South Korea in 8 days

Day 1

Following 15hrs straight on a plane, too many movies, a serious numb butt, and lack of food, myself and fellow North American–Marc Beverly made it to South Korea. After getting our bags surprisingly quickly we thought we were off to a solid start. Well, that was short lived as our ride didn’t show up, leaving us somewhat stranded in a very foreign place. Luckily, thanks to Mr. Social Network, our friends that had arrived ahead of us left a message on facebook to where they were. At that point we gathered our stuff and headed in that very direction.

An hour had gone by and we were still weaving in and out of traffic through Seoul, South Korea. We still hadn’t arrived at our friends’ hotel and the meter in the cab was getting out of control. Just as the beads of sweat started to poor down our faces, the cab driver finally found the hotel. Our cab bill was $120. Ew. However, because it was over an hour drive we thought, “huh, seems expensive but I guess that’s how it is.” Well, later that night our friends Malcom and Lukasz filled us in on how cab drivers like to hustle foreigners (because they don’t know any better). So that was $120 wasted. Perfect.

Losing complete sense of what time it was and what day it was for that matter, all we could do was drop our bags and crash. It wasn’t the most ideal of situations–4 of us in a room that certainly didn’t accommodate 4 with beds, but we made it work and gave in to the “endless” day.

Day 2

Waking up at around 5am South Korea time, waiting as long as I could, I let out a quiet, “is anyone else awake?” Naturally everyone spoke up with a, “Yes, I’m up too.” The time change was certainly affecting all of us (being 15hrs ahead of our “local time” in North America). After stalling as long as possible Marc, Lukasz, Malcom, and myself got up and began our day of being tourists.

Walking through the streets of Seoul, South Korea, is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Millions of people walking in every direction, scooters weaving in and out of pedestrians on sidewalks, cutting into traffic – nearly getting creamed with every merge, motorcycles carrying enough “cargo” to warrant a moving truck…so much to see, so overwhelming. Despite the initial foreign sentiment, our eyes, in sync, all caught the ever so reliable Star bucks sign-thus our next stop.

After enjoying a nice caramel macchiato from starbucks (the taste was just like home) the four of us ventured into this crazy market area. It was inside, but sort of outside…buildings connected by structural coverings, dark alleyways, tiny little stores with ceilings we all had to duck for. These little “streets” through-out the market were filled with vendors selling everything from dried up fish, pig snouts, weird looking meat (that we still can’t figure out what it was) to endless knock off brands of The North Face (The cool pace). You name it-it was being sold. What we couldn’t figure out is how so many little shops, selling so much “stuff” can make money and survive. Mind boggling.

Our plan in Seoul was to rent a car to make things a little more accessible. Well, after our tour through the street market, upon our arrival at the rental dealer we were told that we couldn’t drive, as we didn’t have an “international license”. Despite every attempt to convince the desk clerk it would be fine…we were shut down. On foot again, we all made our way back to the hotel, happy for the move into our newly upgraded room (because there was four of us now). All excited we opened the door to the “upgraded” room to find no beds. We thought, “so, is there a bedroom?” Nope. No room-just a big open space with no beds. This did not excite us. Despite this slight set back, we all hunkered down for the night, lying on blankets, side by side like in a can of sardines. It was “cozy”.

Day 3

Yet again, up way too early, our crew packed up the bags and headed to the International Youth Hostel to meet up with all the other athletes. Game plan: Hop on a bus and drive for 5hrs to “Cheong Song”, the world cup venue. On a side note-taxi drivers in South Korea are flippin’ crazy. I thought rally drivers were nuts…no contest-put any South Korean taxi driver in a rally race…with a taxicab…they’d win hands down.

I’ve never been a big fan of trips via buses. They’re uncomfortable-no leg room, and if you fall asleep it’s usually in some position that when you wake up it feels as though you’ve become paralyzed from the neck down. Although not thrilled about the bus ride, hangin’ with all the athletes from across the world was great. We didn’t get to see much on the bus (as the windows were frosted over) but one very unique thing was getting sprayed down at these random stations on the highway. These stations were not manned but guarded by mechanical dummies. These spray stations would wash all the vehicles to try and prevent any sort of disease from entering that particular area. Crazy.

Within 20mins of our destination the bus pulled over and dropped everyone off at a “local” restaurant. This restaurant had prepared a huge meal for all athletes and organizers. Naturally I was expecting North American food…nope, very very different food was presented before us. I’m not much for adventure when it comes to food…but I gave ‘er a good go. Needless to say, I didn’t eat much and remained pretty hungry (luckily I had a power bar in my pack that I could feast on). As we piled back onto the bus suddenly 2 F14’s jetted overhead. All of us sort of stood there, all thinking the same thing, “uh oh, that’s not good” (hence the “issue” going on between North and South Korea).

Pulling up to the athlete hotel in Cheong Song is something I’ll never forget. Stepping off the bus, instantly we were swarmed by a craze of media with cameras and clapping/cheering. Because this was the first Ice climbing world cup in Asia, it was a very big deal to the locals and abroad. Everyone was very keen to talk with us and take our pictures/film our entry. All the athletes, including myself, felt very welcomed. The energy was buzzing through everyone with anticipation for what was to come-the main event. We were all on the brink of making history-being a part of the first Ice/mixed world cup in asia.

In the evening, we (the athletes) were presented by an outstanding/breathtaking opening ceremony at the Cheong Song community centre. Cultural dancing, a parade of Korean children, each one holding a flag that represented one of the countries attending the world cup-speaches by the Alpine federation, the Mayor of Cheong Song, Korea, it was incredible. Each athlete being called by name, standing up to be introduced, all of us felt welcomed and honored.

Oh, and our “fancy” hotel still didn’t have any beds. Sigh, 3 more nights without a bed. However, our nice comfy hard floor was heated. There’s always a bright side.

Day 4

Game day. 4 months of preparing, mentally and physically. This was the first World cup of the circuit – Cheong Song, South Korea. Getting off the bus (from the hotel to the venue) we were all in awe over our first sight. This towering spire smeared with ice, guarding the 3D, space ship looking event structure. We didn’t get to look at long as all the athletes were escorted to isolation. But we all saw enough to send chills up our backs.

Isolation (where athletes are kept before competing) can be an intimidating place before a big event–athletes from all over the world, preparing the best way that they can, doing what they know. It’s a mental battle to not get sucked into the mentality of, “well maybe I should warm up that way”. No, it’s so important to stay focused, to rely on what you know, how you’ve trained and prepared. The second you fall into the likes of how someone else is warming up, so many things can lead to a downward spiral from there.

At my first world cup in 2010 (last year), being in isolation…I was a wreck. I didn’t know how to prepare, what to prepare, what to do. I didn’t warm up right, I didn’t eat right, I was stuck in isolation for hours. Well this year, it was different. I knew what I was going into-what to bring, a game plan of sorts. It also helped that I now knew a lot more people, so I could actually converse with others instead of sitting in a dark corner by myself.

“Gordon McArthur, you’re next”. Hearing those words naturally made my body swell. Suddenly my relaxed state was replaced with “holy crap”. It wasn’t 5 minutes from when they called my name to when I was walking up to the first asian mixed climbing world cup comp route. Standing beneath this behemoth of a structure…it felt like I was about to fly into outer space.

The clock started and I was on my way. I was pulling down hard, taking no rests, cruising through the first 5 or 6 moves. Things were feeling great. I was moving fast which was my #1 goal. I situated myself on this dangling log of ice, calculating my next move. Raising my tool up, extending as far as I could, seeing the next hold, suddenly I found myself falling. My tool had ripped through a “sinker” hold. The ice blew apart on the log and I fell. It shouldn’t have happened. These “drilled” pockets are supposed to be bomber. But my chosen pocket wasn’t. Faster then I could say “Noooooo” I was being lowered to the ground. It was over.

Part of competing is accepting whatever’s thrown at you. “Some days you’re a rockstar, and some days you’re a rock”-Wg. Everything was going right, until it all went wrong. Could it have gone differently? Of course. Could I have done differently? Of course. But, I needed to accept how it actually went and then try to re-group. I was heartbroken. All the travel, preparation, people watching, friends and family…I felt like I let people down. This was one hard pill to swallow. Thank goodness for friends with all their supporting words.

After the qualifiers we traveled back to our hotel-without skipping a beat I went straight to my room and crashed (on the floor).

Day 5

Waking up I was faced with a decision: Am I going to let what happened yesterday dictate the rest of this trip, or am I going to use this as another tool I’ve been given to build up my experience and go after the next world comps with further gained confidence? It took a bit but I decided to snap out of the poor me state of mind and be there for those who had qualified for the semi finals. So, off we went on the bus again to the venue, wearin’ lots of warm clothes in preparation to stick it out for the day, in the windy cold temps, cheering on the qualifiers.

Having the opportunity to witness some of the strongest climbers on the planet, being able to pay close attention to their skill, it allowed me to learn. What a treat that turned out to be. There’s so much to learn in this particular style of climbing/competing: how to sharpen your picks and crampons, what gloves to wear, dipping your hands in chalk before you put your gloves on, the movement whilst climbing…all of it…there all tools to grow and progress. And what became evident, it doesn’t all come over night…it comes with mileage, experience, and then it becomes only a matter of time.

When the dust had settled, there were only 8 left on each side-8 men and 8 women for the finals. My newfound attitude allowed me to enjoy this exceptional opportunity to watch the best of the best crank down on the wildest structure/route I’d ever seen. Move after move both men and women were pulling down, crushing moves I thought weren’t doable. The intensity alone was enough to keep my heart racing. On the men’s side it came down to the wire: both Marcus Bendler and Park Hee Young had reached the final hold but both weren’t able to clip the chains due to timing out. Essentially it was a tie…for the moment. On the women’s side, several were neck in neck with respectable high points, but only one was en route, cruising like it was childs play. Angelika Rainer was well in place for winning as her speed and elegent movement was foreshadowing a sure win.

Suddenly the crowd was in an uproar. Something had happened. The belayers out of nowhere were abruptly pulling Angelika off the route. She didn’t know what was happening so she tried to keep climbing…but with taught rope, she fell off. Judging by her actions she was less then happy, and that only elevated when she found out that the judges made a mistake by pulling her off.

There was a discrepancy over whether or not Angelika forgot to clip one of the quick draws en route. Now, if you do forget to clip one, and then clip the next one it’s a disqualification. Without getting into the nitty gritty of it, it turned out that Angelika didn’t forget and that the judges had made a mistake. And because of the mistake Angelika was awarded another attempt.

When you’re gearing up for a comp, preparing for your climb, all your energy is directed at that attempt. When you expend all that energy, throwing all your eggs into that one basket, being told to climb again…well…it would seem almost impossible. Angelika of course tried again, but half way up the route a hold broke. Once again she was being lowered. She was awarded another attempt but by that time she was freezing and exhausted. Angelika had just been robbed of what could have been (would have been) a world cup win.

Waiting with anticipation, the judges came out to announce the winner of the men’s lead final. Everyone knew that Marcus and Park Hee were so close at the end, so the hype to who won was creating a frenzy of excitement. “And the winner of the Men’s lead final is Marcuuuussssssss Bendleerrrrrrrrr”. Right away we rushed Marcus, congratulating him as he just won the first asian world cup of mixed climbing. It was out of this world. Being there, watching him climb, understanding his movement and decision making, and then being able to congratulate him in person. Opportunity of a life time.

Back at the hotel, during the athlete dinner, and after several beer “chugging bouts” with the Mayor of Cheong song, Korea, a bunch of the athletes and myself were able to converse about the entire comp and all that went on. You see, whether it’s about falling off early or being robbed of the win, or even falling off the first hold (which did happen by the way-and with one of the top in the world at that), shit happens. Some things are in control where as others aren’t. You take the good with the bad, the lucky with the unlucky and keep on trucking.

The last couple of days in Seoul

Getting back to the International Youth Hostel in Seoul was somewhat revitalizing. I think mostly because we finally had beds to sleep in. The food was still, well…let’s just say I think I’ve lost weight whilst being here, but I felt as though my mind set was somewhat re-grouped and re-focused. I also had a chance to finally see my girls through skype video chatting. Usually when I’m on a trip, by day 5 I’m missing my family. So, by day 7 I was startin’ to miss them a lot. Thank goodness for technology. It’s hard being away from them for this long. And I still have 2 weeks to go. I gotta say, it wouldn’t be possible…any of this, without the support of my amazing wife and wonderful baby girls, and whilst on the subject–my friends (especially those who help out with climbing/belaying), and of course my sponsors that provide me with so much of what’s needed to go after such a dream.

For the next couple of days Marc (my co-team North America member) and I were able to train at an indoor climbing gym which was super beneficial to us. One of our worries with being on this big trip was that we wouldn’t be able to train, and with lack of climbing/training-that could have cause and effect on our mental and physical states.
We found the climbing gym in Seoul, which was run by the Alpine Club of Korea. A subway and scary cab ride sat us on the front door step of the 02 Climbing gym. 02 you might wonder? Well, in the basement of this gym there just so happens to be a gigantic ice climbing gym, a big fridge if you will. Yup, 50ft high of ice climbing. It was wild. As if we were ice climbing inside a building.

After a few hours of dry tooling and ice climbing, the both of us felt satisfied with our work out–so we hopped back into a cab, then onto the subway, and back to the Youth Hostel. And to keep the energy going, instead of resting back at the hostel, we ventured out into what could be related to the middle of downtown Manhattan during rush hour. It was like a spider web of streets, glazed with people, lights, music, and food being greased up for anyone that walked by.

I couldn’t stop staring. Lights flashing, steam filling the air, people criss-crossing in every direction, Dunkin Donuts four stories high, packed to the nines, shops “shoe horned” into every last bit of space available. You could stand in one spot, not moving for hours, and not get bored. It was like being on another planet. And just as I was feeling totally out of place, foreign with everything my eyes gazed upon, I spotted a Baskin Robins to which I indulged in a big tasteful Strawberry Ice Cream Cone. Ahhhhh, a sweet touch of home.

On our last day in Seoul, Marc and I were able to take the morning and rest. We stayed in cruise control for pretty much the whole morning, catching up with emails, writing about our trip, and just simply relaxing. The afternoon however was a different story. Two of the Russians (that were also competing in the world cup), Alexi and Luda, invited us both out to train with them at the 02 climbing gym. Heck ya! What an opportunity.

Climbing with the Russians was amazing. They were able to analyze some of my climbing/movement and help me to improve on it. They enlightened both Marc and I on some training tips as well as general technique. Specifically, Alexi pointed out that I need to be more confident with bigger moves. I have the power, I just can’t hesitate when in explosive movement situations. That in it of itself got me totally fired up for the next competition on this adventure. Simple little tricks that make a world of difference, I can’t wait to implement them during the real deal.

It’s been 8 days of pure craziness–from world cup competition, to getting hussled by cab drivers, the ups and downs of the emotional roller coaster, the food, sleeping on floors, training with the Russians, hangin’ with friends, playing pingpong (defending my title from last year against the Russians-which by the way I’m still undefeated), meeting so many wonderful people, drinking “unknowing” medicines in hopes of curing colds, navigating through the wildest of markets, oh… and then of course getting into a car accident on the way to the airport (yeah, our bus driver fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a car. Bus was mangled, car was really mangled-as if that happened), Marc, myself, and everyone else that was here to experience this culture, pretty much experienced all of it-South Korea in 8 days. What a ride.

Next stop–Milan, Italy. I’ll post this chapter of the adventure in a few days. I think I’m also going to post some info on some of the gear that I’ve used on this trip whilst competing-specifically little tricks with certain gear that coincide with climbing and competing at this level and style.