I expected to see at least a few climbers in Rocher de la Petite Reine and despite the parking spaces of Drei Zinnen and Bois Rond were packed, I didn't see anyone whole morning. For sure, not something that I regretted. I had one main goal, which was to try and hopefully top out "Le Miroir". I ended up doing both, but the trying part didn't take as long I had thought before.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Petite Reine - Le Miroir 7B+
To finish the relatively short session, I topped out "Suspension de Séance" on the other side of the boulder, and only needed one attempt to do so.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Petite Reine - Suspension de Séance 7A
Still trying to avoid crowds, I left for the small and less popular area of Gorge du Houx Parjure this morning. Not feeling in my best shape, I had no intention to climb anything that would soon feel too hard or like too much work. A dyno to warm up, "Lance à Droite" was something that I wanted to try first. Flashing it with ease, I figured that what I had done was too soft for the grade, so it was probable that the start was with both hands left on the flat oblique ledge. The start in the video just below is probably more like 6C at most. An ideal warm up.
Fontainebleau - Gorge du Houx Parjure - Lance à Droite (direct) 6C
Starting with both hands left required a few tries to fine tune the dyno and is most likely the proposed 7A grade.
Fontainebleau - Gorge du Houx Parjure - Lance à Droite 7A
A bit more uphill, in a small cave, I finally got the point of actually trying "Black or White", but as one of the key holds was wet, I was forced to let go of it. Further along the blue path, I stopped at "Karmoi" and did it fairly quickly. I have to admit that the very slopey topout was quite a struggle though.
Fontainebleau - Gorge du Houx Parjure - Karmoi 7A
The sitstart of "Karmoi", adds some nice moves, definitely worth the additional half grade. The struggle at the topout was harder than when I did the standing start moments ago.
Fontainebleau - Gorge du Houx Parjure - Karmoi (assis) 7A+
Those wondering about the title, apparently 'parjure' is a French word for lying under oath.
With the long weekend for most of us, it promised to be crowded in the forest. It was therefor a calculated choice to finally go and try "V Comme..." in an isolated sector that belongs to the Vallée Ronde area. I had discovered that sector about five or six years ago, with my good friend Maarten, when we were doing a long walk on a rainy day. We definitely were not the first ones to discover it, that was for sure. Many of the boulders were obviously cleaned in the past, but there was nothing to be found yet on bleau.info. I was determined to go back one time on a dry day, but sort of forgot about it until some of the boulders in the sector were published not very long ago, with the beautiful "V Comme..." standing out. Today was finally going to be the day that I was going to try it. Knowing the height and sketchy topout of the boulder, I must admt that I was a bit nervous and wisely brought the big Mondo crashpad. It's a heavy pad, but not a luxury for the height of the boulder, especially with my left ankle still swollen and painful, but getting better slowly. I got the hang of the first part of the problem pretty quickly, but the sketchy mantle was not one that I could figure out easily. I did watch some videos, wanted to try Fred's method first, but that was a no-go. David's method though fit me well and with feeling of relief, I topped out.
Fontainebleau - Vallée Ronde - V Comme... 7A+
The sitstart doesn't add any difficulty and now that I new the method for the topout, it went down immediately. A really beautiful problem, I liked it a lot.
Fontainebleau - Vallée Ronde - V Comme... (assis) 7A+
I briefly tried "Transylvanie" right next to it, but this is way too morpho. On the way back, I still stopped at "Subside", but after pulling a split in my right index finger, I had gave up for the day. I didn't mind it a lot, because I had quite some work to do in my garden, it was still going to be a busy afternoon, "V Comme..." Very busy.
This weekend I drove to the Ardennes in Belgium to attend a kind of bachelor party for one of my sisters who is getting married in July. It was only among brothers and sisters, which meant that I was the only man, because I have five sisters and no brother. It was a very enjoyable time that lasted until this morning after breakfast, when I started the long drive back home. I arrived home early afternoon, allowing me some time for a short break and despite being tired from the weekend and the drive, go for a short climb. I was a bit fed up driving, so I decided to go back to the nearby "Volt Face" boulder in Oncy-sur-Ecole Sud with the intention of trying the lowest possible start of "Vire Volt". It had apparently rained a bit during the night, because the forest was damp and the three finger pocket under the roof felt humid-ish. Even though the alternate topout was quickly worked out and I still had the sequence of the first part stored in my muscle memory, I slid out of the three finger pocket multiple times, causing me to fail. After all, I still managed to topout relatively quickly. Such a nice and fun boulder.
Fontainebleau - Oncy-sur-Ecole Sud - Vire Volt (lowest start) 7B+
I forgot to mention that last Wednesday was my last of fifteen consecutive Wednesdays off work, so with having worked every day again this week, it was really starting to itch today and was in need for a climb. Despite the heat, I left for the nearby La Ségognole area after work with the intention to try "Upa". When I was there and walked around the boulder, I decided to try "L'Enrobade" on the other side of the boulder instead. The fact that it's so close to home and that I never bothered trying it before, says enough about how much it is my anti-style. A wall where with barely no footholds and where everything is about a two finger undercling pocket and very delicate footwork. I figured it would be a good exercise to work on my weaknesses. It took quite a while before I could do just the first move and stand up up with the small undercling. At some point I even thought about giving up, but as soon as knew that I could do that move, I had to push on. It's far from over when standing up though, because the next part was even more delicate climbing, all about the feet, balance and trying to reach and hold on to a sharp tiny crimp right hand, only good enough for the skin of two fingertips. I wasn't sure about the second part of the problem and the heat was pounding, but I persisted, remained focused and topped out. Some very nice delicate climbing with subtle footwork, not my style at all, and maybe the reason why I was so glad with having done it. A real beauty!
When some new boulders are published on bleau.info just before or during the weekend, it makes the decision of where to go easier, especially when it's close to home in a less popular area like Rocher de la Cathédrale. I left early before the heat, but it was already warm when I was walking towards "Coup de Phil", where Bart (Van Raaij) opened a direct sitstart and a sitstart on the right. I started with the direct sitstart, but no matter how high I pulled myself up on the starting crimps, there was no way for me to reach the high sloper with my foot as low as Bart had. With the crashpad laid down over the busy 25 Bosses path, I quickly gave up and turned to the sitstart on the right. I had a brief look at it and had a hunch that I might send this one quickly so immediately turned on the camera. It went down on my first attempt.
Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Cathédrale - Coup de Phil (assis droite) 7B+
I then moved to the other part of the area to try the very hard mantle of "Le Réta du Randonneur". I tried until it became too hot, came really close to a send, but nothing more. Damn hard mantle!
Since I jumped off the high "Gulf Stream" last week, it's still mildly swollen and hurting pretty bad, especially when walking down the stairs. When I did the fifteen minute walk to the back of Grande Montagne, it bothered me and couldn't stop limping near the end. It was only going to be a short climb today as I had to be back on time to bring my oldest son to the train station so he could go back to Paris in the early afternoon. My initial intention was to try and hopefully climb the quite hard "Eau de Vie", I had done the boulder in two overlapping parts last time, so my hopes were high. Even though I was able to work out a better sequence for the second part now, somehow, I couldn't get through the first part anymore. I could have spent all the time I had on it, but I chose to move up the hill and try "Come On Fatch" instead. I had tried it briefly on one of my previous visits, but couldn't find a good beta and I was there with the intent of trying "Eau de Vie" anyway. Today, I took my time to study and work out the moves and as soon as I felt ready, I sent it quite quickly.
Fontainebleau - Grande Montagne - Come On Fatch 7A+
There was still some time left, so I turned to "Roncevaux" right next to "Come On Fatch". Last time, I had done a sitstart on the right of the arete, which felt the same grade as the real sitstart of "Roncevaux", on the left of the arete. It only took a couple of minutes to figure out the first move, and I sent it on my first attempt after putting on the camera. Like I thought, about the same grade, maybe even slightly easier than the sitstart on the right.
Fontainebleau - Grande Montagne - Roncevaux (assis) 7A
As my second and previous ascent of "Volt Face" turned out to be with a start still not low enough, I was determined to go back a third time today and finish it for once and for all with the lowest start possible. Jean-Hervé was going to meet me there, so I could have first hand validation of any possible re-ascent. The lowest start that I could possibly find was by using the lowest undercling right hand in the middle of the roof and the arete as low as possible left hand, the feet all the way in the back. Once my butt was off the ground, I put a left toehook behind the arete where my left hand was, reached for a slopey hold left hand and blocked the right foot in the low pocket where my right hand was. This allowed me to reach the three finger pocket in the middle of the roof. I then blocked my left foot in the pocket below the one where my right foot was blocked and reached for the left three finger pocket left hand. Then I placed the right foot back in the low pocket where it was before and threw a left toehook behind the left arete to then climb on as before and finish in "Volt Face". It doesn't add much more difficulty to the start that I had done last time, but I must admit that it adds a very nice sequence of about three to four moves. Right at the moment that I topped out and stood on the boulder, I could see Jean-Hervé making his way up the hill. Explaining and showing what I did, it turned out to be good enough for the lowest start possible.
Fontainebleau - Oncy-sur-Ecole Sud - Volt Face (lowest start) 7C
It has been quite a story since the first time I climbed the boulder with a few corrections and having to go back, but after all, I enjoyed spending every minute at this beautiful boulder. Even when I was finished, I still climbed on with Jean-Hervé, trying different methods. When Alex joined us as well about an hour later, I managed to repeat the lowest start again completely to show him the sequence that I used. There are so many different methods, so I will definitely still go back on a hot day some time this Summer.
There has been a lot of unclarity around "Vire-Volt" and "Volt Face", especially around where it actually starts and how the lines exactly go. After a phone call with Jean-Hervé (Baudot), it became clear that the original start also starts low under the roof, but more in the middle, to the right of where I thought to have opened "Volt Face (du fond)". It should be mentioned though that besides some vague lines making it hard to determine where to start, there was no description of the lines available at all and I did have to substantially rebrush most of the boulder. The left slopey side of the boulder didn't even look like it was ever brushed at all, not even on the original picture. The original start is with a very low pocket left hand deep and in the middle of the roof, and right hand in a small three finger pocket higher in the roof. "Vire-Volt" uses the left arete and exits left of the prow, in the slab, while "Volt Face" stays under the roof without using the arete and exits on the prow. This morning, using the original start in the middle of the roof, I used the left arete as for "Vire-Volt", but traversed back to the right under the roof to exit in "Volt Face". Still being unclear about which one of both I now actually did, I'm calling it "Vire-Face" for now. It seems complicated, but to me it was the most logical line when coming from the original start. Even though the boulder remained officially unrepeated since 2004, it did gain some popularity since I went and rebrushed it a few weeks ago. There is now even a small path that leads from the road directly to the boulder. No more need to search for it for fifteen minutes.
Fontainebleau - Oncy-sur-École Sud - Vire-Face 7B+
As I couldn't go to Cassepot Roches Grises due to bad weather last Wednesday, I decided to go today. I carried two crashpads, because I wanted to try "Gulf Stream" on the first big boulder when coming from the parking and following the bleu path. It is a high and exposed boulder, so two crashpads were far from an unnecessary luxury. Yesterday evening, I briefly tried "Entrée de Gamme (assis)" in Roche aux Sabots and apparently I had lost quite a bit of skin, because my fingertips were very sweaty and it was hard to find good friction. I pushed through though and probably had to pull harder than supposed to, and was able to top out. I couldn't find an easy way off, so besides waiting for someone to pass by and move the crashpads, the only option was to aim for the smaller Drop Zone and jump off. It was higher than I expected and landing was painful on my ankles.
I didn't immediately feel like having to jump down again, I doubted for a minute to try the sitstart, but when I was able to do the moves up to the stand, I decided to switch both crashpads, so I could jump down on the bigger and thicker Mondo to spare my ankles. The sweaty fingers were annoying, but after pulling even harder than before, I also made it to the top. The jump down wasn't as painful.
I had hoped to end with trying "Macronavirus", but with the state of my skin, that was a no-go. Instead I ended with "Ewok (droite-gauche)" before walking back to the car.
The walk back was painful, especially on my left ankle. The drive went good but every time I had to push down on the clutch to change gears, I couldn't suppress a painful grimace on my face.
I had planned to visit the Cassepot Roches Grises area today, but it had started raining during the night and a mild rain that lasted until this afternoon kept everything wet. It cleared up a bit late afternoon and when I saw it drying, I decided to leave for a climb. It was already almost 17h though so I stayed close to home and went to the "Vandale" boulder in Rocher Cailleau. I wasn't about about what to try exactly, but there are enough lines on that big boulder to have several options, depending on how my shape would be, for sure, the bowl of muesli that I ate in the morning was already digested, so I didn't expect to have a whole lot of energy. I started playing in "Alien", but when I noticed that I would more time than just an hour in the evening, I decided to spend the time on "Le Sixième Sens" instead. Maybe it wasn't the best choice considering my low energy levels, because it turned out to be a long line on very bad slopers. On top of that, it was very noticeable that the conditions weren't as good as the weeks before. After all, the rain had made the air humidity drastically and the slopers were hard to stick. I needed a few minutes to recover between attempts and when I kind of least expected it due to a bad sequence at the start, I managed to top it out. I just barely made it, my arms were pumped and I was out of breath, but it was done.
Fontainebleau - Rocher Cailleau - Le Sixième Sens 7B+(7C)
Both Pieter and I had never visited the small area of Puiselet Sablibum, so it was a first for both of us. This small area is not very popular, but nevertheless, features some beautiful but very high problems. The most beautiful problems are eight or more meters high, and that's most likely why they are not climbed as often. When we arrived, a small group of climbers equipped with harnesses and ropes said enough about the extreme height and we felt a bit out of place being there with just our crashpads. Even though I would like to try some of these high problems one day, we only looked at them, standing in awe, completely overshadowed by their magnitude. To keep it safe, we chose to climb some of the few lower boulders, that seem to have seen even less repetitions than their big brothers that surrounded them. It was obvious that climbers mostly visit the area to climb the big classics. The smaller boulders that we tried required quite some brushing whereas the big ones seemed good to go. We chose to start with "Caillou, Post-it, Ciselet", a small roof with a hard shallow one fingertip pocket to use to reach the edge of the roof. It took some time, but after having worked out and done all the separate moves in sections, I topped out only after having fallen off the very last move on the previous attempt.
The next boulder didn't seem very attractive at first, but after giving "Le Furet" a few goes, it only became nicer and nicer. Maybe it was because the boulder wasn't as clean as it should have been that made it feel quite hard for the grade. The standing start felt hard enough to be 7A+ on its own.
Fontainebleau - Puiselet Sablibum - Le Furet 7A
The sitstart being graded 7A+, to me didn't feel like it added enough to feel harder than the standing start. To me, both might be 7A+.
Fontainebleau - Puiselet Sablibum - Le Furet (assis) 7A+
