Dingus Milktoast wrote: Being an ice climber in CA is a tough business too. Hours and hours of driving to vie for one of 5 or 6 lines, at one or two places in the whole frickin state!

Oh the count is now up to 6 lines, wow!

Tom, California is about rock climbing.

gk

Yep, there seem to be more climbers from Fresno on supertopo than on summitpost, for whatever reason .. I post trip reports there sometimes when I go to Tollhouse Rock or Courtright. Or maybe the ones on supertopo post more, I dunno ..

One time when I was climbing in Courtright in 2007 we met some guys from Fresno who also ice climb. They were older folks, and I don't think they used the internet much.

There are even climbers from (gasp) Modesto ! Gene M. and Dan (keema) are among them. The difference between them and the OP though is that they have kids and a bunch of other hobbies, and thus less free time. One of Dan's friends is interested in what you might call "alpinism", but he's a high school teacher and can't get out except on weekends & summers.

Most of my regular partners (for escapades into southern yosemite - not alpinism, mind you) are from Fresno/Clovis and Oakhurst. Family guys and not the gym types. They also don't post often on these forums. Some are active in the Southern Sierra Climbers Association, which organizes fairly regular climbing trips and service opportunities. Look 'em up. Here's their recently revised website: http://www.southernsierraclimbers.org/

As Nate suggested, check out the SSCA Home page, unless I'm wrong (Help me out here, Nate) Matt Schutz runs the website and has climbed with or has numbers for anyone I've ever heard of being a climber from Fresno. Most people I climb with around here are from the foothills and Mountains and don't go to the gym but are active and love to climb.

They're there...maybe they just don't want to admit it! If your looking for alpinism you will have to travel, but everything else...2 hours max-ish and your there.

-JR

...Way Homo Sperm Burpers From Fresno is such a classic name I have to get on it some time, I never have.

-JR

JR,
I'm fairly sure Matt no longer maintains the SSCA site, and so it was redone. Don't know who maintains it now, but I did notice the SSCA has a facebook page now as well.

savage henry wrote:As Nate suggested, check out the SSCA Home page, unless I'm wrong (Help me out here, Nate) Matt Schutz runs the website and has climbed with or has numbers for anyone I've ever heard of being a climber from Fresno.

Ya talk'n about this guy...




I think old Matt ( who originates from Clovis) is living in Sacramento town. And does not do much these days with the SSCA from my understanding

Good and honorable dude btw!!!!

Matt and I did some narly stuff together ten or so years ago.

Yep, Chief. Earlier this year he was up in Seattle and occasionally coming down to CA for work. But I see in recent weeks he's been back at it in SoYo, maybe on holiday, but I can't keep up with where he resides...

He'll probably chime in here.

Guyzo wrote: Do you really think Kings Canyon has good climbing??????? I always found the climbs located in the canyon to be, well, sort of crumby.

Oh yes. Kings Canyon climbing really stinks.



All crumbly for sure.

Really bad views also.

And it's so stinkin' crowded!

Just no fun at all.

rhyang wrote:. . .
There are even climbers from (gasp) Modesto ! Gene M. and Dan (keema) are among them. The difference between them and the OP though is that they have kids and a bunch of other hobbies, and thus less free time. One of Dan's friends is interested in what you might call "alpinism", but he's a high school teacher and can't get out except on weekends & summers.

Tom,
The friend Rob mentioned is an SP member but doesn't spend much time online. He is a high school English teacher so spends most of his waking hours during the week and parts of weekends reading essays. I'm sure he would love to hook up with you. I'll let him know.

keema wrote:The friend Rob mentioned is an SP member but doesn't spend much time online. He is a high school English teacher so spends most of his waking hours during the week and parts of weekends reading essays. I'm sure he would love to hook up with you. I'll let him know.

Yeah, definitely. Send him my info. When I was living in NYC, I was mainly climbing with my fiancee, but I miss having other people around who climb the same kinds of stuff and speak the same language. And my fiancee doesn't exactly love the alpine stuff so it would be nice to find someone to share the burden.

And sharpblue: Do you really think Kings Canyon has good climbing??????? I always found the climbs located in the canyon to be, well, sort of crumby. Just IMHO and I have done lots of them. Now KK is a great spot to start death hikes from, to get to good climbing, but it's at least 1 day to get to the good stuff.

WTF? I guess you've never done any routes on the Chernobyl Wall on North Dome.

I would move to Fresno, Merced, or Modesto in a heart beat to get out of the East Bay Area.
The marginally better weather here isn't worth the cost of living, crowds, and all the driving I have to do to get to stuff I love.

Craig Peer wrote:

And sharpblue: Do you really think Kings Canyon has good climbing??????? I always found the climbs located in the canyon to be, well, sort of crumby. Just IMHO and I have done lots of them. Now KK is a great spot to start death hikes from, to get to good climbing, but it's at least 1 day to get to the good stuff.

WTF? I guess you've never done any routes on the Chernobyl Wall on North Dome.

Have climbed a lot, sort of in KK. Chernobyl Wall, North Dome are all huge hikes right? They could be anywhere... I was really pointing out the fact that the climbs with short approaches are not that good....

KK has nothing even as good as "The Five Open Books" anywhere.

Unless I am missing something?

spill beans, Craig.

gk

Maybe there are local climbers in these areas and they don't bother with the gym..

Tom-

Not to sound condescending but....STAY AWAY FROM THE GYM SCENE!!

Locals out at Tollhouse that you may run into......Barry Chambers and Cam Donahoo. Barry does resoling and lives in Auberry and Cam lives in Shaver Springs (just above Tollhouse). Look em up! Secondly, PM or email me or NateD here on SP. We'll help steer you in the right direction. Have you got your hands on the Sequoia Kings Canyon guidebook (rare these days and out of print)??

Places close to your stomping grounds:

-Tollhouse
-Courtright Reservoir
-The Obelisk
-Hoffman Mountain
-Kerkhoff Dome
-Shuteye Ridge (shhhh...its a secret )
-Wamello Dome (or Fresno Dome)
-Kings Canyon (dear god, don't get me started on a list!)
-Sequoia Nat' Park.....with a few notable formations to check out: Moro Rock, Little Baldy, Crystal Wall, Chimney Rock, Chimney Wall, Big Baldy

Speaking of Sequoia, some of the best obscure west side formations and roots around! If you're looking for a bit of alpine climbs on the west, try this one on for size:

The Timex Route (5.9), The Watchtower (Sequoia Nat'l Park)