So we originally planned to go to a lantern festival somewhere in South Korea. I (Sam) didn’t do any research on this festival all week so I had no clue about where it was, how far away it was, how long the travel time was etc. Some of our friends had done a little bit of research but none of us were doing a good job at coordinating this weekend (like we did so amazingly last weekend), so I wasn’t particularly thrilled to go to this festival. So when Friday came around and we had to finally decide on when we were leaving and what not, I was quietly pleased to hear that Courtney got invited to a wedding for Saturday afternoon. This was pretty convenient because “I can’t just go and leave Courtney here all weekend, that’s not cool, she’s my friend!” Of course if I had really wanted to go then she wouldn’t have had a problem with me going without her, but I just wasn’t feeling it this weekend. Luckily, there was actually another festival going on right in Courtney’s neighborhood!
This cow was keeping everyone under control.
Instead of taking a 3 hour bus ride and having to pay for a motel and deal with all that; I got to sleep in Saturday, and then slowly make my way to Yeonil (her neighborhood) for the festival around 5 pm. (yes....that I VERY slowly made my way to.) I invited our new friend Dong Hoon from the climbing gym, and we also met up with Dan and Brandon at the festival grounds. It was a really neat little festival which was honoring the day that Hangul was created. We met some very excited Korean people there who were pleased to see foreigners at the festival, and wanted to be our friends all night! There were arts and crafts, as well as antiques and house pets being sold. There were also a few speeches and get this.... a paper lantern display! No kidding, we really didn’t miss anything by just staying in our town for the weekend. After the paper lanterns floated off into the distance, we ran into another man who climbs with us, with his little son who also climbs. He treated us all to dinner which was really nice, and then we headed back to Courtney’s house to play cards on her roof. It really was a great night!
We got cool food tokens made to look like old coins.
I'm not sure how safe it is to sell a snake this size. The boy is thinking "pet" while the snake is thinking "dinner"!
They were selling the smallest hampsters ever!
Some Korean man gave us a kite to fly for about 10 minutes.
The paper lanterns about to start their journey.
Two of our climbing buddies, Dong Hoon and Che Hee.
Today, we met up with about 8 other guys that we climb with and we all went to a mountain for a day of climbing. I was a bit nervous on the way to the mountain because I had never top roped on real rock before. Here’s a little lesson for everyone out there who doesn’t have a clue about what that means. There are different ways to rock climb. There is bouldering which is climbing low without a harness. This is most common in climbing gyms because you don’t have to depend on someone else all the time. Bouldering is more independent, and good its for training. Then there is top roping which is what most people think of when they hear “rock climbing”. Top roping involves a harness and a rope, and going up really high! Now, I could get even more specific with the different rope climbing but that isn’t really necessary in this case. So back to my point, I had never done top roping in a real mountain before, AND my experience of top roping even in a gym is minimal. When we got there, we first had about a 20 minute hike up the mountain, which for me was not too pleasant because it was also my first time ever hiking. Once we got up there, the gym owner started climbing this huge slab in front of us. Courtney was belaying him, and once he got to the top she thought he was coming down, but instead he told her to come up! So, looking a little confused but extremely brave seeing as how she was new to slab climbing too, she started climbing. The first part of the climb was a bit tricky but once she got past the beginning, she flew up the slab with no problem. As she disappeared over the slab, our friend Dong Hoon was getting ready to do the same thing on the same rope. I was after him, and I was pretty nervous. All of this was new to me and we didn’t really get any instructions or anything on what we were doing. We were just climbing. So I started climbing the slab, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was doing a really good job. I had a little bit of a hard time in the beginning like everyone else but once I passed it, I was unstoppable. Once I got to where everyone else disappeared, I realized that they weren’t on the top of the slab at all. Everyone was just propped up against not-so-big ledges on the side of the slab. I found a space to wedge myself into and just sat there with everyone else while we waited for the last person to climb up.
So picture this: You just climbed your first slab and you are now sitting 5 stories higher than you were about 10 minutes ago. The only thing keeping you from sliding right back down is your foot pressing on a small rock you used earlier to pull yourself up with. You aren’t tied to any ropes, and you’re trying really hard not to over think that if you make one mistake, you will die! Now add to all of this, the fact that you are coming to the realization that you might be afraid of heights. Ok so, you’re not that person that tells everyone you are, because it’s not your biggest fear, and you love roller coasters. But this becomes clear as you are sitting on this slab, in front of the most amazing view you will never see on the ground, and half of you is telling the other half of you not to panic while there is a bee flying around your head; because you can’t run away from it. This was my first outdoor climbing experience.
After the last guy got to where we were, we climbed even higher! I thought that it wouldn’t be too bad because the first climb was actually pretty easy. We went in a similar order as previously, so Courtney went first. I went right after Courtney, but something was different this time. She hadn’t finished climbing to the top yet, and I was told to start climbing. Then Courtney told me that I was attached to her rope and that I was climbing while she was still climbing. This was really strange for me (another new experience) because if she fell then I fell, and the only way I had a tight rope was if she climbed up higher. It was really odd not having someone actually “belaying” me, but I climbed up anyway. When I got to the top this time there was only a slightly bigger ledge for us all to be on, but luckily this time we all attached ourselves to a safety rope. Once everyone got to this level, we all shimmied over to a super sketchy slab, where we clipped into a hold and took some awesome mountain background pictures. After that we shimmied back to the ledge and started belaying ourselves down. Once again, this was something I had never done before so I was nervous. This is where you have a “belay device” and you slowly walk down the rock slab. The scary part is that if you let go of your right hand, your belay device isn’t stopping you anymore and you are falling to your death. Dramatic but true! Luckily everything went very smoothly. We all made our ways down the slab and after everyone was back on semi solid ground (we were still really high on a mountain) we had lunch.
Our lunch was really great, everyone brought something, and we all shared everything. Courtney and I brought some Kimbap (Korean sushi) and others brought soup, and meat and seaweed and kimchi, etc.! Oh and we also had quite a bit of Makkoli which is a Korean milky rice wine.
The gym owner relxing while one of the other guys is preparing to go up.
Courtney repelling the crap out of that slab!
Our lunch was really great, everyone brought something, and we all shared everything. Courtney and I brought some Kimbap (Korean sushi) and others brought soup, and meat and seaweed and kimchi, etc.! Oh and we also had quite a bit of Makkoli which is a Korean milky rice wine.
The start of our awesome picnic feast!
That is a CHAIR in his right hand, and Ramen in the pot. How much better can it get?!
Posing with the Makkoli.
*Courtney insert*
Hi, this is Courtney. I am popping in during this entry to add a bit of extra pazazz!!
After lunch we were given a "slab climbing" lesson. Our climbing instructor demonstrated how to climb and fall safely when climbing a sheer rock face. Though the entire lesson was in Korean, we were able to figure out what was going on because he kept falling down the rock wall very safely.
After this lesson, I guess it was time for the practice. We realized this when the instructor came up to me and Sam and said “who’s first”. Sam graciously allowed me to go first. (Of course, this had nothing to so with the fact that we didn’t know what was going on. She is just such a nice person.) I go over to the rope hanging down from the wall. The instructor ties me to it, gives me a bunch of funny looking tools, and says “climb up, hook daisy chain, clean gear, belay down.” Very simple and easy instructions! I figured if he trusted me enough to jump up that wall and not die, I wasn’t going to die right? So up I went.
The tool he had hooked me up to was some sort of handle. You slide it up the rope, it catches, and you pull yourself up while taking a step. It was like climbing up very big stairs, except it was a flat rock wall, and I was tied to a rope. When I got to the top, I did exactly what he said. Not so hard, once I got down to it. Luckily I did everything right, belayed down safely, and was still alive when I reached the bottom.
When I got to the bottom, Sam was about to go up. Me, being the oh so helpful and understanding friend, figured she had been given the same speech I had, and was now ready to climb up that rock! She headed on up, like the slab-climbing beast she is! Unfortunately for Sam though, she hadn’t received the same speech as me. The only speech she got was “Sam, your turn.” Of course, I didn’t realize this until she was at the top of the rock, trying to figure out how to get down.
Woops.
Courtney with the gym owner and the "bad man".
After everyone came back down, we started to pack up and head home. The hike back down to the car was pretty scary. I had slipped a couple times and I was actually trying to be really careful too. It was a pretty intense first hike I would say. Come to think of it, today was a day of many firsts. First hike, first outdoor climb in Korea, first outdoor top roping, first time using a daisy chain, first time belaying myself, etc.
I'm a slab climbing pro now!
The drive home was about two hours and once we got back we were asked if we wanted to go to dinner with everyone. Of course we couldn’t turn down an invitation so we went and had sam gyeup sal with everyone and it was great. We had a pretty huge group by the end of the dinner with people who didn’t go on the trip coming to join us throughout. After a long dinner and learning lots of words and phrases like “liar” and “don’t call me names” Courtney and I headed home. This weekend was really amazing. I am super glad things worked out the way they did. We ended up going to a festival anyway, despite the fact that we missed out on the one we planned for. We even got to see lanterns at this festival so it felt like we didn’t even miss out. AND since we didn’t stay the night at the out-of-town fest like we had planned, we were able to go on an amazing climbing trip the next day.
Tomorrow Courtney and I plan to buy a bunch of climbing gear from the gym! We are both getting harnesses, belay devices, new shoes, and daisy chains. This climbing trip – even though there were parts where I was extremely scared – was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had in my life. It definitely was exhilarating, and I can’t wait until we get to go again!
you two are SO badass.
ReplyDeleteFace climbing is great isn't it? That is where I have had most of my experience, though self-belay is not in my armoury! Look forward to my 1st climb with you guys!!!
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