Seattle/Vancouver Climbing Info

[SnowJunkie]

After visiting Vancouver I've been contemplating moving to the city (or somewhere nearby such as Seattle) and wanted to know what the weather is like in regards to ice/rock and alpine climbing. What months on average can you ice climb? rock climb? Are there months of the year (or times of the year) where avalanche danger is so high that alpine climbing is pretty much impossible or too dangerous? With the fact that the area is a "rainforest", I'm concerned that there is so much precip/clouds that the mountains are socked in or conditions are too dangerous to even get out and enjoy them.

 

Oh I do ski so I realize that there is tons of great skiing but I'd rather be out climbing. Thanks for any info that you can provide me with.

[MountaingirlBC]

I usually do my first alpine rock climbing trip of the year the first weekend in June and climb through September. I find spring and fall incredibly frustrating. There are not long periods of time when the avy danger is so high that you can't get out but there are definitely stretches of time when you may have to change your plans due to the avy forecast. The weather can definitely be a bitch. Hard to get motivated to climb when you're climbing into a cloud. But the days when it isn't miserable are nice enough to keep me here (Vancouver) through the rotten ones. Also, often when the weather is crap here on the coast, a 4 hour drive to Leavenworth can get you through the clouds and into the sunshine. You really need to find a way to love winter because it's sooooooooo long. A lot of people I know are skiers first and climbers second. It really is beautiful out there in the winter. Like you, I'd rather be climbing but I get out in winter too. After years of misery on snowshoes I've recently made the move to sking which I hope will help the long winter months go by more quickly. I don't do any ice climbing but I believe Lilooet is the place for that... or Banff. Vancouver's a good central location. Relatively easy access to just about everything. Cost of living is painful though. I think it's just as bad in Seattle. That's my two cents.

[catbirdseat]

I've actually seen Vancouverites get frustrated enough with the weather to actually drive all the way to Vantage. They smile when they get there, just because the sun is shining.

 

When the weather is nice, Squamish is terrific, though.

[G-spotter]

Ice climbing - December through March. Most of the time you will be driving to Lillooet which is 5 hrs from Vancover, for a weekend of ice. During prolonged cold snaps (usually once a winter for 3 days but once every 5 or 10 years last for up to a month) there is accessible ice within 30 minutes of Vancouver.

 

You can rock climb in Squamish every month of the year. However, in November through January, that might be one day a month. There are always sunny weekends in February, March, April and May. June can be pretty damn wet but July through September are usually sunny and hot. Monsoon begins again mid to late October.

 

For alpine climbing, if you are lucky you can bag two technical peaks per winter. The number is much higher for ski-ups. Alpine climbing in the spring features great neve and mixed and best of all, the bush is covered by snow. Alpine rock season starts in May and lasts to early-mid October.

 

It is not unreasonable to climb 100 to 120 days per year without ever leaving southwest BC. If you are like most people though, you will take advantage of climatic disparities to head down to Smith Rocks for sunny rock in November or March, or over to da Rockies for fat water ice in early December when local creeks aren't even frozen.

[DirtyHarry]

Are there months of the year (or times of the year) where avalanche danger is so high that alpine climbing is pretty much impossible or too dangerous?

 

Depends on how badass you are. But in general, yes. Although it has more to do with climbing conditions and shit being "in" then weather or avy conditions. If you have a flexible schedule and can take off whenever, then you'll have a higher rate of success, as good alpine climbing conditions can be very ephemeral here.

Also, anticipate long approaches.

[MountaingirlBC]

I once got in my car when I was fed up with the rain one friday after work and decided to drive south until it stopped. I ended up in San Francisco.

 

This weekend is a good example of weather frustration. Had a trip planned for Friday/Saturday but the weather is looking like total crap EVERYWHERE. Looks a little better in Leavenworth but not good enough to justify the extra driving and time.

Edited April 12, 2006 by MountaingirlBC

[counterfeitfake]

Don't give up yet, the forecast will change at least twice more before Saturday.

[Squid]

I once got in my car when I was fed up with the rain one friday after work and decided to drive south until it stopped. I ended up in San Francisco.

 

 

[jmace]

HAHAHA, worried aobut the rain, haha people here are so jaded so quick to forget all the multiple broken rainfall records and least amount of sunshine records...it was 30+days straight of rain in Jan...last summer's weather was tolerable at best.

 

If your looking for a place to move for climbing then this isnt it..if you want to struggle against the weather gods and forecasters..for small doses of amazing alpine then this it.

[jordop]

No shit, the weather karma bank is at an all time high right now. Fricking sunshine blue balls