Destinations
Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming
Climbing in the Ozarks:
Columbia, Missouri - Numerous public lands present craggy limestone cliffs and sandstone boulders for the trill seekers at heart. Capen Park, inside the Columbia, MO, city limits is a popular destination for top rope climbing activities. Just outside of Columbia, in the Mark Twain National Forest, back-country crags offer single pitch and toprope climbing on public use lands. Be mindful of hunting season and other land users activities.
Climbing in the Islands:
Mallorca, Spain - Es Pontas off the coast of Spain's Island, Mallorca. An arch of stone with deep water routes and a huge rope swing!
Aruba, Netherlands Antilles - Grapefield sea side cliff, faces a sand-covered bay well known for wind surfing and provides shelter for the hammock traveler, 30 miles off the coast of Venezuala, in the Carribean Sea. Single pitch sport climbs are concentrated along one steep butress and nice top rope anchors provide secure points for beginners. Bouldering areas dot the island like the diorite Ayo and Casibari Rock Formations.
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles - Well known for scuba diving, Bonaire is a must visit for any water explorer wishing to escape the fast pace of the city. As for climbers, interesting shore boulder fields, deposited on a Pleistocene limestone platform, 3–8 meters above sea level, exhibit characteristics that are consistent with tsunami hydro processes that moved and formed the boulder features. Further inland, the Wind Turbine Hill Boulders provide a maze of boulder problems.
Puerto Rico - Wow! From surfing to multi-pitch climbs, this large island keeps the outdoorsman busy.
Vieques, Puerto Rico - Vieques Boulders are a group of large boulders near the south-central coast of Vieques, approximately one kilometer northwest of the Bioluminescent Bay.
Dominican Republic - Many crags exist around the grand Dominican / Haiti island and are just waiting to be explored. Along the eastern tip of the Samana province, an isolated metamorphic band of rock forms into different steep cliff faces along the craggy shoreline. Some sport lines were rebolted with glue-in titanium bolts to help avoid continuous rusting. Expect a rough road and a single trail hike along coconut trees. A well known area called the blow hole is a potential parking area.
Climbing in the Alps:
Spain - Es Pontas off the coast of Spain's Island, Mallorca. An arch of stone with deep water routes and a huge rope swing! Very nice. Spain offered a wealth of climbing opprotunities along its Eastern coastline. The mountainous western coast line of Mallorca is heaven for the climber who is looking for the very steep. A quickly changing landscape will look like a village in southern France than the Verdon Gorge to tree line hikes along the continental divide and then coast line cliffs towering a mile over the pine tree forested coasts of the Mediterranean waters.
Switzerland - The Eiger is a massive wall of limestone. Lots of late season snow this year but the area offered rewarding summits, sport crags, and high altitude boudering. The Matterhorn is a very large vertical pile of loose blocks. Coming down is something to consider if you think about gaining this summit.
Germany - Climbing crags seemed much like areas I climbed in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico during Feb of this year. The limestone is very pocketed, much like many other steep Euro crags, and force you to watch your step when walking along the top of the cliffs.
Austria - Steep Alp crags and a great varity of rock types sits just above and near one of my favorite crag areas visited during my 2010 Euro climbing trip, Arco.
Northern Italy - Arco, a small town near lago di Garda, known as "the Garden Lake" and sport climbing mecka of the southern Alps turned out to be more than I expected. I spent one full day deep water soloing on a vetrical slab located on the north-eastern rim of the lake. Good times!
Southern France - Ceuse is an exposed dome of limestone on top of a hill top. The rolling mountains of this area offer many other enjoyable outdoor sport opprotunities and adventures. The area reminded me of the Black Hills of South Dakota. On the south side of these hills is the famous Verdon Gorge. These are some the must see stops for climbers visiting southern France.
