May 13, 2016 - Insects, snakes and the God of Thunder.

Last time I climbed was very briefly on Monday evening.
I had just arrived back from my grandmother's cremation ceremony in Belgium and had time to do two attempts on "Misfits" in Roche au Four before it started raining.
It kept on raining for 4 days until finally today it stopped for a while. Long enough to allow me to have a short climbing session.

It wasn't a good decision to go check out the new openings in Cuvier Nord, because indeed, the boulders on the North side don't dry quickly. My curiosity had taken over.
The sun was shining and dried some parts of boulders but as the forest was still humid, it resulted in damp, bad conditions.
The humidity in the air was really high and the sun called out the insects too. It was as if I was a giant attraction for all the flies, mosquitos and bugs out there. All seemed to want a part of me.

After strolling about for a while, I did find "Viper" dry enough to climb. At least the hand holds were dry, the feet a bit less.
I was a bit cautious in the beginning because a boulder with such a name probably means that the openers did see a viper near the boulder. After all, it did look like an ideal viper home underneath it.
"Viper" has been proposed the grade 6C+(7A+), probably depending on your height or length of armspan. I will keep it in the middle and would say soft 7A will do.

Fontainebleau - Cuvier Nord - Viper 6C+(7A+)

I then scouted around a bit more, but conditions were so bad that I wasn't able to try anything else, so I decided to try something else, somewhere else on my way home.

Ironically, on my way back to he car I nearly stepped on a viper when I was in the back of Bas Cuvier.

It surprised me because there were quite some people in the area. 

Let this be a little warning to be cautious to all of you, especially to those with children.

A bite will not get you killed, but a trip to the hospital will be needed and you will feel very sick the least.

On my way back home, I made a quick stop at Franchard Isatis while clouds were gathering and I could hear the distant rumbling slowly coming closer.

Most of the few people out there were already rushing back to their cars when I arrived there.

I had one quick goal, "Nezzundorma" near the middle of the area and I didn't have much time left before the storm would reach me.

The first time I tried "Nezzundorma", I barely had skin left on my fingertips and it was impossible to hold on to the small crimp with the right hand.

After 5 days of no climbing, however, a thick layer of skin had grown on my fingertips now and I really could pull hard on that crimp now. 

I topped it fairly fast, and just in time, the God of Thunder was as good as above me now and he sounded angry, I had to pack fast.

I arrived at the car just in time, because the drops started falling and soon after a short monsoon followed and lasted for a few hours.

Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Nezzundorma 7A