How many worldclass climbing areas in the USA?

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donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 25, 2017 - 01:27pm PT
Areas that are unique in some respect and get people around the world to pony up for an international flight.
I say there are four.
Yosemite.....the Mecca for rock climbers worldwide.
The Alaska Range....great alpine climbing only a stones throw from where the bush pilot puts you.
Indian Creek....best place in this planet to learn/perfect crack climbing.
The Red River Gorge....only sport climbing area in the states a self respecting European would spend bucks to get to.
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 25, 2017 - 01:42pm PT
Ouray for ice climbing? with the San Juans nearby?
what is "world class" ice climbing, anyway?
TWP

Trad climber
Mancos, CO & Bend, OR
Feb 25, 2017 - 01:46pm PT
Jim: How about Grand Tetons and Red Rocks, Las Vegas?

Do foreign climbers visit these areas with regularity? I suspect so.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
Feb 25, 2017 - 01:52pm PT
City of rocks

Cochise stronghold

New river gorge

Incredible Hulk??

Whitney?
Killer K

Boulder climber
Sacramento, CA
Feb 25, 2017 - 01:54pm PT
Smith, Rifle, Jailhouse, bishop, tahoe bring people from all over the world.
drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Feb 25, 2017 - 02:22pm PT
Hueco Tanks

...and although widely debated- JTree. Nowhere like it!
toyon

climber
Feb 25, 2017 - 02:48pm PT
Sustained good weather is an essential criteria, whatever else goes into the definition. Basically the same as asking 'If climbing was your end all and be all, where would you move?' Tends to whittle down the list of 'world class' because actual climbing days get factored in.

Hence any Mediterranean climate, or moist desert a la JTree.
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Feb 25, 2017 - 02:49pm PT
The environment counts as much as the moves. A mediocre route in a great location is still pretty good. A good route in a great location is a great route.
Besides Alaska where is your favorite alpine area Jim?
Ghost

climber
A long way from where I started
Feb 25, 2017 - 03:56pm PT
Here's a question for all who would say this or that climbing area in the USA is world class: How many places in the rest of the world have you climbed?

If you say, for example, that the Red River Gorge is a world-class climbing area, what are you comparing it to? Is it better than Verdon? Better than El Chorro? Better than...

Same for, say, Ouray as a world-class ice climbing area. Is it in the same league as what is available in the Canadian Rockies?

None of which is meant to say there are no world-class climbing venues in the US, just that it's easy to get carried away with rating our own favorite places as more than they really are.

AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:09pm PT
It is probably hard to beat the Cdn Rockies for accessible ice. Huge choice and quality with a many routes within 1 hour of the car. I haven't been to Ouray but can say that many people fly from Europe to hit the ice in Alberta. Big Drip in the Ghost is considered to be one of the best mixed routes anywhere.
I have climbed in the Verdon and I would say the good rock routes in the Ghost River are on par

Josh is maybe the best landscape of all. Who described it as 2 star routes in a five star setting?
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:10pm PT
the implicit definition is a place that foreign climbers pay to go to...

I have no problems with Jim's list, as I've interacted with foreign climbing visitors who specifically chose to travel to those destinations at all of them... I can't remember if it was true at Ouray or not...

NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:14pm PT
For me, the backdrop and scenery matters as much as the climbing itself. My wife was born and raised in Italy, grew up taking the school bus to go skiing after school in the Alps and as a young adult spent weekends in Dolomites, Val di Mello, and places like that. She paid to come to USA to spend a month climbing and exploring Utah.

She would not have done the same for the Sierra Nevada because it is too similar to what she grew up around, and in many cases she finds the Sierra Nevada not very dramatic because of the Alps as a frame of reference. But the red stone of Utah is like another planet.

And so what piques people's interest is as much a function of what they are familiar with and what they consider exotic as much as anything else. Why buy a plane ticket to travel around the world to be in a place just like your back yard?
Ksolem

Trad climber
Monrovia, California
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:21pm PT
Why buy a plane ticket to travel around the world to be in a place just like your back yard?

I dunno. Ask the two Swiss guys who spent a month at The Needles in the summer of 2012. They ticked the place and went on their way...
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:22pm PT
Vedauwoo!

Arguably, some others....
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath

Social climber
SLO, Ca
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:43pm PT
Yosemite
Tetons
Tucson (greater area including Cochise)
Moab (greater area)
Boulder (greater area)
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:52pm PT
I've been around, not as much as Jim, but his list is fair. I would add the Red Rocks to it
cause I like long routes and rest day debauchery. Nowhere compares with Norway for ice.
Mark Force

Trad climber
Ashland, Oregon
Feb 25, 2017 - 04:54pm PT
Besides what's already up...

Winds
Granite Mt.
Squamish
Devils Tower

And, I love basalt ...The Forks
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
Feb 25, 2017 - 05:36pm PT
Red Rocks.

St. George area has what I'd call world class climbing...and, its in the venerable "west". Plus, you'd get to gawk at Zion(s). Cathedral, VRG, etc... Butch Cassidy country. Maybe the Bundy's could do a cattle drive as a bonus (ha ha).

I'd think New River Gorge would be up there, especially if a road trip involved Seneca and a few other areas. Easy combo with a tour of D.C.

North Carolina (Stone, Looking Glass, Rumbling Bald, Linville Gorge. Take in some bar-b-que and local moonshine and you have a great trip.

Acadia.

Devil's Tower and the Black Hills. Plenty of history there too. Buff'ler.
seano

Mountain climber
none
Feb 25, 2017 - 05:36pm PT
Squamish
Did we invade Canadia while I wasn't paying attention? 54.40 or fight!
fgw

climber
portland, or
Feb 25, 2017 - 05:49pm PT
What areas in the lower 48 would be worth an overseas trip if I lived elsewhere? Uniqueness & multi pitch climbing are my personal key criteria.
Yosemite Valley (not Tuolumne)
Greater Moab Area (towers & IC)
Sierras (incl. Needles)
Red Rocks
Devils Tower
The Diamond

2nd Tier:
Zion
Black Canyon (never been but looks big & unique)
Cochise
Cirque of Towers
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