July 21, 2018 - There's no place like home.

On Tuesday morning, I left with my oldest son, Anthony, for a surfing trip in Carcans next to Lacanau, not very far from Bordeaux.
The idea was that we were going to stay there until today and come back home in two days to make it really easy.
The weather was perfect, the waves were there, the surfing was good, the environment beautiful, but despite all of that, I missed the beautiful forest of Bleau and I hated all that sand everywhere, except when it comes into the form of the soft sandstone like at home. I even missed the weight of my crashpad when walking around.
On top of that, I was having difficulty to recover when spending the night in a sleeping bag on not so sandy ground, but rather rooted from the pine tree forest that we were in.
I honestly felt relieved when Anthony shared the same feelings, so we decided to pack up, left yesterday morning, drove straight home and arrived in the evening.

This morning, when I woke up after a heavenly good night sleep, I was motivated like crazy to go for a climb.
It was going to be hot in the afternoon, so as usual, I left immediately after my morning ritual. I couldn't wait to lose some skin on the sandstone and get my hands dirty.
After a long period of drought, I figured that maybe, finally, all the holds of "Katioushka" in Bois du Rocher, would be dry. It's a perfect boulder to try on hot days as the beautiful steep overhanging prow is faced North and it starts in a sort of pit. However, I had never seen the boulder with all the holds dry, so I was never able to try it before.
I enjoyed the short walk in complete solitude and found the boulder pitch dry. Every hold was dry and the boulder protected the line from warming up in the sun. It was perfect.

Almost at "Katioushka". There's no place like home!

I gave it a test try to see where the first crux would be and from where I should start working out the moves. As the prow comes out of a pit, it's easy to start anywhere and work out each move separately.

As soon as I had done every move, and linked some, I set up the camera and pressed record for some tries from the start.

I went through the first crux better than expected, but made a mistake on the next move, which turned out to be a better method than I had worked out. For a fraction of a second, it had taken me out of my flow, but I decided to continue and go for the next move which I made just in time while slipping off the key left crimp. Luckily it stuck and even though completely surprised that it did, I climbed on, made it through the next crux and almost miraculously didn't fall off until the end.

I had just done "Katioushka" and almost couldn't believe it!

Fontainebleau - Bois du Rocher - Katioushka 7B+

Of course, after a short break, I had to also try the easier left variation, "Katioushka (gauche)".
Pretty much the same start, but going left with a far move and finish with the left arete.
The far move to the left is the hardest as the position out of which you have to push sideways is far from good and the move is not always certain.
Also, minipad placement (if you have one) is important, as I placed it wrong and fell with my back directly on the small boulder under the start. Not from high, but nevertheless quite painful.
I made it soon after.

Fontainebleau - Bois du Rocher - Katioushka (gauche) 7A+(7A)

I had already pack up again, but stayed and enjoyed the surroundings for a while, when I noticed another line on the boulder, "Le Flanc de Katioushka", which starts far left and ends into "Katioushka (gauche)".
This one I "flashed" quite easily, but it turned out to be very much nicer than I had expected. Maybe I made it a bit harder on myself, but the moves felt great to execute.

Fontainebleau - Bois du Rocher - Le Flanc de Katioushka 7A

My back hurts from the low fall, my legs and arms are bruised and scratched, but I know why and I love it!

There's definitely no place like home!