Winter destinations

[Eric K]

My wife has a student teacher in her class this year so we are thinking of taking some time in Jan for a climbing trip. What are the best Jan destinations? I was thinking Vegas may be good. What is the common wisdom?

 

Eric

[genepires]

j tree for rock

 

banff for ice

 

pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum.

 

vegas would work if all you wanted to do was sport climb. dem canyons get cold. need sun in january.

[curtveld]

Assuming you're looking for rock, I'd vote for Tucson. More variety and nicer weather than JTree or Vegas, though both could be fine options.

 

If you're driving, hit em all!

[susan]

Tucson would be better weather than J tree or Red Rocks, on average. There is also Cochise Stronghold in AZ and if you want an international adventure, Portrillo Chico in Mexico. Hueco Tanks in Texas is still open, but mostly for bouldering.

[max]

I vote Tucson!

 

Great city scene, pleasant/cool winter temps, sun, no climber scene, great hostile (check out road runner hostel) and cheap flights into Pheonix. January might be a little cold.

 

[Eric T]

Mike R. and I went to the desert last winter, we spent

6 days at Mt.Lemon. The mountain has crags from 2 to 9 thousand feet in elevation, the wind and cold made it uncomphy, especially at the higher elevations

and after a bit we went back to Red Rock.

 

In January, I'd go to Jtree as Red Rocks may be cold as well.

 

[genepires]

teh good thing about J tree is that if it is cold, you can walk to the other side of the rock and climb in the sun. much easier to chase the sun there than at red rocks.

never been to tuscon so I can't speak to the ability to chase the sun there.

J tree is just a awesome place to be.

 

what about smith? MIght be good there too as you have options of sun exposure as well.

[zoltani]

Good thing about Jtree and red rock is that they are only about a 3 hour drive away from each other. You can always travel between them. Honestly, you never know what you are gonna get, i have been frozen in red rock around thanksgiving, and i have been there around christmas in a t shirt sweating balls. Same with Jtree.

[glassgowkiss]

Jtree can be cold and windy- some of the crags in Jtree are above 5000ft. Vegas has a slew of climbing besides Red Rocks. There are a couple of dozen crags within 1 hour drive ( mostly limestone), a lot of them have fair amount of sun, and they are also at relatively low elevation. Jtree to Red Rocks is more like 4.5 hour drive, I have done it several times, and unless you are severely braking speed limit there is no way in hell making it in 3 hours (google maps can confirm my drive time). There are crags around St George UT as well- St George is about 90 minutes from Vegas. There is a guide book for the crags around Vegas:

http://www.amazon.com/Islands-sky-guidebook-climbing-limestone/dp/1873341318

I would not recommend Canmore in January for ice- short days, can be brutally cold. Probably Vegas gives you the most options- sport climbing, longer routes if it's sunny/no wind, plus January is their low season, so you can find hotel rooms for about $30/night mid week.

[glassgowkiss]

.

 

what about smith? MIght be good there too as you have options of sun exposure as well.

Smith can also suffer from freezing fog for days at that time of the year, and if that is the case you are s.o.l.