Thoughts on Olympia

[Fromage]

What do folks think about Olympia? And I don't mean

 

 

because I already know I like that Olympia. I'm talking about the capital of our fine state. Anyone lived there? What are your impressions? How would you describe it as a place for a climber/paddler to live? Pros? Cons? How does it compare to Seattle?

[slothrop]

You would be in a better position to out-train Dan - for the Rainier speed record, since you'd be an hour closer. Taking a lap up the DC route would be that much easier!

 

Closer to the Olympics and Smith, farther from the North Cascades and Lillooet. No worthy crags within an hour's drive that I can think of.

 

Even sleepier than Seattle. Good luck finding any food late at night. Betsy and I stumbled into a pizza place one night after 10pm after much searching, and it sucked. Coffeeshops close early, too. The brewery that produces Fishtail Ale is there, though.

 

Evergreen is out in the boonies, so you might find it more difficult to get housing right next to a college campus so that you can poach drunken co-eds as they stumble back to their dorms.

[iain]

Olympia - isn't that the place of the great hantavirus outbreak last year?

[CPOly]

I think it's a great place to live. I've lived here all my life and I'll probably be here for a while longer. It is a pretty sleepy town as Slothrop said, not much in the way of nightlife if that's what you're into. The only reason I go out is to play ping pong and drink beer at the Eastside Club (excellent selection of micros on tap, very competitive ping pong too). Don't know about the paddling scene as I don't paddle. I think that the climbing scene will develop more when the new gym is finished. A lot of culture though, with Evergreen and all, very colorful people. You'll probably run into some hippies and from what I gather there are a lot of people on this site whom aren't very fond of "smelly hippies". Many of the most intelligent and amazing people I've met live in Olympia. Just my opinion.

[Off_White]

I like it around here (Tenino is 12 miles south of Olympia). It's a small town for sure, but that's part of what I like. I see people I know everywhere I go.

 

Music - There's quite a bit of it in town, predominately indie rock, but a smattering of irish folk, blues, and even a pretty good chamber orchestra. Home to a number of record labels and hundreds of bands, Oly has more to offer than the low-fi naive punk it's most commonly associated with. Most recently I saw The Strangers, a local outfit I could only describe as a "power klezmer band" opening for Kristen Hersh's (ex throwing muses) new outfit 50 Foot Wave at the China Clipper aka The Crippler, a sleazy nauga-lounge that pours strong drinks for cheap. There are a number of venues in town that do things. Oh, and ticket prices are cheap, usually a $5 cover charge.

 

Food - a variety of good eats: Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Meat & Ribs, Pizza, Indian, and Nouvelle Shi-shi are are well represented, though the town is mostly deficient in terms of really good mexican food. There's a very active and successful working member food co-op with two stores if you're into groovy food, and a kickass farmers market right downtown.

 

Culture: It's not the big city, that's for sure. There is good local theater, Harlequin, that has renovated one of the old downtown movie theaters, and they have one "pay what you can" night for every play. The Washington Center does lots of performing arts, but I find their ticket prices frequently off-putting. There is a performance space for hire downtown, the Midnight Sun, where an assortment of things happen. The Olympia Film Society is just awesome, running an array of films the local mainstream theaters won't touch, and putting on a stellar festival every year. The Capitol Theater, operated by the Film Society, is an 800 seat hall that also features various special events and travelling hoopla.

 

Hippies: The old joke goes "Why is Olympia like a bowl of granola? Because if you take out the nuts and fruits all that's left is a bunch of flakes." Truth be told, though the white boy rasta is still well represented, the town is now more hip than hippy. Still, if you wanna get your chakra's tuned and your cat rolfed, come talk to me, I know a guy. Four varieties of that special fungus growing locally, free for the picking.

 

Climbing: Well, frankly, it sucks. New gym opens in July, and it looks to be good. There's my front yard, which is pretty stellar, but in the end it's only 30 some routes and quite seasonal. Travel times: Leavenworth 3 hours, Smith 5 hours, Squamish 5 hours, Tieton 2.5 hours, Index god-only-knows-cuz-you-gotta-go-through-Seattle. There's some stuff scattered around I don't know that much, in the hour away range: Lake Cushman, Wilkeson Quarry, Fossil Rock. Oooh oooh, and that outdoor rock near Spanaway. Bouldering is generally hopeless, though I did once write a guide to Buildering at Evergreen with 100 some odd problems in it.

 

Paddling: Not my department. I had a carpenter who worked for me awhile back who was a whitewater canoe guy, olympic team level. He was unimpressed, by most of the state actually. There are a number of rivers and such nearby, Descutes, Nisqually, etc, but they're not super challenging. It's about an hour and a half to the coast if you're a surf type. If you're a flat water poke around type, there's lots of great saltwater and 100 some odd lakes in the county.

 

Snow: That kind of sucks too. It's about 2 hours to anywhere: Crystal, Snowcrummy, White Pass, Paradise. More to Stevens Pass, Baker, or Hood. Locally, we tend to get one or two snowfalls a year, it never sticks around very long. We did get to sled on my driveway this year though.

 

Mtn Biking: Lots around, good single track stuff. Nearby Capitol Forest offers some significant elevation gain possibilities.

 

Weather: Wetter than Seattle, fewer ice storms than Portland.

 

Synopsis: I think it's a great place to live, but it'll never be a sport mecca.

[CPOly]

Well put, it couldn't be said much better than that.

 

The old joke goes "Why is Olympia like a bowl of granola? Because if you take out the nuts and fruits all that's left is a bunch of flakes."

I've never heard that one, that's good.

[Double_E]

I liked Olympia a lot while I was there, but can't say I miss it much. Quick summaries on my take on:

 

 

Climbers/Bikers/Paddlers... yeah there's a decent amount, not quite as many per capita as Seattle tho. If you like the Olympic Mts you're stoked -- much better acces to them than from Seattle. but the access to skiing & mtn biking isn't quite as good as up here. Great biking at Capital Forest, but that's about all there is nearby.

 

Culture/Nightlife ... MUCH more than you'd think given a town of that size. Evergreen's had been a big effect on that town in that regard. Some pretty decent bands come thru there every now & then. Lets see... Fishbone, Phish,... can't remember offhand who else. yeah, the Eastside Tavern is cool... if maybe a bit brightly lit. Do they still do "Micro Monday"? 25+ micros to choose from for $1.75/pint; not - too - shabbby.

 

Women... much more body hair per capita than Seattle, and I mean MUCH more. I mean I'll tolerate more than the average modern American male, but sheeesh... some o' them hippy chicks look like they're wearing otterskin leg-warmers! They also tend to have much more baggage per capita than Seattle women.. whether it's of the emotional variety, or the screaming, diaper-wearing variety, or both.

(kept meaning to bring this up in that "Northwest Wimmin" thread.)

Yeah overall I would NOT recommend Oly to any single guy (or girl) moving there unless it was for college; you'll have a lot more fun in th' big city.

 

Weather... annual rainfall averages about 50 inches. Seattle's is 35. nuff said.

[rbw1966]

Kirsten Hirsch

[Off_White]

Kirsten Hirsch

 

Ummm, yeah, what you said. Great set though.

[Fromage]

Thanks, folks, that was some interesting, informative, and entertaining feedback.

[Double_E]

a few more thots on Oly, after reading OW's post more carefully..

the town is mostly deficient in terms of really good mexican food

so what choo don' like about Burrito Heavan mang? damn good burritos IMO ... Oly's answer to Taco Del Mar (except that no TDMs have a cantina/tequilabar in the next room.

 

Climbing... Fossil Rock and Cushman are both pretty cool, at least if you're satisfied with 5.7-5.9 stuff. I think each has like maybe one or two .10s or .11s.

And hey OW you did't mention the Evergreen climbing gym .. small (converted racquetball court) but pretty damn cool. Open to the gen. public, but I don't know any rates or stuf.

[Off_White]

Burrito Heaven is okay, but it's a: a little too expensive, mexican food should be cheap and b: faux mexican, like Taco Del Mar, healthy stuff. That's not to say it's not tasty. Bear in mind I grew up in San Diego, so I'm pretty picky about that stuff.

 

I never checked out the Evergreen gym, partly because I'd heard it was limited to 6 people at a time and top rope only, but maybe my info is wrong. Is there any trace of the outdoor wall on the swimming pool building? I started that one in 1979, using the lapidary shop on campus to drill holes in found rocks and using the Facilities shop's corded hammer drill to anchor them to the wall, as well as drilling pockets & edges. Pretty visionary, eh?

[Double_E]

I never checked out the Evergreen gym, partly because I'd heard it was limited to 6 people at a time and top rope only, but maybe my info is wrong.

wasn't last I checked.. but that was in 2000.

 

Is there any trace of the outdoor wall on the swimming pool building? I started that one in 1979, using the lapidary shop on campus to drill holes in found rocks and using the Facilities shop's corded hammer drill to anchor them to the wall, as well as drilling pockets & edges. Pretty visionary, eh?

you made/started that O_W?? very cool. yeah it was still there.

[CPOly]

The indoor gym out at Evergreen is mainly used for bouldering now, although I believe they still do some toproping. Some of the holds outside on the swimming pool building are still there, but from the looks of it some have come off. Never see too many people climbing on the outdoor wall, but when its nice out and I don't feel like forking over the money to climb inside it's good enough for a workout.