Friday, April 14, 2017

April 14, 2017 - The job is done.

Exactly two weeks ago, I started renovating my oldest son, Anthony, his bedroom for his 14th birthday.
It were a very busy two weeks, working during the day, renovating the bedroom every evening until late and trying to do a short climb in between here and there.

This morning, I left early to buy more paint for the walls, applied a second layer and left for some climbing in Apremont Butte aux Peintres.
With the crowded Easter weekend, the relatively unknown area seemed like a good choice and I still wanted try "Psykokwak", a problem that I never found in good conditions before, but after the long dry period we had, I might make a chance.

The area was deserted, but of course only on the boulder of "Psykokwak" there were some people climbing.
It turned out be Cyrille and Christophe Duval, sometimes referred to as the "Duval twins" in earlier posts.
I watched Cyrille (or was it Christophe?) finish off "Hervé Gourdel" (a 7C(7B+) traverse that ends into "Psykokwak") after which they had to leave.
Thanks to the tip about foot placement for the jump, I was able to do "Psykokwak" after a handful of tries.
Loved that dynamic move to a sloper!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Psykokwak 7B+




Two boulders further, I decided to try "Gecko Tokay" again, a nice 7B that I was too hard on my previous visit.
For some reason, I was able to move much more smoothly through the problem, and also here after merely a couple of tries it was done.
This one needs full concentration until the end!

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Gecko Tokay 7B




Finally, I wanted to end with a small 7A dyno that I saw the Duval twins do on one of their latest videos.
I had never seen "Saint Croc Game" before, but thanks to the directions given by Christophe (or was it Cyrille?) Duval, I found it easily.

For "Saint Croc Game" you have to jump both hands from a slab to an overhanging prow and immediately take it into compression.
That is of course only if you know where to jump to.
On my first attempt I grabbed far next to the holds, but after pointing them out, I did it without problems on my second attempt.
It's a nice dyno, but very soft for the proposed 7A.

Fontainebleau - Apremont Butte aux Peintres - Saint Croc Game 7A




The paint was surely going to be dry by now, so I returned home, went to the shop again, started tidying and cleaning up, moved Anthony stuff back into his "new" room, helped him decorating and saw that it was all good at 22h30.
The job is done.

3 comments:

  1. Hi, Filip. I've discovered your blog and I am fascinated by all the blocks you've filmed and described. Great work.

    In May I'm going on my second trip to Fontainebleau (unfortunately only for four days). Could you give me a tip? There are many guidebooks available, which on would you recommend to someone who doesn't know the area?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi H.S.,

      glad to read that you like my blog and videos.

      There are many guidebooks available and choosing the right one depends a bit on the grades you plan to climb.
      For climbing mainly painted circuits, the most commonly known guidebook is "Fontainebleau Climbs: The Finest Bouldering and Circuits", it's the updated version of the older one, commonly known as "the purple book".
      This book is ideal for starters. It features almost all circuits from all popular areas, which makes it perfect for orientating in the forest and between the boulders.

      For climbing mainly 6th grade problems, I recommend "Fontainebleau - Bouldering Off Piste" and for problems from 7A and higher, the most known is "7+8" from Bart Van Raaij.

      Hope you will have a good time in May!!

      Happy Easter,

      Filip

      Delete
    2. Thank you. Look forward to your future posts.

      Delete