This morning when left to Fontainebleau city again, it was only -9°C and while driving through the forest, it even dropped down to -11°C.
It was shivering cold and it was hard to imagine that before I moved to Bleau, I used to sleep in a tent with such freezing temperatures when I came over for the weekend.
-11°C is too cold for climbing so I had to wait for the temperature to rise a bit.
I must be getting old ...
It was around noon when I parked at Franchard Isatis and it was still five degrees below zero.
Still extremely cold, so I decide to stroll around a bit in the area and see what I will climb.
To make it even worse, I ended up in the sector on the even colder North face of the hill in the sector of "L'Insoutenable Légèreté de l'Être", where I stopped at "Screaming Tree", one of the many problems opened by Ivan (Moreels) and Steven (Demets) in that sector.
Even though it didn't take me very long and only a few tries, it did feel quite hard for the grade. Especially the topout that I did while leaving all ethics behind.
Either way, I made it and that's what counts.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - Screaming Tree 7A
Still strolling around, I eventually found myself in front of "La Fissure Évasée", a problem that will probably be enjoyed by the better crack climber.
It didn't give me any problems, but I must admit that I was a bit lucky that one of my fingers got jammed quite well high up in the crack, making it possible to finish the problem.
It didn't give me any problems, but I must admit that I was a bit lucky that one of my fingers got jammed quite well high up in the crack, making it possible to finish the problem.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Isatis - La Fissure Évasée 7A(7A+)
It was harder and harder to fight against the cold and stay warm, so I went home to warm up and drink a coffee.
After being warmed up again, I went to Rocher Cailleau to try "Vandale" or "Alien", two 7C's that I got reminded of by watching the latest video from fellow climber and video maker, Christophe Cayssiols. Unfortunately he fell off the last move on both and they remained projects.
There was another car parked next to road in Paris-Forêt, but it was a small one, so I didn't expect any crowd.
Only one other climber at the "Vandale" boulder, and it turned out to be Christophe himself. Talk about coincidence.
We met once on a humid day in Gorge aux Châts, both looking for anything dry. We went home empty handed but had a good talk.
It was nice to see him again and after he gave me some beta we tried both problems together.
For me it was the first time trying both problems (apart from trying to get my ass off the ground in "Vandale"), but Christophe gave me some good tips and I could do "Vandale" from a crouching start without doing the first move.
I can get my ass off the ground, but I still need to work on that first move.
I worked out the moves of "Alien" but now need some more continuity.
Two more projects on the list, but they are very high on it.
Christophe got really close again sending both, but will need to come back. He'll do them very soon.
There was another car parked next to road in Paris-Forêt, but it was a small one, so I didn't expect any crowd.
Only one other climber at the "Vandale" boulder, and it turned out to be Christophe himself. Talk about coincidence.
We met once on a humid day in Gorge aux Châts, both looking for anything dry. We went home empty handed but had a good talk.
It was nice to see him again and after he gave me some beta we tried both problems together.
For me it was the first time trying both problems (apart from trying to get my ass off the ground in "Vandale"), but Christophe gave me some good tips and I could do "Vandale" from a crouching start without doing the first move.
I can get my ass off the ground, but I still need to work on that first move.
I worked out the moves of "Alien" but now need some more continuity.
Two more projects on the list, but they are very high on it.
Christophe got really close again sending both, but will need to come back. He'll do them very soon.
Thanks for the nice words! We went to Cuvier Sorcières with a good friend and I made a (rather) quick ascent of Petit Tas Petit there... Easy for the grade with my height and if you don't using your butt to top out ;-)
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