Two weeks ago, in early July, a few friends and I decided to go bouldering in the Ortega Mountains of Northern New Mexico. The forecast called for temperatures in the mid-to-high 90s in Santa Fe, where we live, but we hoped that the boulders in the Ortegas, which sit about 1,500 feet higher, would be tolerable if we got out there early, kept to the shade under the pines, and occasionally swam in a nearby stream.

We were fundamentally incorrect and—in hindsight—tactically incompetent.

After an error-rich series of sleep-ins and breakfast stops, plus a 1.5-hour drive, we didn’t arrive at our warmups until well after 10:00 a.m., by which time the sun was high and the temps were already in the mid-80s. Packing up our pads, my friend realized that he’d forgotten his fan, and I realized that I’d forgotten my hat, sunglasses, and salt tablets. As we hiked into the boulders, we found that the stream, which had been a happy cascade just several months earlier, was now a buggy trickle, barely deep enough to cover our feet, much less our bodies. And the boulders themselves were sizzling despite the dappled shade offered by the pines. We managed a couple of V5s, soaking our swollen feet in the wet mud between attempts, and then, plagued by cramps and bugs and thrashed tips, we fled back home in the early afternoon.

The thing is, though: I’ve been climbing in the heat for years; I’ve thought through my systems; and yet, on that day—the first truly hot day of the summer—I forgot to implement them, and as a result my friends and I traded a ton of time and gas and skin for not very much climbing.

What follows are the things we should have done (and brought) to maximize our performance in the heat, and—because why not—a list of the climbing areas that are still fun on the hottest days of summer.

I. Tactics for climbing in the heat

Never (ever!) climb in the sun. Ok, maybe that’s unrealistic. But you should do your absolute best to avoid it. The combination of sun and heat means terrible friction, terrible skin, swollen joints, overheated core temperatures, and sloppy shoe rubber. Do your research and visit crags when they’re shady. East-facing crags are for afternoons and evenings. West-facing crags are for the morning. North-facing caves are for mid-day. South-facing crags are for winter. Personally, my skin is sweaty enough that I avoid even warming up in the sun if it’s warmer than about 40 degrees, particularly if the rock is dark in color. When it’s above 65 or so, I make sure that even my between-climb hangout is shady, since I find that my fingers start to sweat (and climbing performance plummets) if my body temperature gets too warm between attempts.

Embrace climbing at night. Ever wonder why the pros consistently session hard boulders by headlamp? It’s all about temps. And in the summer, finding even marginally good temperatures often requires late nights or alpine starts. I love a good morning session, but in mid summer, when sunrise is at 5:15 a.m., it’s pretty hard to beat the heat to the crag, so I prefer climbing at night, preferably something that faces east or north and hasn’t seen sun in a few hours, since the rock absorbs heat and will remain hot for hours after the sun leaves. (It’s actually usually better to climb in the sun if the rock has only just hit it than in the shade immediately after it’s been cooking in the sun for hours.) If you want to make the most of your summer sessions, go pick up a rechargeable construction light—or better yet, grab two, since having two lights shining at a boulder from different angles decreases the interference of your shadow. Rope climbing? Grab a headlamp and get used to it. It can take a bit of time to get comfortable climbing on a rope at night. If that’s you (it’s me) find a cleanly overhanging sport route and take some practice falls right up front.

Hydrate with electrolytes. If you’re climbing in the heat, chances are you’re sweating far more than you’re used to. Take a hint from the runners and cyclists and make sure you’re replenishing your electrolytes. Remember that you’re primarily looking for salt, not sugar, though sustained sugar intake is also helpful in the heat (see below). For this reason, Gatorade, which is primarily designed to taste good, is inferior to products like Scratch and Tailwind, which are primarily designed to support seriously sweaty athletes. As a heavy sweater with a history of hamstring cramps on long run outs, I tend to supplement with salt tablets, too. Don’t want to pay for that expensive stuff? Just make your own: I fuel many of my warm-weather days with a salty limeade that consists of salt, lime juice, cumin, maple syrup, and water. (Read Katie Lambert’s excellent article on hydration for a more detailed recipe.)

Keep your body temperature down. There’s a reason why elite climbers, like elite runners and cyclists, prefer to pursue their sports in the 35-60-degree range: Athletic performance decreases when the body is too hot and too cold. Your muscular endurance (the ability for any given muscle to do repetitive work) decreases when your core temperature is elevated. Hyperthermia also shifts your body’s energy production from the highly efficient aerobic metabolism to the far less efficient anaerobic metabolism, which, if you’re exercising, means that your body is using ATP (the fuel our muscles need to contract) faster than it can be functionally replaced. It also decreases blood flow to the heart and leaves un-oxygenated blood to pool in your limbs, which is why your hands and feet swell up when hot. All in all, if you want to climb well, it’s imperative that you keep your body cool.

Some tips:

• If it’s hot but you’ve got a nearby mountain stream, try soaking your legs, hands, or forearms in the water for a few minutes. As the blood in your limbs cools down, the heart pumps that cool blood back through your body, cooling your core and decreasing swelling.
• Soak a buff or bandana with water and keep it around your neck: this is the same principle as the above except it works on the go and won’t interfere with the dryness of your hands.
• Wear light-weight, light-colored clothes, particularly if you’re going to get some sun. It’s better to feel a little warm in a sun shirt or light long sleeve shirt than somewhat cooler without one, since over time the sun will do damage to your skin, which causes your own body to bring heat to the skin, which makes you even hotter. The increased sweating you do in that sun shirt will compensate for the fact that it feels warmer.

Get used to it. One of the best ways to maximize your climbing performance in the heat is to build up your tolerance to it. Most people, myself included, often attribute their ability or inability to deal with temperature extremes to something innate and geographic (I for instance have told people that I “run cold because I’m from New Hampshire” hundreds of times); but heat tolerance is actually something we can control by exposure, and it doesn’t even take very long to improve. You can do this by gradually increasing your exercise load in hot settings over the course of several weeks. Go for hot runs, do hot yoga, climb outside in the heat, and do some post-exercise saunaing. As you acclimatize, you’ll find that your body sweats more, which helps it cool down more efficiently. (You’ll also find your water and electrolyte needs increase, not decrease, as you get better at functioning in the heat, which is why you should drink more than you normally would.) Normally, it takes people a week or two to acclimatize to high temperatures, but the fitter you are in general, the less performance loss you’ll experience in the heat, and the faster your body will acclimatize to it. The best thing about heat acclimatization? As Meaghan Brown wrote for our sibling publication, Outside Online, “Studies have found that, in addition to an increased rate of perspiration, training in the heat can…, counterintuitively, make a person train better in cold temperatures.” In other words, training in the heat will help you perform better on those crisp cold days we’re all currently yearning for. If you want to learn more about specific heat acclimatization protocols, check out this study.

Adjust your expectations. Heat and hard sends are not natural bedfellows. One of the least productive things you can do when it’s hot is fail to adjust your expectations and goals. Rather than aiming to send a limit power boulder (a goal likely to wreck your tips, filet your tendons, and neuter your confidence), do some easy, foot-intensive slabs or some sport mileage or mix it up with some easier trad. Climbing is a skill sport, and you can learn a heck of a lot about it by climbing well below your limit in sub-prime conditions.

Climb in heat-tolerant styles. Certain types of rock, and certain types of holds, are better in the heat than others. Limestone is by and large better than sandstone. Sandstone is by and large better than granite. Slopers, regardless of rock type, feel especially bad when the temperatures are high, and sloping crimps often feel straight-up worthless. Do yourself a favor and cherrypick heat-tolerant styles.

Baby your skin. Depending on your skin, you may want to sand your fingertips between attempts. I personally use, but can’t safely recommend, a medically dubious drying agent that’s not sold in the United States but is widely used (not kidding) by competitive German foosball players. A probably safer option: check out Rhinoskin’s line of antiperspirants.

II. Gear to bring

Sun shirt. Sunscreen is great—and you should definitely apply it—but recent research suggests we’ve been putting too much faith in the stuff: Sunscreen is not a replacement for clothing, it’s for use in places that clothing doesn’t cover, like our hands and ears and face. If you’re climbing in the heat, and your approach involves sun, do your future a favor and buy yourself a sun shirt.

Water purifier. This is another piece of gear that few boulderers and sport climbers use but which I now consider a crucial part of my climbing kit, since it means that I don’t always have to hump gallons of water to the crag. I use the Katahdin Be Free, since it packs down very small, weighs just 1.2 oz / 34 g, and (with a fresh filter) can be used to fill other bigger bottles. But there are tons of great brands out there competing for the same space. See Backpacker’s list of best water filters here.

• Related: “Staying Hydrated: The Key to Climbing Harder”

Fan. Fan’s are an essential piece of hot (or even warm) weather bouldering. The Makita Jobsite Fan is the most popular because it folds down flat and can be packed into a bouldering pad. (It made our list of best pieces of gear in 2020.) Remember, however, that fans are not allowed in wilderness areas.

Ice water. Yeah, I know: it’s not standard. But if bringing a thermos of hot tea or coffee to the crag is a standard part of climbing in the cold, why not do the opposite in the summer, particularly since controlling your core temperature is crucial to maximizing your on-the-wall performance? There are numerous techniques. I like bringing a thermos of iced herbal tea. My friend keeps his Nalgenes in the fridge the night before heading out, then uses insulated sleeves to keep them cool.

Sunglasses. Let’s be honest: it’s summer time. The sun is high in the sky and even your best efforts to hide all day in the shade are likely to be unsuccessful. (Trust me on this: Last weekend, I did it again and forgot my sunglasses while doing a six-hour class 4 ridge traverse in the mountains; I’ve spent the last three days trying to concentrate despite itchy, watery eyes.)

Skin kit. Sandpaper, both fine and coarse. Tape. Nail clippers. Super glue. Liquid bandage.

III. Warm-weather Climbing Destinations

There are a number of great summer climbing destinations, and most of which have not made the list below, but we thought we’d offer a selection of bouldering, sport climbing, trad climbing, and alpine climbing destinations that are, if not prime, at least tolerable in the summer.

Bouldering destinations

Rocky Mountain National Park & Mount Bluesky, Colorado

Sure, it’s crowded. Sure, there’s traffic. Sure, tourists are going to ask you what you’re carrying on your back. But there’s a good reason that Colorado’s Front Range remains the country’s premier summer bouldering area: Even with the recent closure of Upper and Upper Upper Chaos Canyon, the high mountains above Denver and Boulder have more easily accessed alpine bouldering than any other region in the United States. Between Emerald Lake and Lower Chaos Canyon in Rocky Mountain National Park, Lincoln Lake and Areas A, B, C, and D at Mount Blue Sky (formerly known as Mount Evans), and the boulders in Guanella Pass, there are thousands of problems from V1 to V16, all above 9,000 feet. Many of the boulders are described on Mountain Project, but the most exhaustive resources are Jamie Emerson’s guidebooks: Mount Evans Bouldering, which includes all the major Blue Sky areas and Guanella Pass, and Rocky Mountain National Park Bouldering (forthcoming this summer and available for pre-order), both published by Sharp End Publishing.

Classics include: Mount Blue Sky’s The Ladder (V2), Seurat (V8), Bierstadt (V9/10), Silverback (V10 if it’s cold), and No More Greener Grasses (V12); Rocky Mountain National Park’s Potato Chips (V6/7), Tommy’s Arete (V7), Deep Puddle Dynamics (V9), Whispers of Wisdom (V10), Gobot (V11), and Nothin’ But Sunshine (V13).

Leavenworth, Washington

There are thousands of granite problems scattered around the faux-Bavarian town of Leavenworth, but most of the established climbing is in two main zones: Icicle Creek and Tumwater Canyon. Temps in Leavenworth are hit or miss in the summer, and if you’re really trying to climb your hardest you’re better off waiting until fall. Definitely check the forecast before heading out there. Case in point: as I write this, the high in Leavenworth is 97 degrees… which is a few-score degrees higher than ideal. But four days from now the high is 76, with a nightly low in the mid-fifties, which can make for some reasonable night and early-morning sessions. Classics include: Beach Arête (V2); The Sword (V3 R); Darth Maul (V4); The Shield (V7); Pimpsqueak (V9); The Prism, (V9)

Smuggler’s Notch, Vermont.

Smuggs may be the closest thing to an alpine bouldering area that New England has to offer, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to hail on you in the summer. Though Smuggs tends to stay warm and muggy and buggy from June to mid-September, it’s also 2,100 feet above sea level and located in a narrow notch, which makes it cooler than just about any other dense collection of boulders in Vermont. If you get lucky, there’ll be a good wind pouring through the notch to chase away the flies. Split a tip? Tackle some of Notch’s rope climbs, which range from airy trad to well-protected sport. The Stowe area is also famous for its swimming holes and breweries.

Classics include: Touching the Sky (V11), Truth and Lies (V11), Moon Tower (V8), Pulled Pork (V8), Little Cottonwood (V7), The Roots (V5), and the ultra-classic highball The Finn (V1).

The Wind River Range, Wyoming

For most boulderers, the Winds were put on the map by visiting luminaries like Jimmy Webb and Daniel Woods, but it’s relatively popular among alpine trad climbers, the range still hasn’t attracted the hordes of pad people who visit Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt. Blue Sky each summer. Why? Well, with the epic approaches, mutant mosquitoes, continuing development, and limited beta, bouldering in Winds is the definition of expedition bouldering. As Alex Biale put it in a 2014 article for this magazine, “If you have any interest in finding new rock, having areas to yourself, or first ascents, this is your spot.” If you can get your hands on it, Bouldering in the Wind River Range (2013) by David Lloyd and Ben Shears is an excellent if somewhat dated resource. (Lloyd’s old blog is also a helpful.) Not into the hike? Check out the Rock Shop, an easily accessed collection of high quality boulders just a couple miles down the road from Wild Iris, and half an hour Lander, Wyoming. The Rock Shop can be a bit toasty during the day, though, so either get up early or arrive late.

Classics: Crystalis, (V6); Green Machine, (V6); The Solitude, (V9); The Arkenstone, (V11); Never Cry Wolf, (V13)

• Also read: “Sick of the Heat? Check Out These Five Alpine Bouldering Destinations”

Sport climbing destinations

Clear Creek Canyon, Arizona

Deep water soloing in Northern Arizona’s high desert? You bet—and some world class sandstone sport climbing to boot. Located just outside the windswept town of Winslow, Arizona, about 60 miles east of Flagstaff, this unlikely haven boasts dozens of high quality sport climbs and some great deep water solos, all located in a narrow canyon kept cool(ish) by its water and its protection from the sun. As with most areas on this list, the climbing in Clear Creek is better in late spring and early fall, but it can be tolerable in the summer. The sport and trad climbing at the Winslow Wall is definitely higher quality than the deep water soloing (located downstream), but short solos like Switched On (5.11d) and The Microwave (5.13) are certainly worth your time on a hot summer day. Buy, rent, or borrow some sort of boat; then, after scoping the landings, take a few refreshing falls.

Classics include: The Winsloner (5.11c), The Hanging Judge (5.12a, trad), Bronzing (5.12d), Picture me Rollin‘ (5.13b/c), and Frequency (5.14d… yikes)

Maple Canyon, Utah 

Cobbles! And caves! The conglomerate climbing in Maple Canyon, located in the hills above the turkey farming mecca of Moroni, Utah, is some of the most fun climbing out there. You’ll pull on big sloping pebbles, or on the pockets that missing pebbles have left behind, and the style ranges from casual multi-pitch romps to savagely overhanging pump-fests. There are two guidebooks, both about ten years old, and more than 600 established climbs. Mountain Project is a pretty thorough and up-to-date resource.

Classics include: Tachycardia (5.7), Streak (5.11b), Groundwork (5.11c), Spray Lord (5.12c), Wyoming Sheep Shagger (5.13d), Pipedream (5.14a), and Divine Jest (5.14c).

Ten Sleep, Wyoming 

Located at about 7,500 feet, and with the most recent guidebook listing some 1,400 climbs on bomber dolomite, Ten Sleep is one of the country’s premier summer sport climbing destinations. The town itself is tiny (population less than 300), so you’ll want to grab your groceries elsewhere, but there are tons of accommodations and food options for climbers. Beta: there are several great guides, including Ten Sleep Canyon Climbing by Louie Anderson (published 2023) and Ten Sleep Climbing Guidebook (11th edition, 2023), an update of the original (and delightfully artistic) Aaron Huey guide. Mountain Project also has some good guidance on where to stay, eat, and shop. Too hot in Tensleep, or just want something a bit more powerful? Head east to Wild Iris, where the climbs are located at 8,600 feet.

Classics include: Water into Wine (5.9), Boot Scoot Boogie 5.10b), Limestoned (5.11a), One Nation Under a Groove (5.11d), Great White Behemoth (5.12b), Fortress of Solitude (5.12d), Name of the Game (5.13a), and Galactic Emperor (5.14a).

Rifle, Colorado

Rifle is all about complicated sport climbing. The routes tend to be odd mixes of highly technical, highly powerful, and ruinously pumpy, and slippery limestone takes some getting used to. But it’s also one of the more beloved sport climbing areas in the country. Like most of the other areas listed here, Rifle isn’t prime in the summer—for that you’ve got to wait until the fall—but it’s pleasant enough on most summer days, and the canyon’s north-south nature makes it easy to shape your days around the shade.

Classics: Rumor Has It (5.11a), Rehabilitator (5.11d) Easy Skankin’ (5.12b), Hang ‘Em High (5.12c) The Eighth Day (5.13a), The Beast (5.13a), Anti-Phil (5.13b), Living in Fear (5.13d), The Crew (5.14c).

• Read more: “How 1990s Rifle Laid the Foundation for Hard American Sport Climbing”

Also check out “Our Favorite High-Elevation Crags to Beat Summer’s Heat” by Dougald McDonald, which has an excellent roundup of lesser-known crags.

The Uinta Mountains, Utah

Located less than two hours from the side-walk melting heat of Salt Lake City, the high-elevation crags in the Uintas are a serious gem for Utah’s climbers. Dougald McDonald, a former editor of Climbing, had a pretty positive review of the place: “With about two dozen crags, nearly all above 10,000 feet, dotted among the lakes and bare mountaintops, the Uintas are flat-out gorgeous.” There’s a steady mix of sport, trad, and alpine rock routes in the Uintas. The most popular first-timer zone, Ruth Lake, sports a number of crimpy 5.10 and 5.11 sport lines. Head to the Stone Garden for harder, steeper sport routes, or to the Mosquito Wall for more moderate ones. Looking for off the beaten path alpine or trad routes? Head to Cliff Lake, Notch Lake, the Wall of Tiers, or the 400-foot Iron Hayden Wall on Hayden Peak.

Classics: Where Vultures Dare (5.9 alpine trad, 5 pitches), Cries of Impending Doom (5.11b), Sessions (5.12a sport), Obsessions (5.12b sport)

Trad climbing destinations

Cathedral Ledge, New Hampshire

With numerous classics on bomber white granite, Cathedral Ledge is the historic heart of New England trad climbing. Summer can be hot, but the cliff faces east and gets afternoon shade, which makes climbing in the evening quite reasonable. The first pitch or two is often a bit manky in mid summer, with that fabled New England humidity trapped beneath the forest canopy, but things generally air out the higher you get. Too hot or busy at Cathedral? Check out the far more remote (and cooler) climbing up in Evan’s Notch.

Classics: Thin Air (5.6, four pitches), Bombardment (5.8, two pitches) Recompense (5.9, three pitches), They Died Laughing (5.9, one pitch), The Prow (5.11d, six pitches), Liquid Sky (5.13b).

Lumpy Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Lumpy Ridge is a very popular collection of granitic protrusion in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, with most of the classic climbs falling in the 5.9 to 5.11 (and two- and five-pitch) range. The cliffs are relatively low elevation as far as RMNP climbing areas go, and though some of the formations top out around 10,000 feet, it can still be quite hot at Lumpy, particularly in the sun. If you play the shade game, however, and make use of some alpine starts, you can generally have a pretty good time here all through the summer. Too hot? Head into the high country. There are tons of great high-elevation routes on features like the Diamond and Hallet Peak.

Classics: Kor’s Flake (5.7+, six pitches), J-Crack (5.9+, four pitches), Fat City Crack (5.10c, three pitches), Finger Lickin’ Good (5.11a, two pitches).

• Related: “Seven Easy Alpine Routes For Your Summer Ticklist”

Washington Pass

Best known for routes like Beckey Route and Liberty Crack, both on Liberty Bell, the north tower of the greater Liberty Bell massif, Washington pass boasts some of the Pacific Northwest’s best alpine climbs. “The best bouldering and the best climbing wall at Washington Pass—Liberty Bell—has only a 40-minute approach!” Cascades local Blake Herrington told Climbing in 2015. “And you can rap with one rope after climbing the first five or six pitches of the lines on the east face.” Avoid the crowds by checking out other crags, like Lexington Tower or the South and North Early Winter Spires.

Classics: Beckey Route (5.6, four pitches), Liberty Bell Crack (5.11a, C2, 12 pitches), The Hitchhiker (5.11a, 10 pitches, sport), and The Thin Red Line (5.12, 11 pitches).

Honorable mentions:

• Cirque of the Towers, Wyoming
• The High Sierra, California
• The Adirondacks, New York

Go North!

Areas like Squamish, British Columbia, Val-David, Quebec, and Hatcher Pass, Alaska (which we would have included if the guidebook was available), are all climbable in the summer.