July 29, 2022 - Date with a Chaman.

As I wrote already a few years ago on this blog, the area of Rocher des Demoiselles was originally named Rocher des Putains because it was the area where Louis XIV used to hide and meet his mistresses for some 'fun'. To make it more attractive for tourism, they later changed the name to the less vulgar Rocher des Demoiselles. What remains a reminder of the old times, are the names of the paths nearby and around the area. Route des Filles, Route de Cupidon, Route de l'Amour, Route de Vénus, Route de la Beauté, Route de la Tendresse, ... all still refer to the purpose of the area back in the days.
Now it's especially known for walking and the bouldering area, and I was there for a date with "Chaman", not a person of any kind, but a very popular problem, if not one of the most popular of the sector, especially for its grade. The first time that I tried it, was about ten years ago and I remember coming very close to sending it. The couple of times after, I either didn't have the motivation, strength, technique, or, as the boulder needs some time dry, simply bad conditions. Moreover, I had never went to the area while it making a main goal, it was mostly after having done or tried other goals, near the end of a session. Today however, it was my main goal of the day and thanks to a long period of dry weather, I had no excuse for the holds to be in bad condition.
The first ten minutes, I could barely place the left heel and even less take the crimp under the roof left hand and I was wondering how on Earth that I got so close almost ten years ago. Thinking about what I possibly did different, I had a vague memory of using a left toehook instead of a heel and when I tried it as such, I immediately made it to the knob after which I jumped off and setup the camera. After making a mistake at the end, I needed another attempt to finally finish off this classic. The date was over.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles - Chaman 7C(7B+)

On the way back, I realized that I hadn't done "L'Eveil du Sphinx" yet for some reason, but was able to tick it off fairly quick now.
I worked out the moves to do the sitstart as well, but had to admit to myself that I was running out of energy and will have to come back for it some other day. It will be with great pleasure.

Fontainebleau - Rocher des Demoiselles - L'Eveil du Shpinx 7A+