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Ever wanted to go to World Cup?


nmonteith

10-Nov-2005
8:41:20 AM

On 10/11/2005 climbingjac wrote:
> In Australia, if only out of respect for the situation, climbing
>on a wall where an accident has occurred normally ceases for the day.
>This does not appear to be the case in Europe. People continue climbing
>even while first aid is being administered. !!

I don't know about that! I can think of a particular Phil Box/Lee Skidmore accident at the Paradiso. Lee
drops rock onto his belayer Phil, puncturing his lungs and breaking a few ribs. Lee requests a belay
change so he can finish his onsight! Luckily there were enough climbers to both belay and patch up Phil!


Romfrantic

10-Nov-2005
8:50:07 AM

On 10/11/2005 nmonteith wrote:
>I don't know about that! I can think of a particular Phil Box/Lee Skidmore
>accident at the Paradiso. Lee
>drops rock onto his belayer Phil, puncturing his lungs and breaking a
>few ribs. Lee requests a belay
>change so he can finish his onsight! Luckily there were enough climbers
>to both belay and patch up Phil!

Neil, she was making a general comment...she did say "normally" - that does not discount the odd exception to that observation! ....great anecdote though...


HM33

10-Nov-2005
8:50:42 AM

indeed. that was a pretty nasty wack phil sustained as well.


skip1

10-Nov-2005
11:26:09 AM

Hey Jacquie,

Nice trip report, it is very funny & entertaining to read!

I am just curious, what do you win if you win the worlds? Are the prizes good?

cheers
Kuva


Phil Box

10-Nov-2005
3:11:14 PM

Ooooh, somebody taking my name in vain. Heh, I was proud of myself for keeping Lee on belay the whole time I was writhing around in agony. Tag team belay change and he`s off to the top. Meanwhile I need to crawl to the car, thankfully there were a few people to hoist my sorry ass up the 2 metre rock wall on the way out. Love that levitation.


nmonteith

10-Nov-2005
3:24:50 PM

[back to the topic]

Your trip reports are fantastic Jaq. Your a natural story teller. Keep em coming...


The Elk

10-Nov-2005
5:32:46 PM

The wall for this up coming comp looks incredible.
You've inspired me Jac....
Hope your head is okay though.

climbingjac

11-Nov-2005
2:51:33 AM

On 10/11/2005 skip1 wrote:
>I am just curious, what do you win if you win the worlds? Are the prizes
>good?

Prizes at the Worlds are $$$. A few thousand Euros I think.

climbingjac

11-Nov-2005
2:53:12 AM

On 10/11/2005 nmonteith wrote:

>Lee drops rock onto his belayer Phil, puncturing his lungs and breaking a
>few ribs. Lee requests a belay change so he can finish his onsight!

Hmm, each to their own.


Phil Box

11-Nov-2005
7:45:22 AM

Actually Jac it wasn`t really like that. Lee was almost to the anchors and so it was just as easy to get to the anchors and then clean the route on rap before he got down to me. He really was very concerned for my welfare.

Anyway yesplease do get back to the trip report writing, luvvin the writing style Jac. Go get em girl.


manacubus

11-Nov-2005
9:20:34 AM

Thanks for painting me in the best light Neil-o!


nmonteith

11-Nov-2005
9:25:22 AM

thats ok ;-) - it was pretty funny at the time...

climbingjac

13-Nov-2005
4:51:06 AM

OK the hits to the head took their toll this week. I think I wrote off 3 days! Let's see now... I spent Tuesday in transit from Nimes (France) to Geneva (Switzerland). Liked the concept of staying the night in Switzerland so I did. Could not get my act together the next day... I just wandered around in a daze and visited the doctor. The next day I moved to Milan. I am not sure why, because I did not enjoy Milan last time I was there. But it was the closest available backpackers to where some friends were staying such that I could hook up with them to climb. I spent a day wandering around Milan and being frustrated by the fact that the gym was inaccessible without a car. I also noted a really strange older guy paying far too much attention to myself and another girl (local) on the train. When he got off the train he lurked on the platform and smiled and waved which weirded me out. I took a careful look at the passengers on the neighbouring carriages to ensure he hadn't re-boarded the train in another carriage with the intention of surprising us when we got off the train. Thankfully he had not done so and the day passed without incident.

The next day I moved to Lake Como, where I am now. I went climbing with my Ukranian friends today. I trained in from Milan to Lecco and met them at Lecco Station. They were stuck in some kind of traffic jam on some cute little road somewhere, so I sat in the sun and chitchatted to the station staff who seemed thrilled to bits to have a visitor from as far away as Australia.

The name of the crag we went to today escapes me, but it was a groovy local crag with a 20m walkin and lots of locals that were very excited by the concept of foreigners being there.

Como itself is absolutely gorgeous. For anyone considering a backpacker mission to northern Italy, I would suggest not bothering with staying in the backpackers in Milan. Stay at Como and do Milan as a daytrip, see the Duomo and The Last Supper and be on your way. Como is so cute I think I could entertain myself for a few days here, taking ferries between the other cute little towns and such. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Nevertheless, the accommodation is cheaper, nicer, and the staff are ridiculously helpful. I have opted to eat at the backpackers tonight, as they are offering a four course meal for AUS$15. I believe I am having some sort of bolognese pasta, followed by pepper steak, fruit salad and something else I can't seem to recall. You can't go wrong really! That said, on my stroll to the internet place (which offers the first half hour of surfing for free if you buy a drink), I saw a few really great looking restaurants with those beautiful internal archways made of stone. I will have to eat in a couple of them if for no other reason than the atmosphere.

Right. Anyway, so a few days of having been unwell, it is about time to train again. At the crag today, there was a local guy promoting a new climbing gym in Lecco. I can get there by ferry or bus from Como I believe, so on Monday I will probably check it out. The countdown to the next World Cup event is on. Less than one week till I am on the wall again - and I am determined to be less nervous this time, and crank hard. Woo hoo!


manacubus

14-Nov-2005
10:10:09 AM

Sounds great - best of luck!


manacubus

16-Nov-2005
1:07:14 PM

Regarding Jac's international incident near-miss, here is the version of events from Russian (?) climber Maksim Petrenko. I think it's funny if for no other reason than his English. Although it's better than my Russian, that's for sure.

"We are staing in St.Leger now wild camping.It is fun we have a big group 1 australian girl,2 guys from New Zeland it is so good to know more about different people.We climb all the day long . Today we have a rest day some of our guys went to Nice and we are now in Avinion with Patxi Usobiaga , girl from Spain and girl from Australia . First we went to small city Carpentras and we got to a very strange situation there . In the entrance we have asked some people about enternet cafe(they were marocian) and they told us they can show where it is . We followed their car and finaly we arrived to a narrow street, we parked there and went towards internet point , australian girl have shaked the hand of a guy who we followed for and he gave me his hand to shake but i have not done it because i did not like him and he asked me ,,,you dont like me , i helped you and you dont want to shake my hand,,, he was realy agressive and he started to say very bad things to me . i am sure he would be ready to fight with me ... Of course we desided to leave imediatly and we have noticed some guys near our car , they left write in the moment when we set in the car ... And we desided to go to Avinion for internet , thats the way it is ... "

Sourced from his 8a.nu blog.

climbingjac

18-Nov-2005
9:08:45 AM

Hello hello!

I have continued on in my pattern of being "a bit out of it" since the head hitting incidents. Oh well. It makes for some amusing scenarios. The weather in Como was foggy every day that I had available to me for tourism, and as such going on the boat or the funicular (train thing that goes up the hill for the purpose of letting you absorb the view) seemed rather a waste of time. I spent my time doing what I love most - cruising around the streets of Como and Lecco admiring the buildings, cobblestone roads, lifestyle etc. I must tell you that on Lake Como they have an obsession with dressing their kids really well. There is even a store called "Armani Junior" in Lecco. From my observations, it is not possible to dress your baby for less than AUS$300 here! This is rather annoying, because my neighbour has just had her first baby and I wanted to bring back a cute little jacket for her. Perhaps an orange downie such as the one I saw a baby wearing in the supermarket the other day. It was fully badged up with all the relevant labels and I quite fancied one for little Maegan. I developed an unhealthy obsession with searching for such an item, and found many - for the cool price of around AUS$160. As such I have found alternative stuff for Maegan! The babies (bambini in Italian) look really funny in their down jackets. Because their arms are so short, you can´t actually tell if their elbows are bent or not. As such the bambini look like they are sitting in their prams with their arms outstretched at all times, not dissimilar to a cabbage patch kid doll.

Another thing to note about Lake Como is that it is important to have a dog if you are a resident, and that the dog must be kept "just so". The little doggies have their own fancy jackets and ribbons in their hair. I find it really bizarre. The other day I was off to the bakery, and on one side of the road there was a lady and her dog from the bronx side of town. On the other side of the road was a more posh lady and her very proper dog. The bronx doggie caught sight of the posh doggie and went absolutely nuts. I assume he wanted to head over the road for a chat. While the bronx lady tried to restrain her little doggie on its leash, the posh lady politely looked in the other direction pretending the whole incident wasn't happening, while her posh doggie literally raised its nose into the air, turned its head ever so slightly in the opposite direction and upwards to be posh, as if to say "oh please, do not cause such a scene!".

I have much more to report, but this restaurant featuring a single internet pc is now closing. I'll write more in the morning!

Jac

climbingjac

18-Nov-2005
8:22:10 PM

On Monday, I headed to the main bus stop in Como in search of a bus that could take me to the town of Lecco. There, I could visit the climbing gym I had heard about. Or so I hoped! As I arrived, I conveniently located a bus with "Lecco" written on the front, and I quickly bought a ticket to get me there, and another to get me back again. All the while,
the driver was revving the engine impatiently as I tried to hurry the ticket guy along. An hour and 15 minutes later, one dedicated little Aussie arrived in Lecco. The next task was to find a map. What a mission. Of course, the tourist office is nowhere near the station and bus stop. It is on the other side of town. I eventually found it, and the staff
were really helpful. They even called the gym to double check that they were in fact open from 5pm before I went to the effort of walking there. When I arrived at the gym, a woman was just leaving. I indicated that I was there for the climbing, and to cut a long story short, she wouldn't let me in, because it was reserved for a private group between 5pm
and 8pm. I showed her the leaflet that said the gym was open to the public from 5pm, and she just wasn't interested, and said I should come back at 8pm. I explained that this was no good, as I had to leave by 8.30pm to catch the bus back to Como, but still she didn't care. I was furious and had to go and find a quiet spot in the street to calm down and
decide what to do. After a while I realised she had left, but someone else would have to return to open the gym, and that it would be unlikely to be another lady. If I know one thing about men around the world, it is that if you talk them in circles enough, they eventually tire and let you have your way. So I returned, and hey presto, there was a man
there, and I put my plan into action. And after lots of talking, I succeeded. By that stage, I felt so unwelcome that I didn't even want to climb there, but I did because I had to train. I climbed amongst a group of young children, for whom the gym was reserved. It was quite a lonely experience, and I was grateful when some people closer to my own age
showed up.

climbingjac

18-Nov-2005
8:29:53 PM

As per normal, there were not many girls about and accordingly the local lads were very welcoming. One of them, Fabio, who is apparently one of the volunteer staff that is reponsible for opening the gym, was horrified when he found out I had earlier been refused entry by the lady. He scolded her,
saying "she came here from Australia!" Anyway, I got my session in, and all was well. I planned to train the following day also, but was far too tired.

climbingjac

18-Nov-2005
8:37:20 PM

Some interesting things I noted during my tourist day in Como on Tuesday are related to general consideration for others. Italy has a very old population, so perhaps people are a little less tolerant than we are at home. In the bus, noone gets up to offer the elderly a seat, and the driver does not even wait until the elderly at least have a hold of a
sidebar to stabilise themselves. He floors the accelerator, the elderly people stumble, and the bus continues on its journey. The sidewalks are very narrow, so you often find yourself squished between a wall and a parked car. As such, when someone is approaching on the strip of sidewalk, but travelling in the opposite direction, something has to give.
Logic says that if you have an extra bit of sidewalk (eg a piece of driveway or something), then you could spare a few seconds to step aside and wait for the other person to pass. I don't see much of this happening though. On my exhausted walk back to the backpackers on Tuesday, I was giving way to an old woman, and as she passed I gave her the nod and
the "sera" (evening), and she took a second and then her head jerked up, and her eyes widened in complete shock at what was occurring. I assume she is used to being shoved out of the way. She seemed very pleased and said "Grazie!"

climbingjac

18-Nov-2005
8:44:07 PM

On Tuesday, I also bought my train ticket for Slovenia, even though I did not plan to take the train until Thursday. This is because there are always 15 people in front of you in the queue, and due to the ageing population, they are often all rather senior, with plenty of time to ask lots of time-consuming questions at the ticket counter. This is
completely ok, though a tad exhausting to endure when you have your big backpack with you. So I chose to purchase well in advance. Of course, the ticket man could not be bothered finding out if the trains I would be taking would require
supplementary tickets (which are essentially compulsory reservation fees over and above the ticket fee itself, as the train is a fast train). So, of course, my mission on Thursday would not only involve changing trains in Milan and Venice, but also praying they were not late, and rushing to the ticket counter to find out if I needed supplementaries.

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