Surrounded by the steep limestone faces on which the competition was originally held and thousands of people have climbed, Arco is an inspiring place. A castle towers high above the town with narrow cobbled streets housing delights for all. An ice-cream parlour serving more flavours than you can name also displays photos of the owner with famous climbers. There’s pizza, pasta and outdoor equipment stores. The cafe by the church, with the usual array of tables in the street shaded by an awning, is a climbing cafe. Climbing is everywhere.
Over fifty nations paraded through the streets, lined with photo portraits of previous stars of the competitions and welcoming spectators. The town celebrates climbing. We held our flags high and made our way to the competition arena for the opening ceremony. After pledges to abide by the rules of the Climbing and Paraclimbing World Championships, we were entertained with an artistic display of singing, dancing and acrobatics. The theme was elements, relating the 3 disciplines of bouldering, lead and speed to fire, air and water with power, grace and flow.
Over 700 competitors were entered between all the disciplines – amazing. For me the bouldering competition had its ups and downs. The qualification problems were very doable, but also very droppable. Competing against almost 70 other girls, we were split into two groups in which we needed a top ten result to proceed to the semi-finals. This is the biggest field I have competed in. I flashed 3 problems and dropped 2, with some frustration. I tied with Alex Puccio and for some time we were in joint 10th place. Some strong contenders came through and we finished joint 12th in our group, 23rd overall. Once again, a close one. I am very pleased to have flashed problems, got points in such a big field and tie with Alex, a multi-finalist in the World Cup series.
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