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It seems that November sucks, everywhere. Prove me wrong. Where in the world is there sweet climbing in November? Alpine, long routes, slogging, don't matter. Except maybe sport climbing. Like, reliable climbing. I know you can make most seasons work most places, but I'm talking about the best conditions. For instance, if someone's making their one big pilgrimage to Yosemite Valley, looking for the best conditions, they'll come in September and early October.

Prove me wrong!

Australia.
Great Barrier Reef, for instance. Very cool.
Climbing, not so much - but there is.
New Zealand is better. Haven't been there, so can't say how the season is.
Dadndave would know.

Impossible to prove you wrong since I don't know what you mean by "sucks". But I was in Nepal Khumbu region for most of November and early December in 2005 and we were there for about 30 days of zero precip, only a couple of cloudy afternoons. October, November & 1H December are considered peak post monsoon trekking season in this region. November is also supposed to be a great time for the Mexico Volcanoes, although when I was there there were thunderstorms everyday, but I am told that was an unusual "summer like" weather pattern. I would like to back there someday, I would choose November.

Lolli wrote:Australia.
Great Barrier Reef, for instance. Very cool.
Climbing, not so much - but there is.
New Zealand is better. Haven't been there, so can't say how the season is.
Dadndave would know.

Yea, I'm told NZ is great in November - not too hot and not too cold. Plus everything's green that time of year and very pretty.

I'm going to guess that it's the same for a lot of southern hemisphere countries.

Besides climbing? How about surfing on the northern shores of the Hawaiian Islands. November's the time of year when big swells from northern Pacific storms start hitting the Islands. Most winter days the surf is pretty decent for anybody with good surfing skills. But if you're lucky enough to be there when a storm-driven swell comes in, you can see some incredibly large, well formed (and incredibly dangerous) surf.

Right next door to you - Death Valley. Very nice that time of year.

November is great for climbing in California. Best time for Yosemite Valley free climbing, I always thought. Yeah, days are shorter, but temps are usually perfect and the bugs are gone, most of the tourists are too

Lots of the Western Sierra crags are too hot all summer, and have a very short window for exploration...usually late October through November, then the roads close and it snows. Places like Voodoo Dome, Dome Rock, Chimney Rock, Kerkoff Dome, Moro Rock...The Castles. Owens River Gorge on the Eastside is perfect then too, and the Buttermilks, Whitney Portal, Alabama Hills, etc., etc..

In November, you can climb one weekend at The Needles, and then Joshua Tree the next.

JedSMG wrote:It seems that November sucks, everywhere. Prove me wrong ... Prove me wrong!

Well, you asked twice, so hand me the gun and step back from the barrel. I hope you like fish ...

November is:
- best all-round month for both classic alpine routes and steeper ice routes in New Zealand
- the busiest trekking month (with Oct) in Nepal, and for peaks up to 6500m. Most of the harder tech ice routes in the Khumbu are done in late Oct through November.
- the best month for many peaks up to 6500m in Sichuan and Yunnan
- the best month for icier routes in the High Andes of Argentina and Chile, especially the more technical routes on Mercedario (6600m)
- the best month (with Oct) for starting Patagonian icecap trips
- the best month for starting Antarctic expeditions. All seven of my trips to the Sentinel Range went in late November.

November is also often good for:
- early season water ice in the Ghost area, AB, Canada
- hard mixed alpine routes in the French Alps above Chamonix
- the ice or mixed routes in Patagonia. eg. Cerro Torre west face, Fitzroy Supercouloir, Exocet etc.
- the 6000+m peaks of the Atacama desert (more snowfields to get water)
- unclimbed peaks on South Georgia
- long rock routes in Oman, Morocco etc
- Indian Creek and other desert areas

Badass! Good stuff all. Especially Damien! What if Summitpost was sort-able or search-able by season? Maybe it is? Anyway, thanks all, so far. I think November's my new favorite month already!
Jed

I had the best climbing month in the Gunks last November - temps were mostly in 50s and not many people even on weekends. It was an unusually warm November though, usually by then we are either skiing or ice climbing here in NE...

I found Morocco very nice in November. It's not too hot at that time. We only climbed one mountain though - Toubkal.

Canaries, Tenerife and La Palma at any time of the year

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-report/2 ... -Lava.html

I thought our Mexico trip in November 2008 was pretty good! La Malinche and Orizaba (my profile pic) with good snow conditions on the glacier, a little cold but when is it not at 18,500'?

It was 70 in Puebla with great outdoor dining and we had a nice walk through Teotihuacán on our way back to Mexico City for our flight home. I'd climb there in November again

November is a month in which the 1st powder days come and the sunsets of a life time take place in Utah. Rather than blabbing about how good it gets here in Utah I figured I'd just show you insted.
Me skiing Mount Baldy Nov 15, 2009(early season)

The sunset of a life time on Box Elder Peak Nov 7th, 2009