation therapist)

I want (can compromise):

- within ~2hrs of an international or at least affordable airport

-varied climbing; sport and Trad, varied rock types

- a decent ropes gym

-crag access at most an hour away

Bonus points to:

- low to average cost of living

- lively city/active dating acene


places I have ruled out:

PNW: season too short, too much rain

East of the Mississippi: plenty of great climbing but I hate the climate

Idaho/montana: Winters with little to no climbing opportunities

Russ Walling · · Flaky Foont, WI. Redacted… · Joined Oct 2004 · Points: 1,216

The Bishop dating scene would make Ron Jeremy blush. 

How about moving to Reno?

Kevin Worrall · · La Jolla, Ca · Joined Jan 2011 · Points: 264

San Diego has a lot of what you want. Not lots of gear protected climbing, rent’s a little high, the gym scene is so busy that lots of quality multi pitch routes in the backcountry rarely get done. Stacks of beautiful women, great surfing, Tahquitz, Suicide, Josh and Baja are right next door. World famous weather.

phylp phylp · · Upland · Joined May 2015 · Points: 1,137

So Jared, are you saying that your job is going to be a M-F gig?  A lot of people I know who are HCPs work 4 10s, so they have 3 days off a week. Don't they schedule people for radiation on Sat & Sun?

The reason I'm asking is that my experience is that I go midweek to places that are insanely crowded on weekends, and they are pretty empty mid-week.

J E · · Wherever · Joined May 2019 · Points: 312
Russ Walling wrote:

The Bishop dating scene would make Ron Jeremy blush. 

How about moving to Reno?

Reno has definitely crossed my mind… It certainly lacks Colorado’s charm, though. I have a slight preference for the AZ/CO/NM/WY/UT areas just because of the seemingly endless amount of climbing/ease of travelling between them. Reno seems a little removed from all that. Is there a big climbing community in Reno?

Kevin: 

Interesting; I’ve done some surface level research of San Diego but not dove too deep. Is it as crowded as LA? It also seems kinda sequestered from most other climbing areas unless you can frequently hop on a plane


phylyp:

M-F in the 8-4/9-5 area is my expectation. I may also choose to do travel which would have a similar schedule but 13week contracts. Radiation therapy centers don’t typically treat on the weekends but of course this is not universally true

Adam bloc · · San Golderino, Calirado · Joined Dec 2012 · Points: 3,189

Golderite weekend loser here, there’s just so much rock that crowds aren’t an issue if you’re even halfway smart about it. If you do end up moving here, reach out and I can give you a blacklist of crowded crags and some other nicer alternatives for all seasons.
Can’t speak for the crowded gyms, I go to an empty bouldering gym in the winter and do after work rock apr-oct. Friends who rope up inside seem to whine a lot about it though.

Edit for naysayers below: I’m usually at places with 0-2 other parties 90% weekends throughout the year, even days I’m chillin on easies at standard places like Shelf, CCC, Bocan. Those who complain about the crag crowds are likely the problem.
“OMG I went to a gumby roadside crag in peak season and couldn’t find a warm up ugh!” 

Drive further, hike further, ignore the star ratings a bit and think outside the box. Given that the temps can vary 30 degrees day to day, crags can be in season wayyy longer here than people give credit. It was 60 degrees Saturday, perfect shady crag weather but I’m sure the Graveyard was still clustered cuz everyone’s homie’s homie is super close on Dia! 

J E · · Wherever · Joined May 2019 · Points: 312

Can one avoid the crowds on the front range by making the trip to, say, Staunton/western clear creek/various other crags that aren’t eldo/Estes/shelf/s.platte/n.table?


i don’t mind dealing with the after-work crowds on the weekdays; couldn’t be worse than my current gym. But I’d like to be able to get “out there” in the weekends. One or two other parties is nbd, but climbing at Sand rock Alabama I felt like I was at a theme park, and not in the good way. If its still easy to find quiet spots on the front range on the weekends, then I could easily stick with golden

Edit:

Adam:

Thank you, I thought that must be the case. Maybe probably I will stick with CO. I’ll definitely keep you in mind when I get over there. In fact I’ll be there for sure for the month of august, would love to know what to avoid/best places to seek out new climbing partners

Not Not MP Admin · · The OASIS · Joined Nov 2018 · Points: 17

Sac

Joe Fortney · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Sep 2021 · Points: 10

We are currently road tripping / hunting through the sierra foothills, ie,from grass valley down to angels camp. so far, grass valley hit’s your buttons, feels pretty liberal, but pricy..no gym that I know of, Emeralds close by. Many hospitals too. Sacramento airport < 2 hours away. fwiw, good luck

Harrison Palmer · · Manchester, NH · Joined Dec 2019 · Points: 0

I've been in Tucson for a good stint lately, and I'd recommend it. Not sure what you mean by not having a gym scene, it has 3 gyms, 2 of which are on the same membership (bloc + rocks and ropes), and both have pretty solid facilities. Plenty of local climbing off the Catalina highway/ lemmon, Cochise not too far, Phoenix/Prescott area for easy weekend distance. 

Lots of variety, with it's weakest discipline being bouldering if that is your thing. Otherwise, plenty of bolt and gear climbs to last a long while.

Happy to give more info if you're interested

trailridge · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 20
J E wrote:

Can one avoid the crowds on the front range by making the trip to, say, Staunton/western clear creek/various other crags 

No.  Colorado has become a shitshow. Make matters worse it is an expensive shit show.

Please don't move here. 

BigCountry · · The High Country · Joined May 2012 · Points: 20

Maybe Canada fits your liberal needs.

Mary Elizabeth Beckwith · · Boynton Beach, FL · Joined Mar 2021 · Points: 0

I know you said nothing east of the MS but Brevard, NC area checks all of your boxes! come to NC, the sport and trad climbing are phenomenal 

Mark B · · Memphis · Joined Mar 2020 · Points: 2
trailridge wrote:

No.  Colorado has become a shitshow. Make matters worse it is an expensive shit show.

Please don't move here. 

The front range was filling up even in the mid-90's and people are STILL moving there in droves. Even in my little Southeast city I know about 5 people that have moved to Longmont, Fort Collins, etc in the last 2 years. Several have returned because the quality of living was not what they thought it would be. 

Will M · · Front range · Joined Oct 2022 · Points: 0

I very much relate to your overall hierarchy of needs and lived in CO (Denver) for 2 years. The crowds can be bad but I would say other than that it really fits your criteria. I don't necessarily agree with Adam's comment re them not being bad if you're smart about it though. I am an early riser and would frequently be out of at the crags in Golden by sunrise and was always surprised by the amount of people doing the same.

IMO what contributes to the crowds in Colorado is while it's overall climbable year round, the crags that are climbable are seasonal. Sure you can climb CCC in the winter, but the sunny crags (Graveyards, High Wire, etc) get swamped and no one is really climbing Little Eiger when it's 30. Same thing for say BoCan in the summer. Everyone is trying to climb at Avalon or Upper Dream and no one is touching anything on the north side.

But... you can still climb in January/February which is pretty sweet. I feel like these threads always pop up because re climbing locations, it's difficult to find a place where you can have your cake and eat it too.

Cherokee Nunes · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2015 · Points: 0

Yes, yes, I know this has been discussed ad infinitum, but everyone’s criteria is uniquely personal to them and despite reading through dozens of threads here I’m having trouble pinning down quite where I want to be.

Seems pretty standard to me: lots of nearby climbing, big city amenities, after work access to climbing, gym scene, major airport, modest housing costs, west of Mississippi, etc. The same list of the same places gets tossed out. Everyone knows all these places with these attributes and they already live and climb there. My reading of your requirements suggests you're just going to have to deal with crowded.

Math Bert · · Minneapolis, MN · Joined Aug 2018 · Points: 90

Haven't read the thread, hell haven't even gotten past the first 4 criteria, and am heavy a hearty LMAO already.  Can't wait to go back and read the rest.  

J E · · Wherever · Joined May 2019 · Points: 312
Math Bert wrote:

Haven't read the thread, hell haven't even gotten past the first 4 criteria, and am heavy a hearty LMAO already.  Can't wait to go back and read the rest.  

Not sure why; all of this fits LA except you'd have to be crazy to want to live in LA

petzl logic · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2013 · Points: 730
BigCountry wrote: Maybe Canada fits your liberal needs.

seems like bigcountry is trying to keep the carolinas to themselves, you should look there. cheap, year round climbing, and obviously friendly. 

highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion · · Colorado · Joined Oct 2012 · Points: 35

I think it’s good you didn’t mention money. That’s super helpful because there is really no such thing as a liberal leaning city that is small enough to provide some solitude that isn’t super expensive.

It sure sounds like Durango is your destination. The hospital there is part of Centura. There’s probably work. Checks all your boxes. College town (hello ladies).

You’ll have to compromise on the airport.

600k and you’ll have a quaint little entry level home.

I’m not being sarcastic about any of this. Seriously.

J E · · Wherever · Joined May 2019 · Points: 312
highaltitudeflatulentexpulsion wrote:

I think it’s good you didn’t mention money. That’s super helpful because there is really no such thing as a liberal leaning city that is small enough to provide some solitude that isn’t super expensive.

It sure sounds like Durango is your destination. The hospital there is part of Centura. There’s probably work. Checks all your boxes. College town (hello ladies).

You’ll have to compromise on the airport.

600k and you’ll have a quaint little entry level home.

I’m not being sarcastic about any of this. Seriously.

the Durango area’s an option I like, but man 4 hours to the nearest (major) airport is a bummer

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

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