Saturday, January 15, 2022

January 15, 2022 - Five meters of joy.

The weather forecast for the second half of this week looked great, and this didn't go unnoticed to Pieter. He had taken a couple of days off and had arrived in the forest on Wednesday night. Given the forecast, I had taken the afternoon off work yesterday to try "La Mandarine" in Roche aux Oiseaux, and Pieter was keen to join me.
There had been a lot of fog in the morning though and the sun was blocked by clouds until late in the afternoon. It was freezing cold, but the conditions weren't as optimal that I had hoped for.
Despite being able to do "La Mandarine" in two overlapping parts and despite the about thirty attempts from the start, I couldn't work my way up until the end. I finished the afternoon with frozen toes, a torn pants and sore muscles. It was fun nevertheless.

This morning, it was well below freezing, but there was no fog and the sun was out early. I was delighted that Pieter proposed to go Les Béorlots, as it could finally offer me a chance to try "I comme Irun". Ever since I saw a video of Daniel Olausson doing "I comme Irun" in 2013, I had been attracted by this beautiful, but high boulder. I had stood before it once, but as I had never dared trying it without a spotter, I never came to the point of actually trying it. Today, nine years later, I finally had the chance, but still having sore muscles from yesterday, I thought it would be only be trying the start and I walked towards the five meters high boulder without more expectation than that.
The boulder was in a perfect spot, nicely in the sun and protected from wind and even though it was colder than yesterday, it didn't feel like it. My toes were never near to feeling frozen.
It was only when I passed the far move to the bad sloper on the right and was able to move towards the next hold high up left hand, that I started getting hope to actually do it. We spent more than two hours there and I can't thank Pieter enough for spotting me and bearing with my persistence to finish the problem. It was five meters of pure joy when I passed the crux and mantled myself up on top.

Fontainebleau - Les Béorlots Ouest - I comme Irun 7C(7C+)

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