Red Bull Cliff Diving 2011 – final stage in Yalta

Place: Ukraine » Crimea » Yalta | Tags: , , ,

So I finally decided to write about my little trip to the Crimea, which took place almost two months ago.

In August, I learned that on September 4, Ukraine will host the final stage of the world series of cliff diving - Red Bull Cliff Diving. Without thinking for a long time, I decided to go and see the masters of this unique sport, who jump from the rocks from an incredible height of 27 meters.

Map of Gaspra, Yalta

Day one: Arrival

03 September, Saturday. In the morning I took the train to Simferopol. Near the station, at the bus station, chaos reigned - a minibus, the driver of which assured that we will now go to Yalta, and without a ticket, suddenly got a sign with the time of departure, and it was filled with people with tickets. Then I went to the trolleybus stop nearby and took a ticket to Yalta. In twenty minutes I was riding in the trolleybus. Gradually, mountain landscapes began to emerge, and closer to Alushta, numerous vineyards became visible, some of which were planted along the road.

The Crimean mountains reminded me of my childhood when I was in the Caucasus in the summer. Of course, our mountains are not so big, but that's another story.

Two and a half hours later we entered Yalta, outside the window was the sea, which went on indefinitely, merging with the sky. I did not wait and took a minibus to the Swallow's Nest, which is located in the village of Gaspra (locals say Gaspr, perhaps this is the old name of the village). In general, if you look at the map, all the villages that are located near Yalta (Gaspra, Livadia, Oreanda), together with the city itself are called Greater Yalta.

Here I am on the spot, going down to the Swallow's Nest. Halfway to the castle, I see Titanic a huge ship appear across the cliffs, which turned out to be cruise liner Queen Victoria, accommodating two thousand passengers, excluding one thousand service personnel. As I found out on the Internet, it left Yalta for Odessa as part of its Mediterranean tour.

The cruise liner Queen Victoria sails past the Swallow's Nest

A minute later the liner disappeared, and I went to the pier, from which castle and a place to jump is very visible:

Swallow's Nest

Although cliff divers have jumped and jump straight off the cliffs in the first place, a small platform is being built for them at sporting events. It is being prepared:

Preparation of platform for Red Bull Cliff Diving

View from the Swallow's Nest on the Black Sea:

Black Sea

And this is the first time I appear in a photo on my blog. During cycling trips under the summer sun I sunbathe well:

Kos

At the bottom, a large screen has been installed, which will show jumps and interviews of athletes during the competition.

Screen

It was getting dark, and after inspecting the place of the jumps (going inside the castle was not allowed), I went back to the highway, where immediately behind it is the territory of the Yalta Mountain and Forest Nature Reserve, where I settled with a sleeping bag surrounded by bizarre Crimean trees that dropped all its bark because of the heat.

Day two: Competition

04 September, Sunday. After getting enough sleep and having a breakfast, at 6:30 I set out to take a seat to watch the competition. Yesterday I was convinced that the choice of places was small, and a lot of people were expected. No one was allowed in the most convenient place - the berth at the foot of the rock from which they will jump - it was set aside for the most important guests. There was a small observation deck left, but the sun was scorching closer to 9 o'clock, and I decided to join those people who decided to climb the cliffs. There was at least some shade from the bushes, and it was possible to lie down comfortably and watch what was happening on the Swallow's Nest.

Red Bull Cliff Diving 2011 Swallow's Nest

There was an hour and a half before the start of the competition. In the photo it seems that the jumping zone is very far away, but in fact everything was visible great.

And here is a photo where with the help of the height of a person on the site, one can estimate, how big the height of these 27 meters is:

Red Bull Cliff Diving 2011

When the time came, the cliff divers performed one jump each, before which they actively warmed up on the platform.

Cliff diver prepares to jump

At this final stage of the competition there were 4 series of jumps. The first series took place on September 3, so the athletes have already tested the place and earned the first points. In the second series, the jumps were, so to speak, "easy", with a fixed coefficient of difficulty. The third series of jumps was performed with an unlimited coefficient, and in it each of the thirteen athletes showed what he is capable of. Six best jumpers, including Ukrainian Oleksandr Kutsenko, made it to the final fourth series:

  • Gary Hunt (England)
  • Artem Silchenko (Russia)
  • Michal Navratil (Czech Republic)
  • Alexander Kutsenko (Ukraine)
  • Cyrille Oumedjkane (France)
  • Alan Kohl (Luxembourg)

Cliff diver makes a handstand

In the last series, the difficulty factor was also unlimited. Gary Hunt made the most difficult jump, but his entry into the water was not perfect. Who surprised with his technique of execution is the Russian Artem Silchenko, who was very warmly supported here. After each jump, he broke the applause, because his performance was just perfect - he entered the water almost without splashing. The judges also praised his jumps, and as a result he overtook the British Hunt and became the champion of the Yalta stage, setting a record for the number of points scored in one stage. People on land and on the water congratulated the winner even more than Gary Hunt, who was awarded as the winner of the 2011 season.

Yalta champion Artem Silchenko is being interviewed. He is, of course, happy with the victory, because this season he has repeatedly taken second place, and here it is a long-awaited victory.

Artem Silchenko

The best jumps:

The competition was over, and I went to Yalta on foot, because all the minibuses were full, and it was impossible to squeeze in with my backpack. Along the way, I walked the Sunny Trail - a historic path that runs along the highway. There is no roadside on the route itself, so you go straight on the road and constantly make sure that there are no cars at the turns. So I walked for about an hour, then got on a minibus. I drove to the embankment, where I found a pebble beach near the city port. I quickly plunged into the sea and went to the bus station. As soon as I got off the trolleybus, it started to rain. The night on the open-air failed. When I asked near the bus station, I learned that the room for a night would cost me 150-200 hryvnias. But then I saw an ad for long-term rest rooms at the bus station, 80 hryvnias per night. I decided to stay there, also because I had to go straight from there the next morning. The room turned out to be five sleeps, except me, there was a guy from Moscow who lived in Dnipropetrovsk as a child, and then another man who also came from my city moved in. We talked a bit about Euro 2012 and the fate of Dnipropetrovsk in it, and that, according to the local newspaper, there are too many people in Yalta who do not work anywhere, but earn well.

Day three: Going home

05 September, Monday. At eight o'clock I got up, went downstairs to the ticket office, took a ticket for a minibus to Simferopol. Upon arrival, it turned out that the minibus was only half an hour faster than the trolleybus. Before the train departure, I walked the city, went to the market, bought local souvenirs.

The train was delayed a bit, but then went on schedule, and late in the evening I was already in Dnipropetrovsk.

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