Climberville

Consider yourself lucky if you live in one of these towns

Thinking of pulling up roots and heading to a town that’s blessed with a vast amount of rock? Want to be able to make a little cash once you get there, and maybe even buy a pad (for living, not bouldering)? We’re here to help. We created an equation that balances quantity of rock, climate, and economic statistics to find the ideal climbing towns for settling down: This formula crunches the data for seven variables to compute each town’s awesomeness quotient. A total of 4 = “inconceivably fantastic place to be a climber”; 0 = “no better than living in Orlando.”

S = Seasons of climbability. This takes into account the availability of high-altitude rock or north-facing crags for summer escapes, and whether sunny, south-facing routes exist for winter sending.
R = Routes within about 60 miles. We scoured guidebooks, mined online climbing sites, and bugged locals to get a ballpark figure for the number of routes and boulder problems you can reach without pushing your trip odometer over 60 miles. We did not include ice climbing or non-technical peak-bagging.
T1 = Average high temperature in January
T2 = Average high temperature in July
P = Average annual precipitation
H = Mean selling price of a home
E = Unemployment rate
^ = Total climbing awesomeness of town

Top 5 Towns

1. TUCSON, ARIZONA
Awesomeness quotient: 3.41

Tucson in the summertime is hotter than two rabbits screwing in a wool sock. (The average high temperature in July is in the triple digits.) But you won’t notice, as much, when you’re climbing at the Fortress, near the summit of Mt. Lemmon (9,157 feet). In fact, the 27-mile road up Mt. Lemmon is stacked with crags at a variety of elevations. Climbers can migrate up and down the mountain—the lowest rocks are at about 2,000 feet—to fi nd prime conditions in all four seasons.

For those who crave adventure, it’s tough to beat Cochise Stronghold, which lies southwest of Tucson in the Dragoon Mountains. The classics are well-documented, but tight-lipped locals have put up hundreds of other routes, some of which are still waiting for a second ascent. Climbing at Cochise is best in the fall and spring, but good sending days can be found all year long.

Life among the saguaros is relatively affordable. Unemployment is just a hair below the national average, and the typical home sells for less than $150,000.

S = 3; R = 2,600; T1 = 66; T2 = 101; P = 12 inches; H = $144,800; E = 8.5%

2. LANDER, WYOMING
Awesomeness quotient: 3.04

A sleepy town turned climbing mecca, Lander is one part old-school cowboy and one part new-school outdoor junkie. Just a stone’s throw from Lander—home base for the National Outdoor Leadership School—is Sinks Canyon, which is laden with sport and trad routes on sandstone, limestone, and granite. The majority of crags in the canyon face south, inviting climbing on sunny days in the winter. In the summer, Lander locals head for the limestone pockets at Wild Iris, which sits at over 9,000 feet.

Climbers with a handful of days off and a fondness for heavy packs can hump it into the Wind River Range in the summer to sample some of the exquisite alpine granite. Mosquito head nets required. Fly rods recommended.

The unemployment rate in Lander is lower than the U.S. as a whole, and a house goes for about $160,000.

S = 4, R = 1,900; T1 = 32; T2 = 86; P = 13 inches; H = $160,000; E = 7%