what's the climbing like in nelson, BC?

[supafly]

We are thinking of making the move out to Nelson, BC from North Vancouver.

It looks like there are a few scattered crags in the area, nothing like the bluffs and then the Valhallas and Bugaboos, nothing that's really easy weekend material.

Any Nelson locals care to comment? What's life like for a climber in Nelson?

[slhughes]

nelson's not bad as a climber. various spots are close to to town. nothing mind blowing. castlegar has the waterline which is a pretty good crag and there's action up arrow lakes- lots of new route potential. some bouldering here and there. small but active climbing scene, i think. check here-
https://www.facebook.com/climbinginthekoots
the skiing is the big draw of course. and the biking is reputed to be good. have a tolerance for hippies is useful.

[johnthethird]

Pick up west kootenay rock guide. It leads me to believe theres tons of stuff to do.

I spent a little time out there this fall, but didn't have a partner to climb with.

My wife and I made the trek to Valhalla one weekend, and I think its definitely doable for a weekend trip.

We're thinking of moving out there in another year or so, also

[smallman]

I have a friend living in Castlegar going to college there. She says the climbing there is pretty good with lots of development potential on nice granite and Shuwshup Gneiss.

[smallman]

The person to ask would be Luke Nuefeld. He grew up there.

[Tegan]

Climbed out there last summer. Castlgar was way better than I thought and seemed to be lots of development. Nelson was minimal. Hallsiding area in Nelson was good but not a ton of stuff as well there is Kootenay crag, again was good just a bit of a long approach much shorter with a bike. I think if I lived there I would spend more time climbing in Castlgar. Pick up thewest kootenay rock guide as well as go online as there are a lots of areas not listed in the guide. Fyi..dont bother with Slocan or Rossland.

[imnotnate]

i lived in nelson for 8 years or so, just moved to squamish fulltime this spring.

there's a small but very tight and positive climbing scene there. generally speaking there's some really good climbing, but it's scattered around, not a tonne of it and not super concentrated. so it's not so bad for weekends and whatnot, but can be tough to squeeze in after work sessions and stuff like that.

the valhallas are easily weekendable (or even day trippable if you're keen), castlegar is really quite good for sport, as is kootenay crag and woodbury, and i disagree with tegan on slocan, it's actually one of my favourite crags there. somewhat squamish-esque rock, right next to a beautiful lake.

if you're into bouldering, there's plenty of high quality granite blocs.

there's lots of development potential (and lots already going on) from the boulders up into the 'pine.

basically, the quality is there but the quantity is not - you can climb it out pretty fast. if climbing is your big passion, you might not be happy there after awhile. but if you're more recreational, everything else about nelson will more than make up for it!

oh also, skaha's an easy 4hrs away

nate.