About the Site
Programmer + Climber + Love of Weather = ClimbingWeather.com
I started ClimbingWeather.com while living in Washington, DC circa 2006. Usually, Wednesday or Thursday would roll around and we would scan several weather sites for the best weather within a 6 hour radius of where we lived. That meant it could be the Gunks, Seneca Rocks, the New, or even the Red (if we were willing to drive a bit further). Flipping back and forth to all those sites was a pain! Plus with pop-up ads, etc, you get the picture.
I had been a programmer for about 6 years, but still didn't have my own website. Sure, I started a blog like everybody else, but I'm not the type to update stuff like that on a regular basis. Instead, I wanted to create a site that I could 'make work' and then would more or less run itself. No content updates, just good information.
Poking around the internet I found out that our tax payer dollars fund certain public-facing National Weather Service features. This included a web service for point weather forecasts. These are the exact same forecasts that can be found on the NWS website. Wouldn't it be great if I could put together a site that linked these forecasts with the specific latitude and longitudes of climbing areas? Better yet, what if I could put in my zip code (20010) and find a listing of weather forecasts for areas near me?
Well, as they say, the rest is history (and a lot of hard work). I still while-away my days at a full-time day job (which is actually working with a really great group of people), but at night, I transform into the climbing community's weather hero. I plan to keep ClimbingWeather.com fast and easy-to-use, and ad-free (although I may add sponsorship spots at some point to cover some costs). So, stop checking those other weather sites, and start checking ClimbingWeather.com!
Hope you enjoy the work that I've done and look forward to hearing from you!
Jon St. John
ClimbingWeather.com
New River Gorge, Fayetteville, WV
