Flagstaff vs Albuquerque and Alamos vs Gunnison

Where is this "Alamos"?

altitude camper wrote:

Looking for some input on the various altitude locations. I know there are a bunch of threads with information, which I have looked through, but looking for some more specifics from people who live/lived/ or have trained at these locations several times.

1. What is the weather like in December, spring (march-april), and summer (july). Average temparature, snowfall, rain, wind, etc.

You can find all that yourself on the web.

2. Hills to run on, both continuously and hill repeats (200-300m hills) as well as steep hills for sprint climbing?

Anyplace along the Rockies will have access to that.

3. Running community (lots of runners, good trails, tracks to workout on...)

Anyplace that has a high school will have a track and anyplace along the Rockies will have trail access. The higher the population, the more runners there will be.

4. Housing prices.

And you can look that up yourself on the web, too.

alamosa and gunnison compete for the coldest overnight temps in colorado -15 - 20 is not at all uncommon.

alamosa and gunnison - small towns with < 10 thousand residents - you can figure out the "lots" part for yourself.

hills - both are pancakes.

alamosa and gunnison - bitter cold, low population, you can figure out the housing part yourself as well.

walmart is a big deal in both.

tonight - alamosa

Rest of Tonight

Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 10 to 16. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Friday

Mostly cloudy. Snow likely early in the morning...then chance of snow in the late morning and afternoon. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Highs 28 to 33. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.

» ZIP Code Detail

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of snow. Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches. Lows 2 to 4. Southeast winds 10 to 15 mph.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. Highs 33 to 38. Light winds becoming east up to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows zero to 6. East winds up to 10 mph until midnight becoming light.

Sunday through Monday

Partly cloudy. Highs 40 to 47. Lows 6 to 12.

Monday Night and Tuesday

Mostly cloudy. Lows 10 to 15. Highs near 40.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy with a 10 percent chance of snow. Lows 11 to 15.

Wednesday

Partly sunny. Slight chance of snow in the morning... then slight chance of rain and snow in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation 10 percent.

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows 8 to 13.

Thursday

Partly sunny with a 10 percent chance of snow. Highs in the lower 30s.

gunnison

Rest of Tonight

Mostly cloudy. Lows 5 below zero to 5 above.

Friday

Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of snow. Highs 25 to 35.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of snow. Lows zero to 10 above.

Saturday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 30s.

Saturday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows 5 below zero to 5 above.

Sunday

Sunny. Highs in the 30s.

» ZIP Code Detail

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy. Lows 5 below zero to 5 above.

Monday

Partly sunny. Highs in the 30s.

Monday Night and Tuesday

Partly cloudy. Lows zero to 10 above. Highs 35 to 45.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy. Lows 5 to 15.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 30s.

Wednesday Night

Mostly cloudy. Lows 5 to 15.

Thursday

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 30s.

Once trained in Gunnison after looking at Alasmosa as well. I felt that Gunnison was a bette fit and turned out to be a great choice. As far as hills go you can't beat Gunnison. Perfect locations for graduall hill repeats. I mean PERFECT. It does get colder then shit though. Winters consist of running mostly on road but the Summers are amazing. Trails everywhere. Housing is cheap. Look for someone to live with obviously.

Alamosa would seem to be a good choice to train as well, but it just seemed a lot flatter. you would have to drive to find any decent hill. (at least it looked that way).

Feel free to ask detailed questions about Gunnison. I only know so much about Alamosa though.

How about the snowfall in Flagstaff? I've heard its bad through the winter, even through the end of march

why don't you get off of your ass and do something on your own?

stop jerking off to your altitude fantasies about living in AZ or CO - if you can't get do even the most basic research on your own, you will never make it there.

you sound like those "running with the buffaloes" dumbass groupies who showed up in boulder with no job, no car, no plan and no money wanting to hang out with the cu guys.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, looking more for personal experiences from people who live/ have lived there. You can look at an average temperature, but it doesn't mean its that cold/warm very day. For example Gunnison is said to be unbearbly cold in the winter, yet it's average high is 30 degrees, far from unbearable.

How about if we add to the list Evergreen Colorado.

Can we get some Flagstaffers to chime in as well.

Personal experiences wouldn't be better than the weather data that ANYONE can look up online? You just said that you don't think an average high (for the month) of 30 is at all unbearable, but people who have personal experience have said that Gunnison is unbearably cold in the winter. So, actually, you don't want personal experiences because you are clearly dismissive of them.

Listen up dork - average in Colorado means nothing, because there isn't an average day. Most days are either very warm or very cold and there usually isn't anything in the middle or average.

in late January in Alamosa the record low is -45 but the record high is over 60 - that is a 105 degree temperature swing - average means nothing.

also, the fact that the op is asking about evergreen while at the same time asking about alamosa and gunnison clearly demonstrates that he has no clue about anything.

Big fan of Alamosa or Gunnison. If you are looking for a town to stay focused in these are you towns. I know Alamosa better than Gunnison, here is what i have to say:

Hills: not much in town but mountains 15 min. away. This may actaully be a good thing b/c at 7,500 you dont really need any more stress.

Cost of living: dirt cheap, houses go for 50K. But you wont be making much either.

Running Community: small but pretty competitive with Adams state team in town.

Weather: Can be windy at times. Winter temps arent as bad as they sound since it is almost always sunny.

If i wasnt tied to my cubicle i would move back out there.

I\'ve lived in Albuquerque for about 4 years now.

The weather is pretty mild most of the year with 300+ days of sunshine during the year. Mid winter is 20-30s, spring/fall is 60-70s and summer is 80-90s. The weather is pretty dry for most of the year so even when it tops 100 in the summer, it\'s much more doable than 100 somewhere in the south. There\'s not a lot of snow and rain in the city itself, but the footfills can get large amounts. The wind can be bad during the spring (April/May), but you can usually avoid it if you run in the morning.

Lots of hills in the city and in the foothills. Plenty of variety to meet your hill-training needs. You can either choose dirt or pavement.

Running community is large. There\'s a large running club in town that hosts lots of weekly runs and other activities. There are a number of elite/semi-elite folks who train here as well.

Housing prices are high. I think the average is nearing $200,000.

Compared to those other cities you\'ve mentioned, Albuquerque is much larger so you\'re going to find more conveniences, better wages and more variety. You\'re not really going to find that small town feeling here, so if that\'s what you\'re looking for you should choose one of those other cities.

I was looking for something a little higher than Albuquerque, I just know that elites have gone there in the past, but good information.

I'm not looking to move to any of these locations permanently, just 3-4 altitude camps throughout the year. I'm not a runner, at least not anymore, but will have a group of elite runners hopefully assembled by the winter or early spring.

Thanks to everyone whose contributed so far. I hope more will come on here and share their experiences.

If anyone else has lived or trained in 7,000-9,000ft and thinks their town would make for a great altitude location, please feel free to post and I thank you ahead of time.

How about Evergreen, Co. I think the altitude is right, and it's the kind of low-profile city that I think would make for a great camp.

Jsut move to Boulder!

Actually, Evergreen is a great place to train. Beautiful scenery, loads of dirt trails in the forest, decently high elevation, and 30 minutes to Denver.

Santa Fe would be better than ABQ. Lots of Africans go there and NOP has gone there. The only elites that go to ABQ are there for the EPO.

I agree that Santa Fe would be better than Albuquerque, however, the cost of living is very high.

Los Alamos would be another NM option. They sit at about 7300 with weather similar to Santa Fe.

Have been to all of them for training or racing.

Gunnison- excellent for training. flat town site, but hills right there to run from town. Cold in the winter ranges from +40Fto -30F. Summer 40F-85F small airport, but have to drive 3.5 hrs most of time to Denver.

Alamosa- excellent training but flat. You have to drive to hills. Same temp range as Gunnison but maybe a bit warmer in the summer. Small airport, but have to drive 3.5 hrs to Denver or Alb most of time.

Flagstaff is nice for training with hills. Has a Huge indoor facility. Not as cold as Gunnison or Alamosa but gets more snow. Have to drive 2 hours to airport in Pheonix.

Albuquerque is what you want for a group of elites because of access to training facilities, gyms, therapy, and a major airport in town. If you have a group they will need to get to races easily. It has a milder climate in the winter than any of the others. 15F-65f in the winter. Tops out around 100 in the summer.

Laramie,WY -

1. low cost of living (compared to ABQ).

2. all the fun of a college town w/o the snobby characters of college towns like Boulder.

3. easy to attain part-time gigs. Just look at local classifieds.

4. 7200 ft elevation and 10-15 min away from 8000+ ft and 30-40 mins from 9000+ feet.

5. Lots of options for renting, ESPECIALLY during summer.

6. There is an Indoor track available when you need to do workouts during bad weather conditions

7. 2 outdoor tracks and a golf course trail/dirt path to use for tempo sessions or non-standard intervals.

8. paved pathway alongside the river with measured increments, which can be used for tempos.

9. dirt roads and trails available nearby.

10. UW has some of the lower tuition rates in the area.

11. no state income tax.

12. some of the cleanest air in the nation because of the winds (not true for the Denver/Boulder area or ABQ).

13. Active XC skiing community (for when you want to cross train).

good luck and god speed.