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eric_k
Apr 5, 2015, 10:53 PM
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Registered: Jan 27, 2006
Posts: 190
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So the wife and I are once again starting to plan our summer trip and we are looking for ideas. Here is what we are looking for...
Someplace that will be good end of July till early August.
A good spread of difficulty (one of us projects 5.10 the other 5.12)
Mostly single pitch
Sport or trad
Free or cheap camping
Enough stuff in the area to keep us busy on rest days
Not in WA, we live there
We did Lander/Wild Iris last year and loved it! We would like to try someplace new and not somewhere we can get to on a long weekend like City of rocks, Squamish, Smith.
Canmore area looks really cool, also I know Colorado has loads of climbing but I don't really know where to start. Any suggestions?
Eric
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lena_chita
Moderator
Apr 6, 2015, 2:17 PM
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Registered: Jun 27, 2006
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You might have to compromise on shoe things, LOL.
Maple Canyon (Utah) is great in summer. Not sure that there is much to do on rest days in Maple. You'd have to drive somewhere else for anything other than climbing. but the campsites are nice, and you walk to climbing, no need to get into the car, and there is a wide range of climbing.
And a lot of other places in Utah will be good. We spent only one day in the Uintas, but i really liked it. (Higher altitude, there was some snow on the ground and down jackets were nice in the evening... in July). Looks like there is plenty of hiking to do around there, and it is beautiful. You'd have to pay the National Forest fee to enter, but there is plenty of free camping.
There are summer-friendly crags around St. George, bu I've only climbed here in winter, so I can't really say... And there are summer-friendly places near Vegas, too, like Mt. Charleston, but I have not been there myself, yet...
If you want to go back to WY, Ten Sleep is great in summer
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dac33
Apr 7, 2015, 7:22 AM
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Registered: Feb 9, 2012
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At that time of year, and if you can afford it, come to the UK or other places in Europe.
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amyas
Apr 10, 2015, 12:10 AM
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Registered: Aug 6, 2009
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Canmore is great in the summer. You won't run out of varied climbing (if you have a car). Free camping can be had about 20 minutes east of Canmore in the Ghost River Wilderness Area. The Ghost is a super fun free for all, but you will need a 4X4 to access a lot of the climbing areas, unless you like LONG approaches. There are tons of options for sport/trad/single/multipitch with a regular car too though.
Recommended guide books:
- Sport Climbs in the Canadian Rockies (covers a lot of different areas, would be my first choice as a visitor)
- Banff Rock (recent and comprehensive, but all inside the national park)
- Canadian Rock - Select Climbs of the West (all over Alberta and B.C., a good investment if you live in WA)
- Ghost River Rock Climbs (a huge book for a huge area)
For off days - The Calgary stampede is THE big summer event in the area, whole first week of July. Last 2 weeks of August see Global Fest, a really sad multi cultural festival in Calgary. But it features an amazing international fireworks competition most nights. This can even be an event for a climbing day as the show doesn;t start until 9:30 or 10 PM.
Hope this completely biased info helps you out. PM if you want more.
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amyas
Apr 10, 2015, 12:27 AM
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Registered: Aug 6, 2009
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Oh yeah, and there's the Canmore folk music festival. And the Banff Mountain Film Festival, which is a must do. It travels around the area, but if you can hit a night in Banff you can meet people that make or are in the movies, and since they're lifetime climbers, they're way way poorer than you are. So you can feel like you're richer that a movie star.
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Xavieous
Apr 21, 2015, 5:49 PM
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Registered: Nov 24, 2012
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I would normally recommend the Red River Gorge but you will have 95 degree days and humidity for that time of the year.
If you're up for upper elevation climbing Colorado certainly has a plethora. RMNP would be a great trip especially if you stayed in Estes Park and checked out the local shops after climbing. Staying in Denver or Boulder will give you a 30 minute access to thousands of routes in Clear Creek Canyon, Eldorado, the Flatirons and other places.
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