Written by Clea Hall
I had the privilege to represent Australia at the World University Games and World Youth Championships during August and September. I absolutely loved my time overseas and posted the highlights on my Instagram (@cleahall147) as everyone does. Although, as a friend of mine calls it, I had a lot of ‘type 2’ fun that I’ll be sharing with you here.
Type 2 fun: Not fun while you’re doing it, but fun when you reflect back on it.
So, let’s go from the start shall we.
Youth World Championships in Guiyang, China / 15th August- 31st of August
My trip started off quite well with an easy flight path and quick stopovers. This all changed pretty soon as my last flight was delayed 1 hour. I had arrived in Guiyang with my phone at 10% battery, no knowledge of how to speak Mandarin, and a prebooked taxi service that was nowhere to be found. It was also 2am in the morning. So, yeah, things went downhill quite quickly.
It all perked up over the following few days as I got used to being in China. My room was absolutely lovely. I had a balcony all to myself that I would use in the mornings for my meditation and stretching as the sun rose before going down to breakfast. It was quite a blissful routine. As I arrived much earlier than other teams, I got to see everyone slowly trickle into the main hotel.
Before I knew it, the event began. I still don’t know how exactly it happened, but one thing led to another and all of a sudden, I was the chosen athlete to say the athlete’s pledge at the Opening Ceremony. I said all the words correctly but didn’t know what they wanted me to do with the flag and ended up holding it incorrectly. Whoops!
The climbing facilities in the area were absolutely horrendous. There were 5 gym options that all said that they were much better than they were, if you get what I mean. These gyms had some of the smoothest jugs (didn’t even have crimps or sloppers) that I’ve ever seen in my life. Everyone ended up going to the same facility which only had 6 (average) lead routes and an 8 meter long boulder wall that charged $40 per person. The competition facility itself was so far ahead of all these gyms with several floors of bouldering. We just weren’t allowed to access it unless it was for warm up during our events.
The city itself and its landscapes were beautiful. Once I got the hang of it and my events were over, I ended up going to Getu Cave (which has routes that have been established by some of the greats in climbing!) and another nature reserve nearby. Nature simply took my breath away. I hope to be able to go back to Getu one day in the future to try some of the harder routes that it has to offer (and be strong enough to try them).
And just like that, my time in China was over and I had to say goodbye to all the friends that I made. I hope to be able to visit them all someday or see them at World Cups!
World University Games / 1st September- 14th September
Now, my time in Slovenia was much calmer. I started my trip off with a few hours in Venice. I landed around 11pm in Venice and would leave the next day to go to Lake Bled where I was to meet up with another girl in the Australian team (that I’d never met before but I was sure we’d get along). I woke up around 5am, had some protein powder and water, and went walking around the silent city of Venice. I walked around, took some photos of some people that had been out all night, saw the bridge that Spiderman got filmed on, and the city of Venice wake up to a beautiful sunrise. The vendors began opening their store fronts, the supermarkets opened and the people began cluttering the streets looking for coffee. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Upon arriving to Lake Bled, I went to the climbing gym there. The walls were AMAZING. Something that I could only dream of having in Brisbane. I even got a catch from Vita Luckan (a Slovenian Lead World Cup winner).
Upon the beginning of the competition, we went down to Koper, Slovenia by bus in the rain. Sunny Koper was in fact not sunny while we were there. It was poring rain that caused one issue then another. It rained during the opening ceremony. Later, our Boulder Qualifications got pushed forward by 3 hours due to there being no rain cover on the temporary walls and the holds being drenched. Additionally, the format got changed from 5on5off to 4on4off to make sure that the last few climbers wouldn’t get rained on. A wild start to the competition.
Everything went well from there on out except for the cancellation of the Lead Semi-Finals (that had 2 Aussies in it!). We also couldn’t access our accommodation anymore as the underpass had been flooded. Our options were either a sketchy walk on top of some beams (in the underpass) or crossing a 6-lane highway. We had to do this walk around 6 times a day to access food and the climbing gym. We had fun with it though and no one fell in (luckily!).
Having been home and with the time to reflect on my time overseas, these moments where things didn’t go entirely correctly are what made the whole time so eventful. Being able to compete overseas isn’t always about the competition but the places, people and experiences. My soul feels fuller than it did when I left Brisbane, and I am so thankful to be able to have a lifestyle and support system around me that allows me to do what I do. I can’t wait for more crazy times like this in the future!
