August 08, 2025 - Say what ?

I actually wanted to take a rest day today, but after a whole morning of garden labor, I needed something else and decided to go to Roche aux Oiseaux for a quick climb anyway. After a long period of drought, it seemed like a good idea to finally try the very slow drying "Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon". Try to say that name out loud correctly from the first time. Definitely a contender for most stupid name for a boulder problem in the forest. It might have its reasons to be named as such, but I'm not in the know.
Somehow, this problem always scared me a bit, climbing right above a low boulder and a sketchy landing. I probably always thought it was a good reason not to try it when it's mostly wet. 
Anyway, I took the time to practice the crux move, going from two tiny crimps on the lip of the roof to a very far sharp jug high above. Surprisingly, it didn't feel as scary as I expected it to be, and I was able to do the move rather quick, immediately followed by the ascent of the whole line.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon 7B(7A+)

It was extremely hot and I had almost packed up already, when I figured to try a more interesting variation. The original problem starts with a sitstart with both hands on a very good huge low ledge. As it's allowed to use that same ledge for the feet afterwards, the first part of the problem consists of almost literally walking on it. I now wanted to the same line, but completely excluding that lowest ledge. Of course, in this case it starts standing with both hands on the higher ledge and then climbing through the roof without the low ledge. It makes the problem slightly harder and definitely more interesting. As I knew how to do the crux move, it went down from my first attempt.

Fontainebleau - Roche aux Oiseaux - Tudoisjefaisouquoiahbon (sans le bas) 7B

August 06-07, 2025 - Video bombed by the sun.

Yesterday morning, my main goal was to try "Habibi" in Apremont Fond des Gorges; a very isolated and slightly hidden boulder, away from everyone. I had looked for it a few years ago when I was in the neighborhood, and found it wet after quite a long search. I was able to have a good look at it though, and I was determined to come back for it one day after a longer dry period. Not having had a lot of rain for quite some time, yesterday seemed like a good moment.
It was a hard battle against high and dense ferns, but it was all worth it. I took a brief moment to try the upper part as a warmup, tried the first move and immediately sent it after turning on the camera. I was glad, but also a bit disappointed that I already had to leave that nice isolated place again.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Fond des Gorges - Habibi 7B(7B+)

This morning, I had the intention to try "L'Être Hâve (assis)" in Mont Ussy, which I did, but after dry firing off the crimps for the x'th time, I decided to pack up and walk over to Roche d'Hercule to try "Finement Con", a boulder where I already stopped several times, but the holds under the roof were always wet so I could never try it. Now, it was all dry and I was finally able to spend some time on it.
This one turned out to be quite harder than I expected, but with each attempt I made progress. I was able to climb the whole thing after a longer time that I had anticipated and when I got back down from the boulder, I noticed the camera standing full in the sun that had passed the trees and the boulder. It was standing the shade at first, but sun had moved from behind the trees and the boulder, shining directly into the lens. There was absolutely nothing to be seen (see the first few seconds in the video below).
I wanted to repeat it again, but it had become too hot and I barely had any skin left. As I had to move the camera much closer to be in the shade, it couldn't capture the whole boulder anyway, so I decided to just make a montage and did it again in two overlapping parts.

Fontainebleau - Roche d'Hercule - Finement Con 7B(7B+)

August 04, 2025 - Brother from a different mother.

My brother from a different mother and his girlfriend were visiting over the weekend, and even though we barely climbed, it was quite exhausting. Being out of my regular rhythm and having short nights always takes a toll on me. I didn't let it get to me too much, so after they left this morning, I drove to Rocher Canon, with only "La Mare (droite)" in mind.
I had passed by and stood in front of "La Mare (droite)" many times in the past, but I had never had the chance to actually try it. Either there was a big pool of water just under it, or it was at the end of a session and I didn't have it in me anymore to try it. Being such a beautiful boulder and a classic of the area, I had to at least try it once.
The boulder was dry and so was the little pit below it. Nevertheless, the conditions kind of felt bad and I wasn't sure if it was due to my skin or the holds themselves that never get the sun on them. I also felt tired and had already come into peace with the fact that I might not even be able to top it out today, but then I found a toehook on the right. It opened up another possibility and it only took a few attempts to get it to work and top it out. Glad to have done this classic, and I even might go back one day for the sitstart.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Canon - La Mare (droite) 7B

July 27, 2025 - Raved out.

For the third time in three months, an illegal rave has been causing me two nights with little sleep. This time, the rave was being held in a meadow in the forest at not even three kilometers from my house. Hearing the constant techno beats from Friday night through to this afternoon is quite tiring and annoying. The gendarmerie is aware, but besides checking everyone that enters or leaves, they can't do a lot. A small village gendarmerie corps can't do much against a group of 200 ravers. I have to admit that I couldn't suppress a smile on my face when the rain poured out of the sky for about an hour this morning, Okay, everything was wet, but feeling tired, I didn't feel like leaving early for a climb anyway.
Early afternoon, I arrived in the Franchard Raymond area and walked straight to "Stach-Stach". The regular start with the slopey ledge served as a good warmup to get my body going.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Stach-Stach 7A

The low start, named "Kouloukoukou / Stach-Stach (du bas)" took me substantially longer. It doesn't add a lot of moves, but they are somewhat awkward to execute, despite involving a toehook.
When the strange toehook stayed in place long enough, it was an easy topout. Both the regular and low starts are very soft for the grade, but I had fun, and that's what counts.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Kouloukoukou / Stach-Stach (du bas) 7C

July 26, 2025 - Heat is a crux.

First, a video from last Tuesday evening, when I went for a quick climb in Rocher Guichot after dinner. Just playing around in some of the moves of "L'Atelier", and ended doing a dyno from about the middle of "L'Atelier", straight up. The topout was lichened and required some brushing beforehand, but when Christophe (Laumone) passed by coincidently, I asked him, and he confirmed that it had been done already ages ago. I couldn't find any information about it on bleau.info, so until any information pops up, I named it "Jeté Oublié".

Fontainebleau - Rocher Guichot - Jeté Oublié 7A(6C+)

This morning, I walked the whole way to Rocher Fin, which didn't turn out to be a very good idea. I don't go there often and I can't even remember when the last time was. There were two problems that I had in mind, "La Micholeg (assis)" and "El Kift". Unfortunately, both were full in the sun, and it was much hotter than it felt this morning when I left the house. Due to the still growing heat, I didn't even bother trying "La Micholeg (assis)", and dedicated all my attention and effort trying "El Kift".
I had briefly tried "El Kift" a few times in the past, but never for long,because I was never able to come close to doing the first move. My first attempts today weren't any better, but despite the heat, I made slow progress and decided to stick with it. The boulder being full in the sun, made me take small breaks in the shade after about every two attempts. It was somewhat annoying and I almost decided to leave when I suddenly stuck the first move and almost matched the small crimp. With a boosted motivation, I kept trying and suddenly was able to match the crimp and go for the sloper higher up. I knew that I could that last part and I thought it was going to be a done deal, but the warm slopers and crimps made me doubt and I still fell off where I shouldn't have anymore.
Knowing now that slopers and crimps at the top were feeling so warm, I at least knew what to expect and was quite confident that I would be able to topout if only I would be able to repeat what I just did. After a short break in the shade, I did everything the same, except for the end. This time I was able to top it out.

Fontainebleau - Rocher Fin - El Kift 7B+(7B)

July 19, 2025 - Back to the roof.

After a short work week of physical rest, I felt in good enough shape to go back to the big roof of Eléphant Ouest. I especially wanted to retry "Grosminet", but upon arrival, I started warming up in the vertical last part of "Splatch". Starting from the big hold right at the lip of the roof, it seemed like the most difficult part of "Splatch" was there. It took me a while to figure out how to get from the big hold to the good slot far left and took a few good falls there, luckily each time on the only crashpad I had taken with me, besides the starter pads.
Once I had figured it out though, I decided to go for "Splatch", took a few good deep breaths and set off. The first part under the roof went quite good, and when I got to the big hold on the lip of the roof, I didn't waste time or energy trying to rest there. Being a pure boulderer, I haven't learned how to rest well at big holds. Mostly they just continue sucking the power out of me. Knowing what to do, I got passed the sketchy move to the slot, stayed focused and topped out. That was a nice surprise.

Fontainebleau - Eléphant Ouest - Splatch 7B(7B+)

After a short break, it was time to retry "Grosminet", and I immediately felt the difference compared to last time when I was feeling so tired. It still felt really hard, but I could move and started to believe it was possible. After a couple of tweaks, I finally also managed to do the crux move and I started doing some real attempts from the start. It was hard and I fell a few times, but with each attempt, I memorized the moves better and better, until finally, it all stuck and I was able to top out. It did feel hard though, and I really had to put up a fight to get this beauty done.

Fontainebleau - Eléphant Ouest - Grosminet 7B+

July 14, 2025 - Tired.

My body felt quite tired this morning and it was already pretty late in the morning when I arrived at the big roof of Eléphant Ouest. My initial idea was to try "Sherpa", but I was alone, feeling tired, and after inspecting the whole line and seeing the quite exposed topout, I decided to try something else. "Grosminet" looked nice and in my style, but no matter what I tried, I just didn't have enough power to do the crux move.
As a consolidation prize, I settled with a flash go of "Le Grand Toit (droite)".

Fontainebleau - Eléphant Ouest - Le Grand Toit (droite) 7A(6C+)