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

J E wrote:

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

I admittedly have no real idea what the climbing is like immediately in the LA vicinity, but isn't everything at least an hour away from everything else?  I will note 'affordable' was only under the bonus points category but still LOL.  

I always find it amusing when people say things like "you'd have to be crazy to want to live in [the second largest metro area in the US that clearly a lot of people want to live]".  It may not be for you but I don't think they're all crazy!

Math Bert wrote:

I admittedly have no real idea what the climbing is like immediately in the LA vicinity, but isn't everything at least an hour away from everything else?  I will note 'affordable' was only under the bonus points category but still LOL.  

I always find it amusing when people say things like "you'd have to be crazy to want to live in [the second largest metro area in the US that clearly a lot of people want to live]".  It may not be for you but I don't think they're all crazy!

I take it you’ve never been to Los Angeles at all. Living there is not desirable unless you’re after a certain lifestyle/career that only a choice few cities offer.

multiple climbing areas outside LA can be accessed  within 40-90 minutes of eachother. NJC, Fairview mountain, horsemen’s, sphinx rock, Holcomb, and more

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 that aren’t eldo/Estes/shelf/s.platte/n.table?

People gonna think you’re trolling if you ask questions like this 

Cherokee Nunes wrote:

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 and expensive.

FTFY.

And OP? If you consider Idaho winters "brutal", how on earth are you listing WY as being appealing???

Good luck though!

H.

J E wrote:

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

No dude. The flight from Durango to one of the 5 airports you would connect to(DIA, Phoenix, SLC, or DFW most likely) is nothing. All those major airports are just a couple hours tops. We just got back from Italy/Switzerland flying from Grand Junction here, the Denver leg is like 42 minutes, you don't even get to altitude. Durango would be a comparable distance.

You're crazy to skip Golden though, we bought our 1st house there and it's dreamy af.

J E wrote:

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

I chose to retire to "LA adjacent" from the SF Bay Area, and I love it. But it only works for me because I'm retired, don't have to deal with the beyond hideous commute traffic, and typically don't climb on weekends.  There are enough "local" climbing areas like J Tree, New Jack, Holcomb, Fairview, Texas Canyon, etc. for 1-3 day trips mid-week year-round, but many of those places are very crowded on the weekends - because they are all within easy weekend commuting distance from the great Megalopolis LA.  The access from here to the places I roadtrip for longer trips  is very easy because of the freeway system and lack of road snow closures.

But if you are working 9-5 M-F, I wouldn't recommend any place in southern California.

J E wrote:

I need:

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

places I’m considering:

Southwest Utah: lots of climbing options, close to Vegas for travel, but awful politics and Mormonism 

Cognitive disconnect.

https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/st-george/yearly-days-of-100-degrees

San Diego’s best climbing areas are never crowded, some are basically unknown to the gym hoards. You do have to drive and/or hike, but the rock quality is mostly top notch, There are a stupefying number of boulders in the county, and unlimited bouldering, Mount Woodson is the famous standout.

Eagle Peak, El Cajon Mt and Corte Madera are the publicized of the big crags, all with around 500’ of face at their high points. Lots of moderate multi pitch sport routes, with more 13’s thrown in lately. It’s basically never too cold, and even during the highs of July, August, and September there are shade and late afternoon options. The backcountry varies from 10 to 25 inches of rain per year, snow on the big crags is an anomaly. El Gran Trono Blanco is just over the border for the adventurous climber.

Traffic can be bad in certain zones at certain hours, but nowhere near as bad as LA

Marc801 C wrote:

Cognitive disconnect.

https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/st-george/yearly-days-of-100-degrees

And don't forget the high percentage of extremely crazy people in Utah!

IMO, solitude at the crag (within the 1 hour drive+hike limit) and good airport/lively city are mutually exclusive. If you're willing to compromise on one aspect I think you will have a much easier time deciding.

That said, I actually think Golden can get pretty close to that since there is just so much rock around there. There is an entire group of crags in Clear Creek where I have literally never seen another climber after a dozen or so days there, and I'm a weekend warrior. And mentioning Splatte crowds in the same sentence as north table crowds is pretty funny, there are roadside crags down there where you will have the place to yourself on a perfect weather Saturday. Your 40-80 temp range would be limiting but the dry air and the sun will let you climb a lot colder than you think (I've climbed sunny multipitch in mid-20s and it was great).

I will say that Golden works a bit better if you are interested in multiple sports. Having something to do Jan-Feb (ski) and June-August (WW kayak/hike/whatever) helps, since those are when the number of climbable crags dives the most and the crags that are still good get a bit mobbed.

Your temperature requirement is gonna be hard to meet.

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

That basically throws out nearly everywhere in Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Montana, etc...

The Front Range of Colorado is hot in the summer. The Western Slope and Utah are hotter. Most of Arizona besides Flagstaff is hotter still. Maybe San Diego would really be the best bet.

Also, if you think Tucson has no "gym scene" wait till you check out Western Colorado or Utah

I can't help with some of that criteria, but THAT'S the way you write a post like this. Including needs, wants, and helping narrow it down. That's the way to get focused info that can help.

Mark B wrote:

And don't forget the high percentage of extremely crazy people in Utah!

Yeah...although I don't think we have a lock on craziness!

Old lady H wrote:

FTFY.

And OP? If you consider Idaho winters "brutal", how on earth are you listing WY as being appealing???

Good luck though!

H.

Seriously! Most of Idaho is frankly tropic compared to most of Wyoming.

Also, highaltitudeflatulentexplosion is about right. Learn to accept the extra $200 to fly out of Durango. Is the 8 driving hours round trip, plus 2 hours in security worth $200 to fly into a tiny regional airport? I can't answer that for you, all I know is that I could show up half an hour before my flight in Laramie (another tiny regional airport) and still have time to kill after getting through security.

Honestly, you are better off staying in Florida.

J E wrote:

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

We sure are glad to have Durango airport. Could be worse. It’s only 2 hours from Monticello.

We used to live in the Denver area and my experience mirrors ablocs, except I hadn’t really been to the gym since 2020. You just need to be a little more hardcore to get those winter pitches in after it snows. When everyone else is at the gym and you are up at north table lapping the dry stuff. Anyway you need to be creative and go to “obscure” crags to get a little space. Sure, someone else may be there, but I have never run into anyone at Nightworm Pinnacle or Prestige World Wide ha.

J E wrote:

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?

Don't move to Reno. The city itself is much nicer than you might think, but it's pretty expensive and you will be severely disappointed in the local winter climbing options.

Old lady H wrote:

FTFY.

And OP? If you consider Idaho winters "brutal", how on earth are you listing WY as being appealing???

Good luck though!

H.

Brutal is probably hyperbolic, but it’s cold enough to rule out climbing for a good portion of the year

@J T

people would be pretty stupid to believe I’m trolling rather than having misperceptions about the local crags of a region I’ve only hiked in. Even in this thread, there are totally contradicting anecdotes of how crowded obscure crags are in the front range.

@hank

Fair point. I’ll keep Durango on the list, maybe visit sometime in the summer. Most likely, I would have to wait for a solid job offer to make that jump

@marc

I know Utah gets hot, but I was under the impression that lime kiln canyon had a good number of walls that are 10-15° lower and shaded.

@don frijoles

does someone pay you to be ignorant? Like, do you know LA exists?

@aaron

Again, I may have some misconceptions about Tucson based on other “where to move” threads. It seems whenever this question is asked, people come in droves contradicting eachother on objective facts about all these places, then act shocked when readers come away with misconceptions

@lurker

Nothing much of note in the emeralds/bowman/i80? Or are they not as good in the winter as I was hoping?

petzl logic wrote:

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

No really I'm not, it's not a liberal place. Rains all the time and the climbing is sokay at best. Bible belt and all that, really only a few liberal areas and let's be honest they suck. Mostly cause they're stupidly liberal but they still suck.

J E wrote:

@J T

people would be pretty stupid to believe I’m trolling rather than having misperceptions about the local crags of a region I’ve only hiked in. Even in this thread, there are totally contradicting anecdotes of how crowded obscure crags are in the front range.

I’m being facetious, but there you go again…implying Staunton and (West) Clear Creek “obscure crags”. Any place that has a guidebook or is on MP will have crowds every weekend in the Front Range. Anything in the Front Range labeled “obscure” is just ciphers for choss. Clear Creek and Staunton are far from obscure.