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camhead
Jan 9, 2011, 4:39 PM
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Ok, there have been plenty of suggestions for the best climbing cities. Can we get a consensus on what the worst, most hellish place for climbing is? Bonus points if you can list driving distances to the nearest crags. Terrible weather or short climbing seasons would factor into this as well.
Off the top of my head:
New Orleans (10 hours to Arkansas climbing?)
Miami, FL (though this might change if our govt eases up on travel restrictions to Cuba)
Somewhere in north central North Dakota?
Kansas? Nebraska?
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Kartessa
Jan 9, 2011, 4:47 PM
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Saskatoon is a pretty hellishly flat place to live with ridiculously cold winters.
Regina, the city that sounds like it smells.
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camhead
Jan 9, 2011, 4:52 PM
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damn, I didn't even consider Canada; Saskatoon sounds terrible!
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edge
Jan 9, 2011, 4:54 PM
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Key West?
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MS1
Jan 9, 2011, 4:56 PM
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camhead wrote: Ok, there have been plenty of suggestions for the best climbing cities. Can we get a consensus on what the worst, most hellish place for climbing is? Bonus points if you can list driving distances to the nearest crags. Terrible weather or short climbing seasons would factor into this as well. Off the top of my head: New Orleans (10 hours to Arkansas climbing?) Miami, FL (though this might change if our govt eases up on travel restrictions to Cuba) Somewhere in north central North Dakota? Kansas? Nebraska?
I think Miami has to be about the top of the list. 10 hours to the little boulders in South Georgia. Farther to anything actually worth driving to. Cuba is great climbing but you can't go there.
I almost had to move to Miami this year and I was not pleased by the prospects.
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MS1
Jan 9, 2011, 5:01 PM
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camhead wrote: damn, I didn't even consider Canada; Saskatoon sounds terrible!
If we are going international, I nominate Havana, because of the tease factor. The rock in Cuba is awesome but it is actually illegal for locals to climb on it. So if you give in to temptation you might find yourself in a Cuban prison.
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camhead
Jan 9, 2011, 5:04 PM
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MS1 wrote: camhead wrote: damn, I didn't even consider Canada; Saskatoon sounds terrible! If we are going international, I nominate Havana, because of the tease factor. The rock in Cuba is awesome but it is actually illegal for locals to climb on it. So if you give in to temptation you might find yourself in a Cuban prison.
Well, international would be somewhere in Siberia. All the rivers flow north, so their sources melt and flood before their mouths thaw, creating huge expanses of flat, cold swamp.
Or antarctica. Or somewhere in the Amazon.
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MS1
Jan 9, 2011, 5:19 PM
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camhead wrote: MS1 wrote: camhead wrote: damn, I didn't even consider Canada; Saskatoon sounds terrible! If we are going international, I nominate Havana, because of the tease factor. The rock in Cuba is awesome but it is actually illegal for locals to climb on it. So if you give in to temptation you might find yourself in a Cuban prison. Well, international would be somewhere in Siberia. All the rivers flow north, so their sources melt and flood before their mouths thaw, creating huge expanses of flat, cold swamp. Or antarctica. Or somewhere in the Amazon.
Wasn't the question climbing cities? Havana is a city; Antarctica, not so much.
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coastal_climber
Jan 9, 2011, 5:46 PM
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Anywhere east of the rockies, excluding Nunavut, NWT, Yukon
(This post was edited by coastal_climber on Jan 9, 2011, 7:58 PM)
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julio412
Jan 9, 2011, 9:03 PM
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Having lived and traveled quite a bit, I would have to say, that for climbing,a poor choice would be either Moscow, Russia or Beijing,China.
Except for the cheap vodka and absolutely stunningly gorgeous women, Moscow is flat,flat,flat.
There are some gyms and you can travel;if the Russian and/or American government lets you.
Beijing has gyms, sport, trad, and ice .
Unfortunately there are so many people here, you might as well forget having any kind of wilderness experience.
The beer is flat, the air is some of the worst in the world, and the women are conservative, small and physically not very exciting.
I say this after spending the last three and half years in Moscow and Beijing.
Don't even go into the politics; if you can find someplace in the States that meets your needs-take it.
I can see the hate mail coming.
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rtwilli4
Jan 9, 2011, 11:27 PM
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I'd have to agree w/ Miami and NOLA. Can't get much farther from climbing in the US... maybe in Canada.
There are plenty of worse places in the US but they wouldn't be considered cities.
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noahfor
Jan 10, 2011, 1:59 AM
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naples, fl
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theextremist04
Jan 10, 2011, 4:13 AM
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camhead wrote: Ok, there have been plenty of suggestions for the best climbing cities. Can we get a consensus on what the worst, most hellish place for climbing is? Bonus points if you can list driving distances to the nearest crags. Terrible weather or short climbing seasons would factor into this as well. Off the top of my head: New Orleans (10 hours to Arkansas climbing?) Miami, FL (though this might change if our govt eases up on travel restrictions to Cuba) Somewhere in north central North Dakota? Kansas? Nebraska?
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majid_sabet
Jan 10, 2011, 5:12 AM
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Amsterdam
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dlintz
Jan 10, 2011, 6:07 AM
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Nebraska sucks for climbers but it depends on which part of the state you live in. I'm currently in Lincoln which is 6 1/2 hours to the front range. I'm moving this spring to Kearney, NE which is only 4 1/2 hours although I'll probably be the only climber in that town.
I'm guessing North Dakota would be far worse.
d.
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ryanb
Jan 10, 2011, 7:23 AM
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camhead wrote: MS1 wrote: camhead wrote: damn, I didn't even consider Canada; Saskatoon sounds terrible! If we are going international, I nominate Havana, because of the tease factor. The rock in Cuba is awesome but it is actually illegal for locals to climb on it. So if you give in to temptation you might find yourself in a Cuban prison. Well, international would be somewhere in Siberia. All the rivers flow north, so their sources melt and flood before their mouths thaw, creating huge expanses of flat, cold swamp. Or antarctica. Or somewhere in the Amazon.
It probaly would suck to live in any of those places year round but each contains a place I've dreamed of climbing (Stolby in Siberia, Tepuis in the Amazon and these things in antarctica: http://www.ukclimbing.com/...les/page.php?id=1818.
My vote goes for southern louisiana in the US and the one of the Mennonite colonies in the paraguayan chaco internationally, as it manges to be dead flat, oppressively hot and have terrible bushwhacks filled with wild cats and pigs if you try to go anywhere off a main road. Plus it is days on a dirt road from anywhere (though they were working on paving the main road across the chaco when I was there):
http://maps.google.com/...092&t=p&z=10
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sbaclimber
Jan 10, 2011, 7:57 AM
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majid_sabet wrote: Amsterdam
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zeppm
Jan 10, 2011, 9:27 AM
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julio412 wrote: Having lived and traveled quite a bit, I would have to say, that for climbing,a poor choice would be either Moscow, Russia or Beijing,China. Except for the cheap vodka and absolutely stunningly gorgeous women, Moscow is flat,flat,flat. There are some gyms and you can travel;if the Russian and/or American government lets you. Beijing has gyms, sport, trad, and ice . Unfortunately there are so many people here, you might as well forget having any kind of wilderness experience. The beer is flat, the air is some of the worst in the world, and the women are conservative, small and physically not very exciting. I say this after spending the last three and half years in Moscow and Beijing. Don't even go into the politics; if you can find someplace in the States that meets your needs-take it. I can see the hate mail coming.
i live in Moscow now (2.5 years), i completely agree, this place might be the single farthest city from anything resembling a hill in the entire world, let alone a rock. There are 2 gyms that haven't been cleaned since they opened 10 - 15 years ago, but good luck getting on a rope, as their is no etiquette. People will stay on a climb for 30 - 45 minutes trading back & forth on the same dirty line...
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camhead
Jan 10, 2011, 12:56 PM
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zeppm wrote: julio412 wrote: Having lived and traveled quite a bit, I would have to say, that for climbing,a poor choice would be either Moscow, Russia or Beijing,China. Except for the cheap vodka and absolutely stunningly gorgeous women, Moscow is flat,flat,flat. There are some gyms and you can travel;if the Russian and/or American government lets you. Beijing has gyms, sport, trad, and ice . Unfortunately there are so many people here, you might as well forget having any kind of wilderness experience. The beer is flat, the air is some of the worst in the world, and the women are conservative, small and physically not very exciting. I say this after spending the last three and half years in Moscow and Beijing. Don't even go into the politics; if you can find someplace in the States that meets your needs-take it. I can see the hate mail coming. i live in Moscow now (2.5 years), i completely agree, this place might be the single farthest city from anything resembling a hill in the entire world, let alone a rock. There are 2 gyms that haven't been cleaned since they opened 10 - 15 years ago, but good luck getting on a rope, as their is no etiquette. People will stay on a climb for 30 - 45 minutes trading back & forth on the same dirty line...
How far of a drive is the nearest outdoor climbing from Moscow?
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blueeyedclimber
Jan 10, 2011, 2:30 PM
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coastal_climber wrote: Anywhere east of the rockies, excluding Nunavut, NWT, Yukon
Are you talking Canadian Rockies or US? Because, although I was a Bostonian that denounced the idea that Boston is on the best list, it is definitely not on the worst list. We have great climbing between 2-5 hours. If you climb ice, then it is a year-round climbing city.
Josh
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camhead
Jan 10, 2011, 2:52 PM
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blueeyedclimber wrote: coastal_climber wrote: Anywhere east of the rockies, excluding Nunavut, NWT, Yukon Are you talking Canadian Rockies or US? Because, although I was a Bostonian that denounced the idea that Boston is on the best list, it is definitely not on the worst list. We have great climbing between 2-5 hours. If you climb ice, then it is a year-round climbing city. Josh
Not to mention that Montreal apparently has some really good (even big) granite within a few hours. I'm not sure what he meant by saying there was no good eastern climbing.
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fresh
Jan 10, 2011, 3:22 PM
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isn't it weird that matt segal grew up in miami? I met another climber from there recently too.
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kachoong
Jan 10, 2011, 3:26 PM
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sbaclimber wrote: majid_sabet wrote: Amsterdam Well, the weather is definitely worse....but Amsterdam isn't nearly as far away from "real" climbing.
This is correct.
From Amsterdam the Ith is 4 hours, the Frankenjura is around 6 hours, the Donautal is 7 hours, the Peak District is 9 hours and even Grindelwald at the base of the Eiger is just over 8 hours.
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zeppm
Jan 10, 2011, 3:34 PM
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camhead wrote: zeppm wrote: julio412 wrote: Having lived and traveled quite a bit, I would have to say, that for climbing,a poor choice would be either Moscow, Russia or Beijing,China. Except for the cheap vodka and absolutely stunningly gorgeous women, Moscow is flat,flat,flat. There are some gyms and you can travel;if the Russian and/or American government lets you. Beijing has gyms, sport, trad, and ice . Unfortunately there are so many people here, you might as well forget having any kind of wilderness experience. The beer is flat, the air is some of the worst in the world, and the women are conservative, small and physically not very exciting. I say this after spending the last three and half years in Moscow and Beijing. Don't even go into the politics; if you can find someplace in the States that meets your needs-take it. I can see the hate mail coming. i live in Moscow now (2.5 years), i completely agree, this place might be the single farthest city from anything resembling a hill in the entire world, let alone a rock. There are 2 gyms that haven't been cleaned since they opened 10 - 15 years ago, but good luck getting on a rope, as their is no etiquette. People will stay on a climb for 30 - 45 minutes trading back & forth on the same dirty line... How far of a drive is the nearest outdoor climbing from Moscow?
As far as I can tell... the nearest places are north of St Petersburg, near the Finnish border, (about 1000km from Moscow, but frozen most of the year).
Otherwise in the Caucasus's to the south (Chechnya/Dagestan) & in CIS (Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan etc). So only flying, as the roads and infrastructure are very poor, which would make a 4 hour drive 8 hours or more. Additionally, I wouldn't consider border crossings in a car (visas, customs, political issues etc)
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