Sicily Easter Meet, March/April – 2016

Kevin on Fun to Funky - Photo Emily Huzzard

Kevin on Fun to Funky – Photo Emily Huzzard

Attendees (more or less in order of appearance): Andy Cairns, Alison Cairns, Ted Rogers, Fiona Sanders, Keith Sanders, Tim, John Gregory, Dee Gregory, Charlie Watson, Emma Young, Sarah Birkhill, Maurice Birkhill, Pete Lucas, Emily Huzzard, Al Barber, Nevil Hewitt, Al Randall, Ali Athroll, Ian Athroll, Mette Christensen, Kev Stephens, Maggie McPherson, Chris Hindley, Pete Wimbush, Ann Blandford, Chris Johnson, Hazel Jones, Astrid Saxby, Andy Saxby, Philippa Saxby, Maggie Bass, Simon Brocklebank, Ben Brocklebank, Janet Wright, Pete Wright, Andrew Kitchen, Diane Kitchen, Lionel Edwards, Jane Edwards, Jessica, Frazer – Plus occasional appearances from Bron, Ben, Thea & Lily, Marcus & Anna (friends of Charlie & Emma), Pamela Holt & Nigel (on a small but perfectly formed NLMC meet), Harry Moss & Danielle.

Full Photo Gallery …

Since the first Sicily Easter meet last year was such a success, this year we were basically doing a repeat, which in many ways made it much simpler. I wasn’t sure how much interest there would be second time around, but in the end we got a nice mixture of people from last year coming back plus a good number of first-timers (although some had previously been on other trips there). In the end it proved hugely popular, with an amazing 42 attendees over the course of the 2 weeks (not counting the extras) – quite a lot for the poor meet co-ordinators to keep track of! We also had a good mix of Climbers’ and Pinnacle Club members, partners, family and friends – all were welcome, and it made for a very varied social & climbing group.

The weather played its part well again this year. Having been quite wet in early March, once we arrived we a had little bit of everything from quite cool and unsettled to start with, then mostly hot and sunny interspersed by a few days of strong winds. Mostly these were the usual cool north or westerlies, but on several days they were from the south, straight off the Sahara desert so hot, dry and dusty – it’s really quite disconcerting to see (and hear) such a strong gusty wind, but then go out into it to find the temperatures in the upper 20s! Conditions on the west-facing cliffs were fortunately surprisingly climbable, being sheltered but with just enough wind to make the temperature bearable, and (unusually) meant we could climb in the sun all day. On calm days we just had to get out as early as possible, climb until the sun came round then retire to swim, eat ice cream or drink beer – what a hardship!

Once again the El Bahira campsite showed what an ideal location it is for a meet like this – nearly everyone stayed on the site, either in mobile homes or apartments (none of our group slummed it camping this year – although Kev & Maggie were in their brand new swish campervan, and Mette was as usual in her trusty car/van having come all the way from Denmark to join us). The campsite had again managed to put us all in adjacent mobile homes (at one point we were occupying 7 along ‘CC Avenue’!) which made socialising and organising/meeting up to go climbing very straightforward. Plus the campsite bar opened the weekend we arrived, allowing us to get into a nice routine of ‘watching the sunset’ aka ‘having a drink’ on the beautiful bar terrace – Andy & I converted quite a number of people to the joys of an Aperol Spritz over the course of the meet.

Once again, due to the numbers involved, all of the group social events were on the campsite, with three early evening ‘soirees’ (note to future meet co-ordinators – arrange a follow-on meal to create a cutoff time, otherwise people will stay all evening consuming an inordinate amount of food and drink!). We had big group meals in the campsite pizzeria twice, and the restaurant once.

CC / Pinnacle Dinner - Photo Emily Huzzard

CC / Pinnacle Dinner – Photo Emily Huzzard

Despite all the eating and drinking, a huge amount of climbing was achieved, helped by the good weather and easy access from the campsite. Andy & I were there for our 6th and 7th weeks, but there is just so much great climbing there that we were still able to find new routes, and indeed whole new areas, to climb, plus there are so many 5 star classics that you don’t mind repeating multiple times. Again thanks must go to Scott & Jim Titt and their friends for developing such a climbing paradise.

Interestingly this year far fewer ‘cultural’ forays were made, most people seemed more than happy to stay in the immediate area climbing, walking or just lazing around – which I think says more than anything just what a fantastic place it is.

Alison & Andy Cairns

Posted in Meets, News

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