UKC

Hi Everyone,

I have a trip planned to the states on the horizon and flying into LA. Going to make the long drive to Utah and was wandering where the best spots in Utah were to climb. I climb unto E3 and low 7's for sport. Any recommendations would be great!!!

Thanks

In reply to Thumbspragger:

The area around Moab: Indian Creek, Castleton for starters (though a lifetime would not be enough..........).

In reply to Thumbspragger:

Cottonwood canyon, near Salt Lake city? Been quite a while since I was last there though...

In reply to Stone_donkey:


I climbed with a Salt Lake local last year. He rated Cottonwood as a local crag, but hardly as one to fly half way round the world for. The desert sandstone, on the other hand, is something utterly different from anything in Europe and truly world class

In reply to Thumbspragger:

Base yourself in Moab. There is so much climbing within a few minutes drive you could stay there for ever and not get it done. If you like cracks there are so many in Indian Creek it sends your knees wobbly. Castleton Valley has numerous free standing towers with routes of all grades. Alongside nearly all the roads are routes, some single pitch some multi, many bolted. There are also a lot of face type routes. Even the Arches Park has some routes and is worth a visit just for the tourist experience.
If you are a crack climber ignore the USA => Brit grade conversions, they all seemed much easier than the conversions when I was there. Eg Supercrack 5.10d is no where near E2. HVS on Peak grading!

In reply to johncook:

In which case Bond Street must be about V. Diff on Peak grading.
I doubt many would agree with you - most people seem to go for E3 5c.

It is true, however, that the Indian Creek cracks are so unlike anything in the UK, that you just have to get on the easier ones and see how it goes and get used to the grades for different crack widths (which depends on the size of your hands......). I bet that many solid UK E3 climbers would get spanked by the likes of Supercrack if they didn't first get used to the style of climbing.

In reply to Thumbspragger:

If you go to Moab, and if you're camping, go to this campsite:
http://www.moabupthecreek.com/

It's a beautiful oasis of greenery in among much dry dustiness, and it's very convenient for the town centre.

In reply to Thumbspragger:

Thanks for all the heads up guys Moab it is.

In reply to Robert Durran:

I must admit that I have large hands. My climbing partner who was tiny and had very small hands had to off-width supercrack. But my hands also fitted incredible hand crack so hand size below a certain width is not a problem. (I love Bond St except that my arthritic knuckles get caught in the crux if I'm not careful, and the bottom crack is wider than Supercrack!)