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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 20, 2009 - 11:08am PT
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OK, so everyone who doesn't live there loves to diss the place. Some of the comments I've seen on ST regarding Boulder have been vitriolic to say the least. I've lived in a number of "climbing communities" over the years (Ouray now) and, overall, Boulder has been the best. The only "elitism", for which Boulder seems to be famous, that I noticed was practiced by bicyclists. Ok, the dog love thing can be a little annoying too, but the combination of good climbing and good partners is hard to beat. Boulder is also home to the highest concentration of good trad climbers and alpinists in the US of A.
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seamus mcshane
climber
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:21am PT
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zzzzzzzzzz...
It costs more to live there than freakin' Tahoe, great town though. Good climbing, good climate, good climbers, and like every college town, too many people. IMHO.
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WBraun
climber
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:29am PT
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I'd rather live in Wichita, Kansas or some cornfield.
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TKingsbury
Trad climber
MT
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:31am PT
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highest concentration of good trad climbers and alpinists in the US of A.
Because crowds KICK ASS!!! ;-)
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atchafalaya
climber
Babylon
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:45am PT
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There is climbing near Boulder?
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meclimber
Trad climber
Dover, NH
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:50am PT
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I recently returned from my first trip to boulder and to CO for that fact. I was horrified of the crowds I saw pretty much everywhere in CO, being from New Hampshire I'm pretty much horrified of the crowds anywhere. But I have to say, it may not have the biggest cliffs. But as far as concentration of climbs and climbers I was blown away. I only had one partial day to climb at eldo with my wife, a non-climber, but I loved it and everything else I saw. It may not be the Valley, but it's great in its own right.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:50am PT
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eKat:
The place is cool. . . I mean. . . where else can you spend $4.5M on a house, on a city lot,
right down the street from college housing?
When I first moved to Boulder, well actually to Eldorado Springs, I paid $25/month rent
for a cabin five minutes' walk from the climbs. Even at the time, I knew that was pretty cool.
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:50am PT
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Lots to like about Boulder. It offers some of the best people watching there is. It has a really cool concentration of tacos. And I can say from experience that there are worse places to be. I'm still psyched to be here.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Aug 20, 2009 - 11:55am PT
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Thanks, Jim. Although I don't live in Boulder anymore
and am in Fruita, I spent some forty years of my life
there. I cherish the memories, along with the agonies.
I have heard Boulder called "a nexus of spiritual
energies." Indeed it seems to draw people from all
philosophies and walks of life. You can find the best of
anything there, the best poetry, best music, best climbing
for that matter, and some of the best people truly. You
can find some of the worst. It's like a big city
packed into a small space, where madness and sanity live
hand in hand. I grew up there, with Kor and Rearick as
my partners. I was in so many different circles, the chess
world, the art world, the karate world, the music world,
and of course climbing. I attended both Baseline and
Casey Junior High, graduated from Boulder High and the
University of Colorado. I watched generation after
generation come along. I was blessed with hundreds of
choice acquaintances. I often think of the great
times friends and I shared, for example,
teaching Roger Briggs to climb, and our adventures. It
is a bit difficult for me to see some of the changes that
have taken place, so many people now invading the rocks
and the secret trails, the ridiculous cost of housing.
I suppose it had to happen. Yet
whenever I am there I remember the good times...
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 20, 2009 - 12:00pm PT
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Forget the cornfield Werner, you have been living in an amusement park for over 30 years.
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Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:11pm PT
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did you pay $25 a month for rent at about the same time C4 was fitty cent a night?
This was '70-72. There might be a story about those days in Steve Levin's new guidebook,
I'm not sure whether he included it.
Eventually I left that high-priced cabin in Eldo for a more economical one in South Dakota,
where we paid just $10/month.
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richross
Trad climber
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:22pm PT
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Gunkies ready for some Eldo prancing,summer of 77.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Boulder, CO
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:27pm PT
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The place people love to bash. I love living in the area, great climbing, biking, hiking, fly fishing, schools, close to Denver and RMNP.
I also heard there is this great new guidebook to Boulder Canyon.
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healyje
Trad climber
Portland, Oregon
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:44pm PT
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Three years ago I went back to Eldo / Boulder for the first time in several decades after the death there of a good friend climbing. Other than the spread of Boulder outward and the infill, I was struck by how little things had changed, particularly in Eldo. Yeah, all the little shacks have add-ons and paint and there is the CSP presence and new bridge, but otherwise it was like stepping into a frikking time machine back to the '70s. And if there were ever a definition of 'timeless' it would have to be the Bastille Crack. It was my first roped solo back in '75 and what a joy to walk off the plane and (more or less) step back up to it for an anniversery solo ride - classic as ever and every hold and move still waiting there as ever, both on the rock and in my head. Ditto on Yellow Spur.
Looking forward to getting down there again, but it somehow keeps escaping me. Hopefully in September...
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:48pm PT
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As someone who has a house there and spends a few months there (late spring, early fall) each year I think Boulder is fun. The biking has really deteriorated since they started building everywhere in the early 90's and the crowds came. The climbing is the real draw and it is good.
The people, well, I have no problem with the established types, but the wannabees are another story. It seems like so many people come to Boulder, and the Colorado Front Range, looking to make a major change in their life. All the baggage that comes with 'trying to find oneself' is sometimes difficult to handle.
Also, all the aging types need to just embrace life in the moment and stop trying to recapture their glory years. Go have your mid-life crisis somewhere else.
Bruce
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Coppi
Trad climber
American Fork Utah
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Aug 20, 2009 - 12:59pm PT
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The climbing in Colo is pretty good but don't make the mistake of telling a Front Range climber that the ice there sucks. The closest decent ice to Denver is Hours away. The San Juans have some great ice climbing but I think I'll stick to the Wasatch.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 20, 2009 - 01:30pm PT
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Coppi, you're right, the ice sucks- can't have everything.
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Coppi
Trad climber
American Fork Utah
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Aug 20, 2009 - 01:37pm PT
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The will say that the Trad on the front range is better than on the wasatch front, but I live 45 minutes from some great Granite in Little Cottonwood Canyon and 30 minutes from Stairway in Provo canyon WI5. The Flatirons and Eldorado are Classic, but I think I have it all in less than an hour.
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Aug 20, 2009 - 01:41pm PT
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I dig Boulder, great little burg in the middle of the Batholith
Oh, you meant the other one, Jim:-)
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TYeary
climber
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Aug 20, 2009 - 01:43pm PT
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Boulder is like Berzerkly east. Just alittle to hippie/dippy for me. But it is hard to beat for the climbing attraction. I had a friend who lived in Nederland for some years and I always enjoyed visiting, but not a place I'd want to live. Kev and Chris live in Eldo Springs and that seems ok, but still too far from the "Eastside" for me! I'll take Bishop anytime.
Tony
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