[JCKeck1]

So it looks like there is a good chance of me tragically leaving CO in the next few years, but I get to pick almost any decent sized city in the states. Anyone got recommendations? Looking for good access to skiing and of course class V paddling. Seattle might be the ticket, but I am worried about the winter...

Thoughts?

Joe

 

[Riparian]

Seattle or Portland. Be sure to pack plenty of full-spectrum lightbulbs, Goretex underwear and a tub fulla anti-depressants. Oh, and a big box of Slug-B-Gone. They grow 'em big up there. Other than the gray winters, the NW is pretty damned gorgeous. And, all that rain does do nice things for the rivers...

 

[deepsouthpaddler]

Say it aint so, Joe. Theres no mank in the pac NW. You'd be known as "the boater formerly known as the mank crew".

I've done some thinking about the same question. My top three were denver, seattle and portland. Seems like some of the top 3 for big city employment options, combined with good access to boating and skiing. Asheville always pops in my mind as a boating haven that might be worth giving up the skiing for. Not 100% sure on that one though.

Seems like there would be some good options in Cali. Don't really know the lay of the land in cali well, but it seems like many options get you close enough for weekend road trips to the good, but not so close for after work or quickies.

Lots of smaller metro areas in oregon and washington that have seemingly decent options / access / location as well.

 

[[email protected]]

Norcal brah, being the murse that you are you don't really have to worry about afterwork stuff, so I would choose Sacramento just because of its central location, but don't live in San Fran, nick abrams lives there and has enevatably spread everything alex kilyk has to the masses.
Also I see a peoblem with you moving out west, when you kayak you actually have to paddle, make moves and punch holes; not the best area of expertise of a mankster such as yourself.
#2 area is morgantown, there is so much sick creeking up there and you get to meet some fine yolcals up there as well, only problem moving there is that the skiing is eastcost shit but for your pizza/french frie ass it won't matter.
In the same catagory I would put Knoxville, creeking looks sick there and your imbred ass will fit in perfectly.
And as always the PacNW the number one reason to move there is the kayaking is sick and your close to BC but the drawback is you will enevatably be turned into and EMO and have to sip on your latte while crying that there is no sun wearing your tight jeans and some shirt that is too small and some black rimmed glasses, if you move there you will be forever known as Emo-Joe. But if I moved there I would move to portland, that way you and kilyk could relax and eat 2 lb hamburgers for 8 bucks at the accrotchalus and when you get off that 3am shift you can head in there and get some cornhole and eggs.
o yeah have fun in Texas but don't stay to long becuse only two things come from texas steers and queers.

 

[Claytonious]

Portland and Seattle are both good. I personally like portland more, less traffic, a little cheaper, less attitude. You would be 30 minutes from the Little White Salmon, and countless other runs. A lot of shit out there is basically year round, if you don't mind kayaking in the snow and rain. You could always try to get a job at the Hood River hospital and then live in the center of outdoor sports in the PNW.

 

[Riparian]

And as always the PacNW the number one reason to move there is the kayaking is sick and your close to BC but the drawback is you will enevatably be turned into and EMO and have to sip on your latte while crying that there is no sun wearing your tight jeans and some shirt that is too small and some black rimmed glasses, if you move there you will be forever known as Emo-Joe.

There is some danger in making the NW move. The good news? Lots of pale, hot chicks.

 

[Ture]

I'd take the opportunity to pick up a new thing if I were you. Surfing is where it is at, man. Move to Santa Cruz or San Francisco, preferably Santa Cruz, and learn how to surf. With your athletic skills you'd probably be charging big stuff in the winter within 3 years.

The best thing about surfing is that the danger-to-exhilaration factor is TONS lower than it is for class V creekboating. I find that a lot of the rush I get from creeking is from overcoming fear and nailing a line to survive without getting my ass kicked but the rush I get from surfing is from weightlessness. The rush from surfing is still intense but not nearly so do-or-die sharp and edgy. Creeking makes me feel like I'm having a heart attack sometimes and surfing is more of a euphoric feeling.

 

[KSC]

Minneapolis. Sick SUP paddling on the Mississippi and ice skating in the winter.

 

[doublet]

The important thing is that you go to a new city via TX. That way you'll just be happy to be out of TX.

Knowing the kind of boating you like to do I'd suggest Nederland.

Seriously, if you want good skiing and good kayaking you have 3 choices:

1.) Somewhere near Tahoe. Sac and Reno are decent sized cities but not that cool. They're both pretty close to the goods but skiing in Tahoe can be feast or famine.
2.) CO. You know the drill here. Durango, Glenwood, Front Range.
3.) PNW. Anywhere from Portland to Bellingham with Portland having pretty mediocre skiing. I personally think the skiing in the North Cascades is much better than the skiing in CO but that is just me. This is the obvious choice if you can handle the winters.

Wait...I just realized you choose to ski Keystone. Maybe check out some options on the E. Coast?

 

[shappattack]

Speaking as someone with experience in Portland and Seattle (and still lives near Seattle), Portland as a City is way better in all respects that I can think of. Seattle is a way more expensive place to live and has way worse traffic. It also rains a lot more and is not nearly as nice in the summer as Portland. However, skiing is better up at Baker (where I go) than Hood. Rock climbing is way way way better in Northern Washington than anywhere in Oregon (of which I have explored the state very thoroughly for such). You are much closer to lots of multiday boating in Oregon, although, the drive from Washington is not bad (get to most places in an easy day), such as the Rogue, Deschutes, John Day, Grande Ronde, Owyhee. Overall I would have to go with Hood River area! if you could find a job. My 2 cents.

 

[Mike Scott]

From a native's point of view - Seattle is cool except for the traffic. The traffic here is BAD. And it won't get better any time soon. Provided you can tolerate rain in the winter, other than the traffic it is OK. Portland is good too with less although not optimum traffic. From a skiing point of view I would go with Seattle. Crystal Mountain is way better than Mt Hood Meadows and you are closer to Whistler which out shines Mt Bachelor as a weekend away kind of skiing experience. Both cities are close to really good water for paddling so I would rate them equal there.

Hope that helps.

 

[waterratNE]

If you are not thinking west specifically, you could try the east coast. Pittsburgh is near the Yough River (Upper is awesome), and it's in the beginning of a renewal. You are also not that far from the Cheat River in West Virginia, as well as a few others. There's skiing too, obviously. Good luck.

-Alexis

 

[Badazws6]

Nurse right? Why pick just one? I just started a bit of a trip with my traveling-nurse-fiancée. We bought an RV and we are planning a couple of years going from place to place... Visit ALL of the above and in season.

 

[ID Surfer]

Boise is pretty cool and has a super long season. I do believe we paddled NF together. I'm an ICU nurse here and it's a sweet gig. Tons of paddling within 3 hours, yet all big water. Hood River is 5 hours for real deal creekboating. Resort skiing so so...backcounty is quite nice with a much more stable snowpack than CO on average.

 

[FLOWTORCH]

Dude, Seattle in winter=Mt Baker('mong others)

 

[jboats]

If boating and creeks are something you like. Try the great lakes and NE area of the country. It seems to me that when the massive ice wall glacier that receeded billions of years ago happened it created most the geology of the country they left amazing waterways that have massive waterfalls and huge cfs. Canada with the magpie and Rogue (7 sisters) ottawa need I say more. NY with the moose raquette beaver borreaus hell just get the gude book. Vermont Pennsylvannia Maine NH. everything is just a very short days trip away. Boating all season and decent sking. lift serve sucks in the NE but the easy access to great trail systems in the mtns allow for esasy backcountry experiences with low Avy issues. Just check out phelps mtn and the birch trees off the back side on the peak. great tour day that mtn.

The only big down fall is the weather and bugs. well and the population density too, but the boating is sick and the sking is fair.

 

[phlyingfish]

Nothing to see or do in Boise, move along

Boise, what a terrible place to live. Not only do you have to walk to the good mountain biking that's like a block out of town, but the ski area is open 'til 10 every night in the winter and lights up the whole damn valley. Yeah and the dry snow, what's up with that? How am I going to build a sweet jump with a pile of dry fluff? The real estate is not that expensive, so you're not going to be able to cash in on the flip and dip. And the whitewater park isn't going to be built until at least this spring. Garbage...

Of course, you know the Payettes have too much water all damn season. The mank doesn't come out until at least October. And can you believe that there are runs all over this state that are so remote that you have to carry a sleeping bag in your kayak? Build some damn roads, Idablow. And besides all that you are only a like twelve hours closer to Cali and the Gorge than in Colorado. Please move to Hood River and post a picture when you run Metlako so all the Idaho peeps can see what some real paddling is like. Why do I insist on living in such a whitewater no-man's land?

 

[Phillips]

Good VA's in San Diego, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. . . Well I guess Portland and Seattle could be combined. You know your status yet?

Kent

So it looks like there is a good chance of me tragically leaving CO in the next few years, but I get to pick almost any decent sized city in the states. Anyone got recommendations? Looking for good access to skiing and of course class V paddling. Seattle might be the ticket, but I am worried about the winter...

Thoughts?

Joe

 

[st2eelpot]

South east has it's benefits.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned anything in the Southeast like Asheville, Chattanooga, or stuff in Alabama.

Linville gorge, green river narrows, raven fork, toxaway, road prong, bear... plenty of sieve filled creeky classics.

All rain run off or damn release though, so winter is typically best, though there is boating there all year.

 

[Yonder_River]

I think you're familiar enough with the PNW to know your options boating wise so I won't comment on that aspect.

As far as bigger cities go near good skiing and boating, Seattle is about as good as it gets. Seattle is a notch cooler and grayer than Portland, but not by much. Our economy is hands down better than Portland but I don't think that should affect your job outlook too much. My wife did some rotations through the VA here and said it was decent as far as VA's go.

The city is way prettier than Portland and is surrounded by big mountains, not like the flat hills near Portland. Hence, the skiing isn't even comparable unless your into park skiing in August. If you live close to where you work, then traffic isn't as much of an issue. We live in North Seattle and the VA was the furthest hospital away that she worked at and I still think it only took about 25 minutes. Housing is expensive here....still and probably at least 10-15% over Denver. Portland is similar or slightly less than Denver.

Portland is probably a little cozier and there is a much bigger paddling scene down there for sure, not even close really. Technically, all the good paddling is in Washington, but you probably already know that. I could easily live in Portland, but I like to have big mountains nearby and scenery and Seattle delivers in that area.

Who knows, if you move here, maybe TRL will let you post in their blog.