Top 10 Climbing Towns

Post by **john e aragon** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:27 pm

Cities, towns, villages all suck hind tit. An article about any of them and climb is equal to writing about the ten best places to have sex. Forget the place and focus on the sex.

Post by **Wes** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:39 pm

The bouldering around boone is, to me, on par with anywhere else in the US. But, it has two drawbacks - no guidebook, so you have to be shown around a few times to get a feel for where things are; and the weather sucks more then it is prime, with mostly OK at best conditions most of the year. I hear shiprock is one of the best summer trad areas in the east. And there are a few higher end sport routes around, just nothing in a guidebook. I think I would want to live in Asheville before Boone though.

Chattavegas is rad, and a lot more going for it then just the climbing. Would probably be my first or second choice to live in the southeast.

Fayetteville is nice enough, but never really grabbed me as a really fun place to live, though I know people who love it there.

Trying to find a balance of good climbing, year round livability, affordability, stuff to do outside of climbing, and the ability to make a decent living is way hard. Seems like most of the really good climbing areas lack at least one or two of these. Like I love the climbing around Lander, but living there though the winter and trying to find a job or something to do on a random Tuesday night is not that easy.

Post by **SCIN** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:25 pm

Lexington is the best climbing town. Don't believe every article you read.

Post by KD » Mon Jul 21, 2008 4:45 pm

How 'bout good ol' Cincy?!

Post by **pigsteak** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 5:03 pm

Lexington IS a grand place to live and climb.

Only two drawbacks to Lexington. humidity and lack of bouldering.

I've lived in Colorado for two years, and it is way over hyped. Sport climbing, even at rifle, is average.

I lived in Bozeman, and it is even worse.

Chattanooga and Lexington should make any list.

Post by **Myke Dronez** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:49 pm

Hey, Lexington is close enough to the Red to allow climbing for even simple folks like myself. If I needed a Phd to afford my whitey pastime I would probably be shooting roadsigns and roasting smores on tire fires.

I don't know if its the best place but it sure does make it hard to want to leave.

Post by **Danny** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:10 pm

KD wrote:Bend Ore.

I ain't gonna, you Bend Ore.

Post by **p0bray01** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:38 pm

Morgantown, Elkins, and Beckley...WV's finest climbing towns

Post by **anticlmber** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:43 am

salina, ks. right next to the only climbing for 568 miles.

Post by **Ascentionist** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:15 am

Having lived or worked in a few cities myself (Nashville TN, Dayton OH, Lexington, Richmond and now Denver), I think Lexington has potential to be a good place to live, but pales in comparison to the other places. Lexington is trying, but is still way behind much of the rest of the country in getting its priorities straight.

And I just don't see how Colorado is over-hyped. There is a grand variety of climbing types on all kinds of different rock, at different angles in different environments. You can be to Vedauwoo from Denver in less than two hours and you can access peaks all up and down the Rockies within six hours.

The RRG is sandstone pockets or so-so cracks over rhododendron with limited views at the tops of climbs. Talk about over-hyped. The only reason RRG is as popular as it is is because buckeyes got tired of driving all the way to NRG to climb the same route over and over.

And don't get me wrong, I love the RRG and think it is an amazing place to live and recreate, but if Ohio had been closer to Boulder no one would have ever developed RRG. And when I say Ohio I mean anything north or west of Winchester.