Salt Lake is a great place to live for most of the criteria you mentioned. If you lived in Sugarhouse, the Avenues or near Liberty Park (I know a couple SP members that live in these areas), you're less than 20 minutes to the trailhead for great trad climbing in Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood (former is quartz monzonite i.e. Yosemite-style granite, latter is juggy quartzite a la the Tetons). Certainly would have access to asian markets, quick access to the airport (less than 20 minutes also), plenty of trails to run very close by (including ones that could be accessed directly from your neighborhood if you choose semi-wisely).

The big downside to Salt Lake is the lack of genuine alpine climbing, in the sense that I think you mean. There are some "alpine" climbs in the Wasatch which I have loved doing, but there are not a lot. Maybe 5-8 established alpine rock routes that end on a summit that get done very often and are not total choss. 3-4 of them are on the same mountain, with quick access to SLC though (Olympus). I might be underestimating, but not by much. Lots of spring/summer snow climbing and waterfall ice though.

The Uintas are great for backpacking and would be great for trail running and peak bagging, but have no alpine climbing.

The Tetons, Wind River Range and parts of Colorado are a 4.5 to 5 hour drive away (Sneffels Range in CO). These give you great alpine climbing options. The Tetons are enough to keep you busy for a decade plus, even if you're a quick, frequent climber as you seem to be. BUT, this is no closer than you currently are to alpine climbing, so it's debatable whether this is really an improvement.

That's my two cents as someone that lived near Salt Lake for 6+ years and is dreading the move to the East Coast. It's really great in almost every aspect of what you mentioned, but just be aware that for genuine Sierra-quality alpine climbing, you will mostly be traveling to the Tetons/Winds/elsewhere. Of course, it's central enough that you have access to a lot of ranges (8-9 hours to RMNP in CO, 8-9 hours to the Sierra, 4-5 to the Tetons, Winds, western ranges of CO, 3 hours to canyon country, etc). Anyway....

I should also mention that there is an indie film place downtown (don't remember the name, unfortunately, it's been awhile), and there are plenty of places to road ride....a lot of the routes are up the canyons though, so they are less hilly than just long grinds. However, there are certainly some good road rides around Salt Lake County. And depending on how far you want to go or if you're willing to drive 20 minutes with your bike, you could be to some truly great areas for road riding, including Wasatch and Summit Counties on the backside of the Wasatch. These are world-class areas in my opinion.

Year-round access to singletrack for running might be problematic due to snow cover. 3+ months out of the year will require yak trax or something and may limit availability severely. There are trail systems in town and in low-lying canyons (City Creek) that can potentially hold you over during the winter. There's also desert country if you want to drive.

Good luck with the decision....I wish I was in your shoes.

Flagstaff, Arizona! Tons and tons of rock climbing and an amazing outdoors town. What a typical Flagstaff resident wears- Chacos, Prana pants, and some sort of North Face jacket

You might want to put Santa Fe/Taos area into the mix, although the flight back would be less convenient than Boulder.

fossana wrote:

The Chief wrote:Right here in good ole quiet Hilton Creek.

Chief, build me an Asian grocery store and find me a pool of single male climbers aged 35-45 and I'm there.

I thought you asked for a "climbing town".

Not a matchmaking oriental deli.

Several of the best live right here and in the surrounding area. There is a reason why and how they came to that point of being.... "The Best".

My point, the term "Climbing Town" is relative to ones real motives.

Me, I chose this little community cus frankly, I want to eat, drink and breath climbing. I found this little neck in the hills to meet that need. And has done so quite well actually. Some of the best climbing on this planet.

To quote the late Galen Rowell days before he died....


"Been all over the world for the past 20 or so years, seeking and photographing some of the best climbing areas. Funny thing is, I can't wait to return to my home here in the Eastern Sierra and The Range of the Early Morning Light."

Easy access to multi-pitch trad & preferably alpine routes. Tired of driving 2-5 hours each way every weekend to climb.
- Year-round access to single track for running (care less about MTB access)
- Good selection of hilly road bike routes
- Largish Asian market within 1 hour
- Theater that shows indie films within 1 hour
- </=4 h drive or </= 3 hour flight back to LAX/BUR (have to visit the main office monthly)
- High % of athletic, outdoorsy types

Except for the first bullet point we've got you covered right here in Minneapolis

I love asian markets but I can't see how a theater that shows indie films ever made the list?? Then again, I don't really know what an indie film is. Actually, Ive only been in a movie theater once in the last 15 years.

Canmore/Calgary meet all the criteria in the summer months - big city asian markets, indie films, lots of high tech IT in Calgary - everything else in Canmore. Winter is different of course which is why guys like Dow migrate south for 6 months. Never gets too hot here in the summer.

Also lots of different variety of climbing activities and rock types.

Woodzy wrote:Flagstaff, Arizona! Tons and tons of rock climbing and an amazing outdoors town. What a typical Flagstaff resident wears- Chacos, Prana pants, and some sort of North Face jacket

I think it will lack on the Alpine climbing and Asian culture though.

Tonka wrote:Except for the first bullet point we've got you covered right here in Minneapolis

And you can have Tapioca for dessert after supper

I'd say SLC, cept for no year round running, and lack of >4 pitch alpine routes.

Boulder sounds like a good bet.

I'm jealous.

The Chief wrote:

fossana wrote:

The Chief wrote:Right here in good ole quiet Hilton Creek.

Chief, build me an Asian grocery store and find me a pool of single male climbers aged 35-45 and I'm there.

I thought you asked for a "climbing town".

Not a matchmaking oriental deli.

Several of the best live right here and in the surrounding area. There is a reason why and how they came to that point of being.... "The Best".

My point, the term "Climbing Town" is relative to ones real motives.

Me, I chose this little community cus frankly, I want to eat, drink and breath climbing. I found this little neck in the hills to meet that need. And has done so quite well actually. Some of the best climbing on this planet.

To quote the late Galen Rowell days before he died....


"Been all over the world for the past 20 or so years, seeking and photographing some of the best climbing areas. Funny thing is, I can't wait to return to my home here in the Eastern Sierra and The Range of the Early Morning Light."

I fully appreciate the E Side. In fact, I've yet to find another place that holds the same esteem in my mind like the High Sierra, but I'm just not ready to live there year round for said reasons.

-------------

Everyone, I greatly appreciate the suggestions. It looks like I've got a lot of place to consider in the next few months.

Woodzy wrote:Flagstaff, Arizona! Tons and tons of rock climbing and an amazing outdoors town. What a typical Flagstaff resident wears- Chacos, Prana pants, and some sort of North Face jacket

Unless you work for WL Gore and then the standard issue is Pana Pants, Chaco's and either Arcteryx or Mountain Hardwear Jackets.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE Flagstaff, and the climbing community while at times may seem small is huge, and I am always running into someone new, and in the summer you can climb at places like Paradise Forks, the Waterfall, and then in the winter climb in Sedona, and the temperature will never be more then 60F =/-10F. The rock climbing is some of the best I've run into. And the people don't care if you climb 5.2 sport or 5.13 traditionally, since most of them are pretty laid back, even the hardest of the hard(wo)men, since in reality we know that we are all gumbies.

As for availiable men, that I can't comment on since, ok I'm not in the market and I'm already taken. Given the guys I know and climb with, there are enough that many have taken to driving a couple hundred miles to find women to date. As for good Asian markets , the best one that is close, is on 44th Street near the airport in Phoenix (142 miles from my place). That sucks bigtime.

As for skiing, I ski before work in the morning. As for Alpine climbing and Ice Climbing..... SORRY, the San Juans are 4 hours away (Ames Ice Hose is 4.5hours away) and Telluride is 4hours and 45minutes away.

Have you thought about Durango. Indian Creek is a few hours, ice climbing is a few minutes, climbing is a few minutes.

fossana wrote:

The Chief wrote:Right here in good ole quiet Hilton Creek.

Chief, build me an Asian grocery store and find me a pool of single male climbers aged 35-45 and I'm there.

There HAS to be a huge pool of single male climbers that age. I think the better question is whether they're dateable.

Anyways, I get your criteria--you're cosmopolitan and all that good stuff--but with the exception of someplace like Boulder, the closer you get to the hills the more homogeneous, white and republican it's going to be. I think you probably already know that given that you've lived in Boulder and LA. I just think you're going to have to compromise on your criteria or commute from someplace farther away.

BTW, someone mentioned St. George. It has good climbing and mt. biking, but that whole southern part of Utah gives off a really strong Mormon vibe. Someone from SLC may not view it as all that different than what they're used to, but if you're a single, part Asian woman from LA, you will. If you're looking at Utah, I'd consider someplace like Park City, which has lots of expats.