June 15, 2025 - Good vibration.

Yesterday evening, the whole family went to the Oh My Bloc festival in Milly, where it was great to see some friends, some of which I hadn't seen for a long a time. I tried to be back home on time to not disturb my rhythm too much, but there a marriage party going two houses away from mine and I had difficulties falling asleep. By the time I almost fell asleep, it was well past midnight when I was suddenly spooked by loud bangs of fireworks from the party right next door. I was wide awake again. No wonder I was feeling very tired this morning when I met Olaf at Rocher d'Avon. He, Lars and Simi were at the festival too, and stayed longer than I did, so it wasn't a surprise that they were feeling quite tired too.
Luckily, the temperature went down substantially today, and the friction on the boulder of "Basta" was very good, which was somewhat motivating. Nevertheless, I didn't have anything too hard in mind.
I started with "Rasta (assis)" which I strangely enough had never tried before. The dyno was okay, and so was the topout, but I needed a bit of time to work on the middle move to be able to match the lip of the overhang right hand. Once I knew what to do though, it went down quickly.

Fontainebleau - Rocher d'Avon - Rasta (assis) 7A

Right after Olaf did "Pasta", I followed with "Pastis", starting in "Rasta (assis)" and topping out at the far right, above "Freak of the Weak". That was fun to do with such good friction.
Manuel (Marquès) was working in a new problem just below and after he had come over to see who was there, he invited us to come and try what he was working on. I was able to do the standing start on my second attempt, but felt too tired to do the crux move of the sitstart. Motivated by our presence, Manuel was able to send the whole line with us watching and motivating him.
After a nice long chat, we went back to the boulder of "Basta", where also Lars and Simi had arrived by that time.

Fontainebleau - Rocher d'Avon - Pastis 7A+

Simi lost a lost of skin trying "Hasta", while Lars and I made very quick work of "Pasta". 
Lars had a very hard time for the matching move on "Rasta (assis)", but after carefully working on little details on his body position, he also ended up with doing it. Olaf had too much trouble doing the dyno move, but was still able to do the standing and crouching start.
Good vibrations on what felt a bit like a lazy day, but ended up being quite productive for the state I was in.

Fontainebleau - Rocher d'Avon - Pasta 7A

June 14, 2025 - Success after doubt.

Last weekend, I tried "La Traversée d'Incognito" and fell off the very last move a couple of times. It was only when I was already too tired to try again, that maybe "La Traversée de Zigzag" probably suits me more because of the toehooks at the first part of "Zigzag" itself. I feel pretty comfortable with them and even the impression that I can rest for a second.
This morning, after a few very hot days and warm nights, I met Olaf again at Justice de Chambergeot, determined to go full on for "La Traversée de Zigzag" and hoping to finish it before the real heat would start again. After a short warmup, just trying the moves of the last part, I felt quite confident, but fell off the last hard move again. There was still too much doubt in some of my movements and with so many moves, it's definitely better to stay in a steady flow.
The attempt after the exact same thing happened and the heat was already starting to kick in. The sweat was dripping of my face and whole upper body, and I told Olaf that I probably wouldn't be able to finish it today. Barely ten minutes, and one attempt later, I found myself on top of the boulder, having finished "La Traversée de Zigzag" with the support of Olaf, Lars and his girlfriend Simi. Unexpected success after doubt.

Fontainebleau - Justice de Chambergeot - La Traversée de Zigzag 7C

June 09, 2025 - My story about flashing "An 8A+".

Today was supposed to be an active rest day in the company of Olaf, Lars and his girlfriend Simi. I met Olaf at the parking of Justice de Chambergeot, and we walked straight to the boulder of "Zigzag". Many lines on this boulder, so enough choice.
After a short warmup trying some of the moves of "Zigzag", I sat down and sent it on my first attempt from the start. Olaf followed me quickly, but going through "Incognito (droite assis)".

Fontainebleau - Justice de Chambergeot - Zigzag 7A

Despite feeling tired and it being a kind of rest day, I started trying some of the moves of "La Traversée d'Incognito". At that moment, Lars and Simi also arrived, and I got motivated to try the whole line.
To my surprise, I got through almost the whole boulder, falling off the last hard move, feeling exhausted and with sweaty fingers. I felt too tired to try it again, but I'm sure that this should go down soon when I have better skin and feel fresh.
Below, the video of my attempt in "La Traversée d'Incognito", and my story about flashing "An 8A+" in Rocher Canon. Sound on if you want to hear about it.

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June 08, 2025 - Train delayed.

I met with Olaf and Brian on the parking of Pierre le Sault, just outside of Nemours. A small quite unknown area where I had never gone before, and neither had the others. We waited a while for Victor, but when he wrote that he was still in doubt of what to do, we headed for the boulder of "L'Arche". 
the boulder looked quite small from far, but as we got closer, it only looked better and better, especially when walking around it. There are a few lines that go through the long roof, each taking a different exit. We started warming with trying the exit of the least hard, "L'Arche (droite)". We figured it out quite quickly and after inspecting some of the other moves under the roof itself, I decided to go for it and was able to send it immediately from the start, which was not a luxury, because even though the holds are quite good, the amount of them can quickly wear one out.
When Olaf also managed to climb the whole line, it looked like it was going to be sending train on this one.

Fontainebleau - Pierre le Sault - L'Arche (droite) 7A+

While Brian was still working some of the moves under the roof and trying to perfect his sequence for the right topout, I quickly found the way to finish the slightly harder left exit. I didn't let any time pass and sent the left exit also from my first attempt when coming from the start. This was definitely harder than the other, but I didn't hesitate and topped it out, albeit being completely out of breathe.
I filmed both exits again separately to give an idea of how these look. 

Fontainebleau - Pierre le Sault - L'Arche (gauche) 7B

Meanwhile, the sending train was delayed, because due to very bad, or the lack of, skin on his fingertips, Brian fell at least three times on the sloper at the very last move of the right exit. When he finally decided to give it one last go before giving up, it turned out to be the good one and he was still able to hop on the sending train, just in time.
Great session with good and chill company on a very cool boulder. Nothing but good vibes.

June 07, 2025 - Shared excitement.

I met Olaf this morning on the parking in Le Vaudoué, as we decided to go the small and quite unpopular area of Le 111. It being unpopular was one of the reasons why we chose that area, as it is again a long weekend with Monday being a public holiday in many European countries. The weather wasn't as good as last week, and it had even rained a bit this morning, but there was a nice wind, and everything was dry again quickly.
It's quite a long walk to Le 111, but as usual, Olaf's company made it feel shorter than expected.
We immediately started trying "Chaud Latin", the other reason why we chose that area. The conditions felt mediocre at first, but got better with every attempt. It was quite fast that I suddenly got high enough to be in a good position for the final jump, but I hadn't turned on the camera yet, so I decided to jump off instead. I felt quite confident that I would be able to that last far dynamic move, even though it's a somewhat scary one.
Unfortunately, a thicker grey cloud passed over and there was a short light rain shower. Not enough to make the rock wet, but just enough to make the slopey hold far right loose the good friction that I felt when getting there the first time. On top of that, I was climbing too confident and didn't pay enough attention to important details, which made fall off a few times. When I finally ended u in the good position again, and the friction was back, I set off for the jump and stuck the high sloper from the first time. A truly beautiful problem with great moves from start to end.

Fontainebleau - Le 111 - Chaud Latin 7B

Olaf usually needs some more time to get into it, but he was making quite progress this time. When he suddenly cruised through the first part and got to the far right slopey hold, he started to amaze me. He got the left hold just barely, but hung in there and slowly got into a much better position. He was in position to do the jump, but he looked down and I could feel and see his doubt. I encouraged him, even though I somehow expected him to bail out and jump off, but he stayed there, positioned his feet to prepare for the jump. I watched in awe and saw him make the big jump, but he just didn't make it far enough.
Despite not having made it, we were both extremely excited. Knowing Olaf, doing such jumps is not his cup of tea, so I really admired his great effort. I could see on his face that he had surpassed himself in a way and I felt proudness and true excitement for him.
He made handful of other great attempts at the jump, but he had to throw the towel in the end. He will be back for it again at another day, and I would love to be there for him when he does. I would love to another such session of shared excitement.

On the way back, we stopped at the nearby Rocher de la Tortue, where we were advised by Markus (Neher) to the sitstart of "Opus Marron". Markus had opened the standing start not very long ago, but hadn't been able to do the sitstart. 
I'm not entirely sure if Markus meant a sistart slightly left with an obvious undercling, but it seemed like the most logical place to start.
Olaf wasn't very interested in it, so I got away with the first ascent of "Opus Marron (assis gauche)".
Hard to grade, but I would estimate it be about 6C+, maybe 6C, depending on how tall you are.

Fontainebleau - Rocher de la Tortue - Opus Marron (assis gauche) 6C+ (First Ascent)

May 30 - June 01, 2025 - Fun+.

Friday was the first very, very hot with temperatures going above 30°C at the hottest moment of day. We, Olaf, Markus and myself had therefor decided to go to the shady boulder of "Le Crabe d'Or" in Moigny-sur-Ecole. Also, because we would make sure to avoid the huge crowds that had taken over the popular sectors of the forest.
Some of the holds under the roof weren't dry, so we had to limit ourselves to the few lines that were dry enough to be climbed. It was a fun session nonetheless, during which we were all able to climb a few lines. I had already climbed most of them last year, but it was fun repeating them together, and on top of that, I was able to grab one that I hadn't done before, "Object Lunule (gauche)". This boulder seems to keep giving new lines and variations.

Fontainebleau - Moigny-sur-Ecole - Objectif Lunule (gauche) 7A

The day after, yesterday, we met in Recloses to hopefully climb some nice problems right outside of the village. Hopefully, because it was cloudy and some light rain showers popped up now and then. On top of that, the air humidity was very high and felt heavy. The kind of air that makes you sweat and feel sticky with the slightest effort.
We were able to climb some easier and new problems while warming up, but right when we wanted to try some nice classics, a longer rain shower made sure that we couldn't. We searched for some other boulders that might have remained dry, but our hope was in vain. When another rain shower popped up, I decided to call it a day and go home.

Today, was still hot and the air felt slightly less heavy, but the conditions in Long Boyau were shitty. We didn't let it get to us though and cared more about having a fun time. Brian had joined us this time, and we all got to have our little send on the boulder of "Circulez, y'a Rien à Boire". We tried a few more problems, but shitty conditions shut us down. 
Anyway, we were all in good company and had a fun+ time.

Fontainebleau - Long Boyau - Circulez, y'a Rien à Boire 7A(6C+)