spring break climbing!

[kevino]

A couple of my friends and I are going to be road tripping south for warm weather and great climbing. We've been throwing around some various location ideas, however I thought I'd try to get some input from people who actually been to any of these places. We're mainly going to be doing sport climbing, but occasional trad and boulder to mix things up. Our possible destinations:

-Moab area

-Red rocks

-st. george (ut)

-joshua tree

-maple canyon? i forget

 

Thanks for everyone's help.

[ryland_moore]

Two years during spring break, I went to Bishop. You have the Owens River Gorge for sport, you have bouldering in the Happy, Sads, and Buttermilks, you have ice climbing in Lee Vining, and you may get some sweet alpine trad depending on route and weather. Plus, there are tons of hot springs and a great crowd in the campground. Climbing ice one day and then climbing sport in the sun with shorts and no shirt the next was one of the coolest things I've ever done.....

[RuMR]

mill creek/indian creek...

[max]

Moab: if you're going to one destionation, and you're looking to primarily sport climb, skip moab, there's better.

 

Red Rocks: Everybody raves about red rocks, but tI think there's better. Again, not a sport dominated area (although there are plenty of sport climbs and plenty of moderate trad climbs). To me, Red Rocks is the type of place to go if you're flying (cheap tickets) or you want to do the party thing also (FYI, Las Vegas blows, IMO).

 

J Tree: Great option, but farther drive. Just make sure to do a little research before you go there and try and find some crags or groups of crags to hit. It can be overwhelming. Also, it could be the most crowded on your list this time of year.

 

St George: never been there.

 

Maple Canyon: never been there.

 

Bishop: Good option. Closest drive and a good selection of sport climbs in Owens River Gorge, a few trad climbs too. Of course there's the bouldering. Alpine climbs... I doubt they'll really be in peak form, plus, I think focus is a good idea on a spring break trip.

 

If you're into the drive, a choice I think is the best of all is Mt. Lemon near Tucson, AZ. Way great cragging, sport and trd, lots in the .9-.11 range, great granite, way less crowded than jtree.. but it is farther to drive.

[kevino]

Thanks for the input so far; one last thing I forgot to add is we would be going from March 17 till the 23rd or 24th.

[kevbone]

-Moab area: Moab rules any way you slice it. Indian creek kicks ass. Bring a huge rack, all of the same size.

 

-Red rocks: also kicks ass. 15-20 pitch 5.6ish climbs or hundreds of easy to 5.12 sporto climbs all within 10 minute approaches, just the sporto climbs are 10 minutes. The long routes are more like an hour or longer.

 

-st. george (ut): Only climbed there once. Totally fun and very close to Zion and Red Rocks. I think it’s worth stopping.

 

-joshua tree: Kicks the most ass. This place rules over all. You can belay off your bumper. Lots of climbs in your camp site. Not over whelming at all. Pick your grade in the guide and go to it. Great pro. Great weather. Don’t miss it. The Joshua tree’s are in bloom right now.

 

-maple canyon? Never been there.

 

 

 

[111]

In moab there is Cane Cr., Wallstreet, Indian creek, Icecream parlor. if you want 5.7-5.10 trad/sport mix there is ice cream parlor. Wall street also has some good 5.10+ trad cragging. Cane Creek has some adventurous longer routes.

[chalkball]

Maple Canyon is great for sport climbing, but I would think it would be pretty damn cold. Someone can correct me, but I think it is high up enough that you may freeze your ass off in March. I was there 2 Augusts ago and it was comfortable, even though it was 108 degrees in Moab.

 

 

 

[sean_beanntan]

Hi: Just curious about "Everybody raves about red rocks, but tI think there's better" What have you climbed down there to give you this opinion.. For me Red Rocks is about No Vegas strip since I need to be up at 5am to hit the climbs like Black Orpheus, Birdhunter Buttress, Black Velvet Canyon etc. How about a combo of Dark Shadows and Y2K for a complete day of climbing?