Sicily Easter Meet 2015

Alison enjoying the sunshine at Parco Cerriolo

Alison enjoying the sunshine at Parco Cerriolo

Attendees (in order of appearance): Scott Titt, Nick Steen, Trevor Langhorne, Patrick Hazlehurst & Julie, Graham Williams, Richard Hardwick, Bryn Roberts, Alison Cairns, Andy Cairns, Andrew Kitchen, Diane Kitchen, Tony Sawyer, Chris ‘Charlie’ Watson, Emma Young, Pamela Holt, Astrid, Andy & Philippa Saxby, Ann Blandford, Angela Soper, Sara Knowles, John Byrne, Marushka, Pete Lucas plus occasional guest appearances from Jim Titt, Ragnar, Pete & Liz.

I wasn’t sure how well a meet where everyone has to organise their own flights, car hire and accommodation would work, and until quite late in the day thought that we would be a small and select bunch. In the end we had an excellent turnout and one of the most enjoyable 2 weeks I’ve spent in a while, with superb weather, fantastic climbing and a great bunch of people making it a truly sociable and fun meet.

Scott, plus the main NMC gang of Nick, Trevor, Patrick & Julie arrived first but were greeted by cold, rainy and unsettled weather – Trevor had hoped to mount an expedition to climb Mt Etna but was foiled by reports of large amounts of snow! We arrived just as the weather changed, Sunday being the start of 2 weeks of sunshine, although during that time the temperature varied from pretty chilly with a strong northerly wind to sweltering in the mid-twenties. That actually worked well since with mainly south to west facing cliffs we got the chance to climb on the sunniest parts when it was cool, then chase the shade on the hot days. Perfect! It even got hot enough for a few brave souls to try out the campsite swimming pool though I gather the sea was still a bit on the chilly side.

Week 1 'soiree'

Week 1 ‘soiree’

The El Bahira campsite proved to be an ideal venue for a meet. We were allocated 5 adjacent caravans which we dubbed ‘CC Avenue’, and which became the social hub for the meet. Others were spread out at opposite corners of the site in apartments, other mobile homes and the climbers’ camping area, which gave the meet leaders a bit of a headache when trying to keep tabs on everyones’ plans each day! There was a fair bit of mixing & matching but generally two or three groups formed and headed off to the different sectors. The fact that a large proportion of the climbing is within walking distance of the campsite, and some actually within the campsite grounds, makes organisation so much simpler.

The campsite bar and restaurant were open every evening, plus the pizzeria opened on Wednesday & Saturday evenings, so almost all our socialising could be done without the need to drive anywhere – again making it much easier to organise. We followed the rapidly-becoming-traditional formula of holdin­g ‘soirees’ at our caravan – very civilised with drinks and ‘nibbles’! – so everyone could congregate and socialise before heading off to the bar or restaurant for a meal.

Charlie cranking hard!

Charlie cranking hard!

Various trips were made to the local cultural sights of Segesta and Erice, and to the natural reserve of Lo Zingaro on the other side of the peninsula, plus one evening Scott led a botanical expedition to hunt orchids which was enthusiastically received.

And the climbing? Everyone agreed – simply superb!

Special thanks to Scott for help with organising the social events, and of course to him, Jim and their friends for all their hard work over the last few years developing this fantastic climbing playground for us to enjoy.

Alison & Andy Cairns

All images by Alison & Andy Cairns

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