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midwestishell
Jan 17, 2006, 3:19 AM
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Hey Folks-
A couple of buddies and I are trying to plan another road trip for this summer. We will likely be leaving St. Louis and heading west along I 70 and 80 all the way to Yosemite. What climbing areas are along this corridor yet within a few hours of the highway? The trip will likely be 3-4 weeks long and we want to spend a few weeks just stopping at the classic climbing spots along the way. Sport, Trad, bouldering please give it to us....
Thx.
Th
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tarzan420
Jan 17, 2006, 3:27 AM
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although it'll probably be a little warm for you that time of year, moab is less than an hour south of I-70, and has all sorts of climbing. Another hour will get you to indian creek.
A better bet for the summertime will be the Salt Lake area climbing - Little Cottonwood Canyon for your trad and bouldering, Big for sport and trad. plenty of other climbing in the area as well (american fork has good sport climbing, if i understand correctly)
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weschrist
Jan 17, 2006, 4:13 AM
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In reply to: A better bet for the summertime will be the Salt Lake area climbing - Little Cottonwood Canyon for your trad and bouldering, Big for sport and trad.
SLC maybe better than Moab in the summer, but it can still be pretty damn hot... and telling a traveling climber to go to Big Cottonwood is just a sick and twisted joke.
The following depends on the route you take:
Maple has cool temps and the whole spectrum of fun, well protected sport climbs from 5.6-5.14. It almost has as much glue as it has routes.
Logan Canyon has some good routes on limestone... I would say a few days worth.
Rifle isn't too far off I-70 and is a good summer crag, killer routes at 5.11 and up. Anything under 5.11 sucks.
RMNP has some good bouldering if you can find it.
If you end up in Vegas there are good long trad routes that stay good on all but the hottest days... just start hiking early. There is also some good limestone, some drilled some not.
The Mammoth area has some excellent climbing.
Obviously, if the valley is too hot head to Toolallame. And if someone asks to share a campsite with you or needs a belay, for Christ sake help a brutha out! Henious trying to find partners there when you are solo... wtf.
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weschrist
Jan 17, 2006, 4:24 AM
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In reply to: A better bet for the summertime will be the Salt Lake area climbing - Little Cottonwood Canyon for your trad and bouldering, Big for sport and trad.
SLC maybe better than Moab in the summer, but it can still be pretty damn hot... and telling a traveling climber to go to Big Cottonwood is just a sick and twisted joke.
The following depends on the route you take:
Maple has cool temps and the whole spectrum of fun, well protected sport climbs from 5.6-5.14. It almost has as much glue as it has routes.
Logan Canyon has some good routes on limestone... I would say a few days worth.
Rifle isn't too far off I-70 and is a good summer crag, killer routes at 5.11 and up. Anything under 5.11 sucks.
RMNP has some good bouldering if you can find it.
If you end up in Vegas there are good long trad routes that stay good on all but the hottest days... just start hiking early. There is also some good limestone, some drilled some not.
The Mammoth area has some excellent climbing.
Obviously, if the valley is too hot head to Toolallame. And if someone asks to share a campsite with you or needs a belay, for Christ sake help a brutha out! Henious trying to find partners there when you are solo... wtf.
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therealdeal
Jan 17, 2006, 4:44 AM
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Registered: Oct 29, 2002
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In reply to: SLC maybe better than Moab in the summer, but it can still be pretty damn hot... and telling a traveling climber to go to Big Cottonwood is just a sick and twisted joke. The following depends on the route you take: Maple has cool temps and the whole spectrum of fun, well protected sport climbs from 5.6-5.14. It almost has as much glue as it has routes. Logan Canyon has some good routes on limestone... I would say a few days worth. Rifle isn't too far off I-70 and is a good summer crag, killer routes at 5.11 and up. Anything under 5.11 sucks. RMNP has some good bouldering if you can find it. If you end up in Vegas there are good long trad routes that stay good on all but the hottest days... just start hiking early. There is also some good limestone, some drilled some not. The Mammoth area has some excellent climbing. Obviously, if the valley is too hot head to Toolallame. And if someone asks to share a campsite with you or needs a belay, for Christ sake help a brutha out! Henious trying to find partners there when you are solo... wtf.
stfu noob! Big cottonwood is where its at! maybe you haven't been to the piles or the s- curves. that shizlle is world class.
rifle...you gotta be kidding me. fuckin pile...
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weschrist
Jan 17, 2006, 5:23 AM
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I know who you are... I know where you live...
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steamboatclimber
Jan 17, 2006, 5:44 AM
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Lets see... Climbing within a few hours of I-70 or I-80... isn't that about 80% of the climbing in the western US? If you are looking for stuff right on the interstate 80 has Vedauwoo right on the road. Rifle is on 70. All of the stuff around Boulder, the South Platt area, clear creek, bla bla bla... Its all withing a few hours. You might want to pick a couple spots to stop on your way west, either that or plan to spend a lot more time than 3-4 weeks. Of course this is just the colorado areas.
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midwestishell
Jan 17, 2006, 7:06 PM
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Well, even though we tend to hold our own on routes up to 11c or 11d I think starting our trip at Rifle might just kill us. We have been throwing around some of the climbing areas around Moab as our first stop over. Any thoughts of Fisher or Cathedral Towers?
And thanks for the vote of confidence steamboat. We were not planning of hitting ALL of the climbing areas along the way. I asked because we want to find some of the best areas to hit while passing through. If I had the next few years to devote to this trip I would have said so.
Th
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sspssp
Jan 17, 2006, 7:17 PM
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Unless you have a really high heat tolerance, I wouldn't recommend Moab in summer.
Even Yosemite valley will have highs from the mid 90's to the low 100's in summer. Some summer days are a bit cooler in the valley but then those are typicallly the days with afternoon thunderstorms.
The Boulder/RMNP area has some good stuff, but the camping sucks.
Vedawoo (sp?) has some good climbing, but the rock is very sharp.
There is a variety of good stuff around Tahoe that would have some cooler temps.
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ozarkclimber
Jan 17, 2006, 7:34 PM
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i hear chamonix is good this time of year...
it might be on the way
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midwestishell
Jan 17, 2006, 7:36 PM
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Clearly your geography is as good as your medical knowledge...
Keep trying!
France is next year.
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steamboatclimber
Jan 17, 2006, 8:15 PM
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Didn't mean to sound like a jerk or anything. If it was me, I would stop at RMNP for a while and then continue west.
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zozo
Jan 17, 2006, 8:23 PM
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In reply to: RMNP has some good bouldering if you can find it.
uhhhhh.........nevermind
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johnclimbrok
Jan 17, 2006, 8:36 PM
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Registered: Jul 7, 2004
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Take the 70
hit Rifle in Colorado
hit Maple in Utah
skip Nevada and go straight to Donner Summit in CA to practice on Sierra Granite
then go down to Yosemite but don't climb in the valley because it's full of bullshit and hot - climb up in Tuolomne instead - it's incredible in the summer -
have fun
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climbrc
Jan 17, 2006, 8:49 PM
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If your stopping in the front range, Better hit Eldo too.
As for the I-70 "corridor":
Independence Pass (little off the path)
Rifle
Colorado National Monument
Moab and Castleton (as stated..hot)
San Rafael Swell
Joe's valley
Maple Canyon
.. Go straight across Utah through Delta (not i-80)
then hit..
IBEX
Bishop area (Buttermilk's, Happy's, Druids, and Owens)
then you can swing up to Yosemite or the Meadows
Is that enough?
Cheers,
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jerrygarcia
Feb 2, 2006, 5:24 PM
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Registered: Aug 27, 2002
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Pick up the book for the Elko, NV area. Do a search on the forums here.
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