Another crazy week at work with no time to climb, but finally this evening I was able to disconnect and relax on a small boulder in Roche aux Sabots.
If I had to name one boulder on which I didn't have fear for falling at all, it surely would be "Vieille Canaille".
The small roof of barely one metre high even has flat soft landing. Luckily, because a crashpad wouldn't fit anymore.
I had only tried this once before and even though I could work my way through the roof quite quickly, it was the hard mantle that had prevented me from topping out.
Thanks to not having climbed this week, the skin on my fingertips was thick enough to not be afraid of pulling hard on the only tiny crimp for topping out.
One of the nicest extreme lowballs in the forest that I have done so far!
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots - Vieille Canaille 7B+
It was a hell of a workweek the past week!
The company I work for has been bought by another even bigger company, and on Tuesday was the first day of the integration of part our systems into theirs.
As I was directly involved in parts of that integration, it mean long working days until colleagues based in the United States could take over.
This was repeated until Friday, when things calmed down and were getting into place, but on Thursday evening, when I weighed myself, I was shocked to see that I had lost almost four pounds on barely three days.
Considering that I have a desk job and most of my work was done on remote systems in a datacenter in The Netherlands or in the Cloud, I wasn't moving around a lot, so the loss of weight could only be explained by stress.
On Friday evening I was finally able to relax and went for a short climb, but already after my attempt on "Bioéthique" in Roche aux Sabots Sud, I was exhausted and felt extremely weak so the climbing didn't take long.
Saturday morning I had to drive to Belgium, but I was already back again just before noon today.
My body felt better and there was plenty of time for going back to "Bioéthique", but I felt tired from the drive, so I drank a coffee before leaving to Roche aux Sabots Sud again.
It was a tremendous difference as compared to Friday evening.
The hard part under the roof was still a bit pumpy and the last move before the hard mantle needed some working out, but all in all it didn't take long before I stood on top of "Bioéthique".
Another very sweet problem, but with the start under the roof, it comes closer to 7B in my opinion. Quite morpho moves too.
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Bioéthique 7A+
"Zen Mes Doigts" starts like "Zen", but exits with the arete left of "Bioéthique", good for some very nice moves up to the arete, that I was able to work out, but by that time, the still higher rising sun was directly in my eyes when coming with my head above the boulder, making it impossible to see anything to use to mantle out.
I will try to come back soon for this one!
I found more shade under the boulder of the recently opened "Ashtanga", at barely 20m from the "Zen" boulder.
A lowball boulder with a small roof, featuring several problems, out of which "Ashtanga", which I had briefly tried on one of my previous visits, but the slopers under the roof were in too bad shape to make some realistic attempts.
Today was much different, and somehow, the energy kept on coming. Combined with the motivation I had in me, I was able to cruise through the first part of the problem soon, but then came a morpho move that took a while before I had figured out the correct distance.
Last, but not least, letting go of my right hand without swinging too far and falling off, needed a small dose of luck to successfully finish it off.
"Ashtanga" is much nicer than it looks at first, but those who want to try it should hurry before the wet periods come back. This one will most likely dry very slowly.
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Ashtanga 7B+
It was a beautiful sight looking at the "Voltane" boulder from down the hill of Franchard Sablons Carriers. The rising sun created magnificent sunbeams piercing between the trees and lighting up small coloured spots scattered on the hill.
A picture doesn't even come close to doing such beauty justice, but I gave it a shot anyway.
The beauty of Franchard Sablons Carriers in the morning with the "Voltane" boulder in the background.
After such a long dry period, I had come up with the idea of finally trying "Joyeux Grill". A line on the boulder of "http.bloc" with a start under a roof that I had never seen dry before.
What I didn't realise this morning when I woke up though, was that the skin of my fingertips was so far gone, that it really hurt badly when I touched the first holds. On top of that, the landing was a bit more exposed than I remembered.
Was is it lack of skin or strength, too early in the morning, too scary, or was it simply too hard? I don't want to point a finger, so I would say it was a combination of all why I couldn't move an inch as soon as I put my feet in the far back end of the roof.
I will have to come back for that one, but with fresh skin and energy instead of almost worn out.
To wake up my body some more, I walked up the hill towards "L'Arête de l'Abri-Bivouac" where I was able to flash the very nice, but quite easy "Le Toit de l'Abri-Bivouac" on the boulder next to it.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons Carriers - Le Toit de l'Abri-Bivouac 7A(6C+)
Afterwards, I tried hard on the beautiful "L'Arête de l'Abri-Bivouac", fell out of the hard mantle at the end a few times, but after a while, my fingertips became so sweaty that it was coming through the thin layer of magnesia almost instantly.
I came so close to sending the beauty, but when my attempts were getting worse, I had to give and admit that coming back with fresh skin is probably what I need to finish it off completely.
My fingers hurt and I was getting pretty tired, but on my way back down the hill, I was able to top "Coeur de Pierre" on my second attempt. Luckily, because I don't think I would have had the courage to endure the pain on that tiny, barely one millimetre thin starting crimp for the right hand.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Sablons Carriers - Coeur de Pierre 7A
Climbing on warm boulders covered with grainy pollen always makes me lose my skin much faster than usual.
Early this morning, when I started trying "La Résilience" on the "Symbiose" boulder in what is now classified as 95.2 Ouest, I could notice after a few attempts that the slopey pinch for the right hand started to show dark humid smears from my sweaty fingertips.
After losing so much skin the day before, my fingertips tend to be very sweaty and even magnesia doesn't help for long then.
It quickly became clear that I shouldn't set the bar too high if I wanted to top something out today, so I left "La Résilience" and went uphill to find "Ex-Traction" behind and slightly left of the boulder with "Tentation".
Even though the start under the overhang was nicely shaded, the mantle into the slab above was not, on the contrary.
I flashed it, but the crimp in the slab had cut deep into my skin and it occurred to me that I had forgotten use the arete on the right for topping out.
As "Extraction (direct)" has a slightly different start, it wasn't that what I had done neither.
I simply called it "Ex-Traction (sans l'arete)" of which the mantle into the slab is a bit more difficult than the original with the arete, and is a bit scary too because of the high chance that one of the hands slips away, resulting in a potential smack of your face against the boulder.
Even though it felt an unnatural move to reach for the arete on the right out of the position I was in, once I had it, coming into the slab was easier than without it.
That same crimp cut even more through my skin, luckily I did this one also on my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - 95.2 Ouest - Ex-Traction 7A(7A+)
My youngest son, Noah (5y), is fond of climbing too and of course looks up to me for it.
Big was his joy when I bought and gave him his first pair of real climbing shoes, and I had promised to take him climbing in the afternoon so he could try them out.
He was proud as a peacock and was even more motivated when I told I would make a small video of his climbing.
We went to the white children circuit of Roche aux Sabots where he climbed one boulder after the other, stopping only briefly to have a couple sips from his red water bottle (same as mine of course).
This lasted for almost an hour and a half and he could have climbed even more, but I noticed that he started to get tired after all and was almost out of skin, just like me.
It was still warm this afternoon after work, but the 27°C were very bearable compared to the heat from before. Especially with the occasional slight breeze that found its way between the trees and boulders of Franchard Hautes Plaines.
It wasn't a cold breeze, but the correct layer of sweat that covered my skin made it feel very refreshing.
I was there to try "L'Âge d'Or (assis)", of which I had done the standing start about a year and a half ago.
The sitstart doesn't add much difficulty compared to the standing start, only a soft '+', I would say.
The real struggle though is the last move, dynamic, but out of a such position that forces your body to balance to the left, but at the same you have to make it go up, and far up!
A very strange move to execute and quite difficult to master, but with the wide compression, it kind of fits my style.
Great problem!
With only 14°C at 9h this morning, it felt nice and fresh, so I didn't mind the long walk to "Écaille de Lune" in the far end of Gorges du Houx. I was even wearing a thin long-sleeve.
It struck me how small the ferns had stayed by this time of the year and how brown and dead most of them already looked. They barely were higher than one meter, whereas normally they are at least twice as high by now.
It must be the drought that is now already lasting for almost two months, besides the one day of rain last week. The forest already starts to look like as if it were Autumn.
Early Autumn colours on the way to Gorges du Houx.
Even though my mind was completely set on doing "Écaille de Lune", how much I tried, I just couldn't block long enough on the left crimp to comfortably reach the far small crimp right hand.
After almost an hour, I received my lesson in humbleness and admitted to myself that I had to let go of it, at least for today.
Walking back, I tried a few more problems on the way, but trying "Écaille de Lune" for an hour had gotten the best out of me so I needed a break.
My car was parked next to the Route Ronde, and across the street I could walk straight into Franchard, which I did and continued on to Franchard Raymond where I wanted to try "Étalonnage Physique".
A hard 7B along the blue path on the North side of the ridge that dries very slowly and can only be tried after a long period of dry weather. Ideal for now.
I had already spent a couple of short sessions on it, but the conditions were lacking. Last time however, I had been able to do and stick the morpho move to a bad sloper a couple of times, and I knew that I would be able to top out if the slopers on top of the boulder would be been completely dry.
Unfortunately, upon arrival at the boulder, I noticed that the key hold for the crux move had broken off. Despite that, I tried it anyway.
The crux move using the opening method has now become much harder and I wasn't able to stick it once, I didn't even get close.
I found a different method that seemed possible, but this got me into a position I couldn't move out of. Probably possible like that also, but I'm not sure what the hardest or easiest one is.
This will definitely still be upgraded.
The broken hold of "Étalonnage Physique".
I was getting tired, but decided to spend the last bits of energy in the nearby "Grain de Sable (assis)". Located along the same blue path, also facing North, so slow drying.
Because of the humid conditions on previous visits, I had never been able to give this one some real tries, but now there was no sign of humidity.
Quite a powerful problem that felt hard for the grade. Nevertheless, a little beauty.
Fontainebleau - Franchard Raymond - Grain de Sable (assis) 7A+
After many weeks of extreme heat and drought, it finally rained almost all day long yesterday.
Thanks to that, the boulders were washed off from magnesia and more importantly, the layer of grainy pollen that covered them. On top of that, the temperature dropped drastically with almost 20°C, which made up for much better conditions than the weeks before.
I was surprised with how fresh I still felt when I arrived the newly published boulder of "Ambidextre" in an isolated sector of Franchard Hautes Plaines. I realised once again how much energy the heat can drag out of you when carrying a heavy crashpad through the forest. Now however, I felt like I just stepped out of the car.
I was ready, motivated and immediately started with "Ambidextre droite)".
The friction felt much better than the weeks before and after a few tries, I stood on top of the boulder.
Without break, I continued with "Ambidextre", but needed some more tries to figure out what to do.
As soon as I knew how to move, I improvised a tripod out of branches for the camera, pressed record and sent it right there.
Very nice problem, but didn't feel hard enough for 7C. On the other hand, I can imagine that shorter people or with less long arms, might have to do some extra moves.
Looking for some shade, I drove to Petit Bois this morning.
I was surprised to see though, that the small parking was already full at 9h and noticed small groups of climbers here and there.
In total, it wasn't too many, but a small area like Petit Bois gets crowded quickly.
I walked directly towards "Le Poids des Soupirs", a big dyno that is already on my want-list for quite a while, but after a few jumps I already gave up on it.
I didn't expect so many people to be around, which took me out of concentration and also motivation.
While browsing through the problems in Petit Bois on bleau.info before I left home, I noticed a nice very isolated roof that I had never seen before, "Maracuja".
Located in the same small separated forest of Petit Bois and probably only a few hundred meters from the main area, but the only description mentioned a different parking for it, on the South side of the hill.
I carefully followed the description, but had a hard time finding out where to park. In the end, even though not obvious, it was common sense that made choose where to park and after that I found the boulder quite easily.
"Maracuja" has a beautiful, powerful start under the roof, followed by a technical, sketchy, typical Bleau "nobody move" topout.
I needed some time to work it out, tried various possible methods, almost gave up on it for the day, but very unexpectedly, managed to top it out.
Don't be fooled by the shade on the video. It was only provided by a thin layer of leaves from small trees that let a lot of the heat through. Of course, it was still much better than being in the direct sun, but it was a hot spot compared to the main area.
Truly glad with having done this very beautiful hidden gem! Five stars!
It hasn't really rained for over a month now and we're going from one heat wave to the other. The constant drought is slowly changing the landscape, making it almost look like a post-apocalyptic scenery in some places.
With temperatures rising well above 35°C until the evening and the nights not being colder than 21°C, it's only possible to climb early in the morning. And even then it's already too hot to climb on your limit.
In a way, it is an ideal occasion to go back to boulders that are facing North and dry very slowly and try problems that are nearly never really dry.
There are quite some areas that offer a lot of shade and dry slowly, but as I didn't want drive, nor walk too far, I simply went to Roche aux Sabots Sud.
All the way up on the small hill, I wanted to start with "La Fin du Monde (assis)", my main climbing goal for today.
A mossy boulder with an overhang directly facing North and perfectly in the shade from the still rising but already hot sun.
Two far, but relatively easy moves, followed by a little but hard dyno, and topping out with a very hard mantle.
When you look at it, it looks something you could flash, but that's until your feet are standing deep in the overhang, knowing you have to dyno to a sloper.
Had a pretty hard time to stick the dyno, but once I had it, I fought my way through until I was completely standing straight. This one isn't over until the very end.
Very nice problem!
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - La Fin du Monde (assis) 7A+(7B)
Walking down the hill, I passed the boulder of "Zen", and the little time I still had left before it became really too hot, I decided to spend in "Bien Zen".
Maybe it was the heat, but this one felt hard, especially coming out of the roof required some working out.
Nevertheless, quite a stunning problem with that low start under the roof.
Felt harder than 7A+, but then again, it was hot and I was already sweating a lot. I brushed the holds thoroughly after sending it though!
Fontainebleau - Roche aux Sabots Sud - Bien Zen 7A(7A+)
It was completely silent where I was and no sound was coming from the main Roche aux Sabots area, which was strange for such a popular area in Summer.
There was not a single being around, but suddenly, in the distance, I could make out a climbing figure climbing on top of a boulder.
The sound of kids playing when I neared, assured me. It wasn't the end of the world after all.
Despite the fair amount of rain that had finally fallen out of the sky during the night, the early morning felt fresh, but it started heating up fast again.
The sandstone has warmed up that much over the past weeks that there was no sign of rain anymore by the time I arrived in Bois Rond Auberge.
I started with an easy flash of "Punch" as a warmup.
Opened as 7A, but I honestly cannot make more than an easy 6C out of it. Loved the friction on that boulder though!
Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Punch 7A
What followed was another relatively easy flash of "Le Réta à Lola".
Soft 6C+ at most in my humble opinion. Fun little boulder though.
Fontainebleau - Bois Rond Auberge - Le Réta à Lola 7A
The remaining hour before it got really way too hot, I spent in "Avatar", which I still haven't figured out.
Back to work tomorrow and the rest of the week it will be too hot after work for climbing.
Luckily the weekend is only two workdays away and even though it will be very hot again, there's always the early morning.
