Life in Fontainebleau: March 03, 2024 - A matter of (calculated) luck.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

March 03, 2024 - A matter of (calculated) luck.

After a lot of rain yesterday and last night, everything was soaking wet outside this morning. It made no sense to leave early, so I took my time and left later than usual. It was still mostly wet outside and even though it wasn't forecasted to rain today, it was cloudy and there wasn't a lot of wind to speed up the drying process. It was going to be a matter of luck to find something dry enough to climb, but taking a calculated guess, I intended to try and get the luck on my side by going to Apremont. My intention was to start my search in Apremont Vallon de la Solitude, and from there work my way back through some other Apremont areas as needed.
No luck in Apremont Vallon de la Solitude, but working my way back through Apremont Est, I did find some boulders dry here and there, but nothing that I had in my mind to try. Still working my way back, tried my chances at the boulder of "Tropicaux", knowing that this one gave me luck a few months ago. Low and behold, even though it looked bad at first, the holds of "Trop de Piquette" were dry and the low pinch was even in very good conditions friction wise.
I had briefly tried "Trop de Piquette" last time after I did "Tropicaux", but I only get mu butt of the ground, after which I found mself completely stuck and couldn't move out of the position I was in. With a fresh mind today, I let my body guide on what it felt like doing next and came up with a possible solution. It turned out to be a very awkward and difficult move, but after pushing through, I was able to stick it and top out.

Fontainebleau - Apremont - Trop de Piquette 7B+

On my way back, I passed by "Egoïste" and realized that it was dry as well. I had only tried once or twice, but only briefly because the balanced moving didn't suit me well and I figured it was not in my style. That was maybe ten years ago though, so I decided to stop and give it a few goes. Surprisingly, I was able to find my balance and was moving quite well through it. After a handful of attempts, and some minor tweaks, I topped out this ultra classic and had a hard time understanding why I never did this sooner.